Your search for pizza by the slice downtown – and late at night – is over
There’s no denying it. The pizza at Benny Capitale’s is ginormous.
It’s 28 inches across in diameter, and while the pizza makers seem to handle carrying the pizza with ease, the pan they’re lifting is much bigger than your typical pizza joint.
“It’s just like a regular pie, just large,” manager Everett Williams says matter-of-factly.
The restaurant opened at 121 Fayetteville St., in the former Crema coffee shop, over the weekend. The Virginia-based company specializes in simple pizzas with just a few toppings available.
A cheese slice is $4, or it’s $5 for a slice with pepperoni, sausage, garlic mushroom or Wild Bill (chicken).
As for a whole pie, which comes in just one size, it’s $30 for a cheese pie, $35 for one with a topping on half or $38 with a topping all over.
Williams said the pizza is handmade with quality sauce and tomatoes.
“It’s thin crust, thin center, thin outside,” Williams said. “It’s not like your traditional pizza shops where you have 20 toppings. It’s a simple approach.”
The company is owned by Chris Brown and Zach Toth, who have several other Benny-named spots along the East Coast. It originated near Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., and has since expanded to other college towns, including Benny Cappella’s on Franklin Street in downtown Chapel Hill. But Williams said they’re starting to expand to bigger cities as well. The only other North Carolina location is in Charlotte – Benny Pennello’s. There’s one in Charleston, S.C., too.
The restaurant takes advantage of its large pizza with a Benny’s Challenge, in which contestants must eat an entire pizza with sausage and pepperoni to win $500. The website notes that it weighs 8 pounds.
The restaurant is open daily. It is open until midnight Sunday through Wednesday and until 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.
Info: 121 Fayetteville St., Suite 110, Raleigh, bennysva.com/BennyCapitales, facebook.com/bennycapitales
Jessica Banov: 919-829-4831, @JessicaBanov
This story was originally published July 11, 2017 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Your search for pizza by the slice downtown – and late at night – is over."