BizBeat: PaPPo's Pizzeria to open in 2022

Jefferson City area residents will soon have another option for pizza as PaPPo's Pizzeria & Pub moves into the former Ruby Tuesday on Missouri Boulevard in 2022.

The new spot will be like other locations in the Springfield-based restaurant chain owned by Chris Galloway, aka "Pappo." The pizzeria focuses on fresh, quality ingredients and "handcrafted hearth-baked pizza" in the Italian tradition, according to materials provided by Galloway.

Galloway opened the first location nearly 10 years ago in Springfield. He and his son then opened the second spot, located in Osage Beach, which is when the concept expanded to include a pub atmosphere with a wide selection of beer. The business now has several locations in Missouri, including Columbia. It also has locations in Illinois and will soon expand to Huntsville, Alabama, and Kansas City.

Galloway has not announced an official opening date for the Jefferson City location, but he said he hopes to open in the second quarter of 2022 and will announce an opening date once construction is almost finished.

Construction started a few months ago, but there's still much more work to be done: installing more than 20 big-screen TVs, a sound system, signage, lighting, electricity, plumbing and flooring; painting; building a patio; redoing the bathrooms and kitchen; rebuilding the bar and putting in furniture and appliances. The building can accommodate about 200 seats.

"It's pretty much an overhaul," Galloway said. "People need to know that we really are just beginning the construction, and there's a ways to go."

The entire project will cost about $500,000-$600,000, Galloway said. Once finished, it will look like a new building, inside and out.

"Basically, we take a building and we give it all the love and care that it has not been receiving and really remake the whole building, from the roof to the floors and walls and everything in between," Galloway said. "Our goal is that people will forget whatever was there."

The restaurant will look similar to the location at the Lake of the Ozarks, but it will also have unique characteristics.

"It'll have a lot of similarities, but each one we really try to make even more special than the last," Galloway said.

The building at 2300 Missouri Blvd. has been empty since Ruby Tuesday closed in spring 2020. A few months later, a lawsuit was filed against the Ruby Tuesday corporation for rent owed as the lease was set to expire in May 2022. That lawsuit was dismissed in July.

"If we can establish that it wasn't the location or building and it was something to do with the company, we love that, because the infrastructure is already there," Galloway said.

Galloway, who used to live in Jefferson City, had been looking for a Jefferson City location for eight years before landing on the former Ruby Tuesday building, he said.

"I'm not kidding; I've been shown probably two-dozen properties in that period of time," he said. "We're very location-driven; we want the right location. I wanted to be somewhere on Missouri Boulevard and have the kind of visibility that we have here and the ease of parking, the entrance - this checked all the marks for me."

Living at the Lake of the Ozarks, Galloway and his family visit Jefferson City often.

"We are local people, we spend money in the community and the money that we will make here will stay in the community," he said. "We're super stoked about being in Jeff City."

Galloway said he is looking to hire about 65 people and already has the management team set up.

"This is going to be one of the most fun and enjoyable openings we've ever done because the people here want it so badly, we want to be here and we've already got the team set up," he said. "We plan on being here for many, many years, and I know we're going to make a ton of people happy. I feel really good about that."

Know of any business happenings around Jefferson City? Let us know at [email protected] or 573-761-0243.