BRISTOL —Rockydale Pizza’s new owners just gave a facelift to the restaurant on Rockydale Road east of Bristol village.
Co-owners David Steadman and Carla Nichols, who took the reins four weeks ago, have put in a new kitchen, updated the menu and increased their hours of service.
No changes have been made to the pizza recipes, which are old community favorites, Steadman said. But the updated menu includes some tasty new features, including homemade daily specials like stuffed green peppers, barbeque ribs and pulled pork.
“People have told us we serve the only barbeque in Addison County,” Steadman said.
He and Nichols also plan to add live music events and horseshoe pits to Rockydale’s outside seating area.
Rockydale is already seeing customers respond to the improvements. “The parking lot is packed right now,” Steadman said during a recent lunchtime interview.
Steadman comes to Rockydale Pizza with a lot of restaurant experience. As he puts it, his specialty is “getting places up and running again.”
Rockydale Pizza is his 20th project. Back in the ’80s, he said, he acquired 14 struggling pizza shops in New Hampshire and Maine, and made improvements until they became profitable again. Steadman and Nichols moved to Vermont last month from Bristol Bay, Alaska. The photographs of fishing boats that Steadman and Nichols will display in Rockydale are their tribute to Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, where the Discovery Channel’s hit show “Deadliest Catch” was filmed.
So how long can Bristol expect Steadman to stick around? “Forever, if I get a beer and wine license,” Steadman chuckled. “Then this place would have everything.
“We like Vermont,” he added. “It’s a lot warmer than Alaska.”
Rockydale Pizza is now open from Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The owners  also plan to be open Mondays from 4 to 9 p.m.