With new concept not ‘making it,’ Village Idiot Pizzeria returns

Village Idiot Pizzeria is officially back in business.

And if the Cortez pizza restaurant’s online ratings on Facebook, TripAdvisor and Yelp are any indication, the place will be packed from open to close.

Owner Joey Yost said the concept he switched to in November at 11904 Cortez Road W., Sea Smoke Smokehouse, just wasn’t “making it. Not like the pizza shop money, so I’d rather be working nights again than be struggling.”

To that end, he made an informational Facebook post last week “so there won’t be disappointed/sad/mad/offended faces out there.”

The restaurant’s hours will be 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., which “gives you exactly 9 hours to get here and get your pizza, etc.,” the post said. Yost also included information about the restaurant’s beer and wine license (he doesn’t have it yet) and how to-go orders will work going forward. To view the entire post, visit facebook.com/visitvip/.

“We will be super busy this week so try to come early as dough is limited,” Yost said in another post on opening day.

Yost said he’ll do “mostly pies” with “some smoking later, maybe.” When Village Idiot reopened on Tuesday, the menu included a happy marriage of both concepts with smoked mullet pizza, a spinach and ricotta pie with smoked chicken and a five-cheese pesto pizza with house-cured ham and green onions.

For anyone not in the mood for pizza, the menu also had Korean chicken tacos, pork carnitas with avocado salsa verde, a pressed Cuban sandwich and brisket Bahn mi. At the new VIP, the day’s menu is posted on the blackboard and on the restaurant’s Facebook page instead of on paper menus.

Yost switched the concept because he was bored with making pizza and wanted to show more of his culinary talent. But his partner, Amanda Sprague, said in November it doesn’t matter what style of food Yost works with.

“Anything he touches, it’s going to be good. He’s a wizard with food.”

This story was originally published August 22, 2017 at 2:03 PM with the headline "With new concept not ‘making it,’ Village Idiot Pizzeria returns."