The Original Pizza Pan in Lakewood, Ohio

New Lakewood Pizza Pan Opens
Besides Pizza, Creativity is What this Family Craves!
By Chris P. Miller, LakewoodBuzz.com Reporter

“It’s a kid’s dream… he’d eat pizza every day!” That’s dad Ed Hirt talking about one of his younger “partners” who helps him at the Lakewood Pizza Pan at 13619 Detroit Avenue, a stone’s throw from St. Edward High School (phone 226-4114, online here).

Son Ivan (who eats his pizza daily) and daughter Paige are definitely living out every kid’s dream, with a bit of guidance from mom Maryana and Ed when the kids help out at the new Lakewood “ma-and-pa” business.

But things didn’t start out so dreamy.

Ed was on an inspection visit to estimate a few nightmarish repairs plus some upgrades to various plumbing, heating and electrical. The goal was to have everything code-certified and better for the pizza parlor’s eventual owner and lots of work was needed. Before that visit, neither he or Maryana ever imagined the eventual owner would be them!

Thinking back on buying the place, Ed laughs about it and says, “Neither one of us thought we’d own it!” Maryana adds, “But we were in the right place at the right time to start making some dreams come true for our family and for the neighborhood.”

The rest is history and in mid-September, the new and improved Pizza Pan in Lakewood opened for business with the help of the couple’s family and friends.

Pizza Pan is best known for its two pizza and rib specials: For customers who prefer to pick up, it’s “Buy One, Get TWO Free.” For delivery orders, it’s “Buy One, Get ONE Free.”

“All of the Lakewood schools buy our pizza and ribs because they like the value and how they taste,” proudly notes Ed. He also believes that Pizza Pan’s success is due to “top quality toppings and Hormel meats, fresh dough and fresh-cut vegetables daily.” The Veggie Supreme is most popular with vegetarians, by the way.

On top of their unique 2-fer and 3-fer the price-of-one specials for schools, households, sports teams and local businesses (or just really hungry individuals), Ed and Maryana have been testing creative pizza toppings. Pizza Pan’s customers have been more than happy to taste-test various recipes while picking up their regular orders. As a result, several new and exclusive choices were just added to the Lakewood Pizza Pan menu…

- “Alfredo Chicken Pizza” features spinach, artichokes and chicken.

- “Mashed Potato Pizza” doesn’t sound right, but customers loved it during testing (and after sampling it with its sour cream, cheese and bacon bits, this writer agrees it’s a winner deserving menu status)

- “Bruschetta Pizza” features a “secret sauce” with cheese, tomatoes, basil and olive oil.

- “Buffalo Chicken Pizza” with a choice of garlic butter or red sauce, hot sauce, cheese and of course chicken, and

- Another Lakewood exclusive... the “Pizza Pan Panwich”

“What is the Panwich?” I asked. Young Ivan and his best pal “GG” piped up almost in unison… “Whatever you can put on a sandwich, you can put in a Panwich!” Ingredients “like veggies, The Original Pizza Pan in Lakewood Ohio gyros, BLTs and chicken clubs that then get toasted up crispy in a Panwich,” the boys explained.

The Lakewood Pizza Pan crew, which includes Kourtni LeMasters (pictured), also enjoys making custom pizzas for their customers. They recently made a PBJ pizza for a regular customer with a sweeter tooth.

Ivan still can’t believe his family owns a place that’s attracting lots of new customers and that boasts plenty of classic pizza menu items plus new, creative and tasty choices of pizzas, ribs, salads, specialty subs, wings, pastas and catered party trays.

“He’s already started making his own pizzas and Panwich recipes,” noted Maryana with a wink toward her son. “It’s a nice family business that can grow with the neighborhood. We can leave it for our kids.”

Ed says the growth in customers has been the most amazing thing so far – at the very beginning he described the pace as “total chaos.” Maybe it was all those new tastes or the free pizza samples. Whatever the reason, fortunately Maryana's years of experience as a hospital emergency room coordinator kicked in quickly and intuitively. Her logistical skills are a natural for managing all the comings-and-goings of a busy pizza delivery and pick-up operation. Having a friendly hard-working team that also includes Jan Turovsky and Bob Piros (pictured) certainly helps.

“We make our pizzas with love,” says Jan.

They love their menu as much as the kids and customers. Maryana’s favorites are the Chicken Ranch Supreme with chicken, bacon, ranch sauce, and cheddar and provolone cheeses. She also goes for the BLT Panwich. Ed says he loves the ribs which come with an original BBQ or a sweeter sauce. He’s a fan of the brand new Panwich, too.

As busy as this new Lakewood business has become under the new ownership, the youngest partner pauses to remember his first reaction when he found out that pizza-making was going to be a regular family activity for his sister and him.

“I think I fainted. I luvvvvvv pizza!” said Ivan... the future Lakewood Pizza Pan head creative chef!