Universal Pizza hires staff, sets menu; now plans to open late this month, manager says
Universal Pizza Company General Manager Zach Stevens sits at the bar in the restaurant in Clinton. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
“It’s going to be great,” said Zach Stevens, general manager of the restaurant in the new Clinton Shopping Center near Interstate 75 Exit 122 in Clinton.
Owner Randy Burleson, who also operates the Aubrey’s restaurant group, had predicted in November that Universal Pizza would be open by late January, but he said in March that had been delayed by the January snowstorm that caused work on some of other restaurant properties to take precedence.
With the staff now in place, the restaurant is nearly ready to go – as the building and equipment have already been in place for months.
Big-screen TVs line the walls on both sides of the restaurant, with the west side set up as a bar.
The tentative menu lists appetizers such as garlic knots, wings, fried pickles, cheesy bread, chicken tenders, and chilled buffalo chicken dip served with pita bread.
Under sandwiches, the menu shows three hoagies: meatball, chicken tenders, and Italian; along with a BLT on sourdough bread. All come with fries.
There is also a list of salads, including house, Caesar, Caprese, and Rocket (with arugula, blue cheese, walnuts, bacon bits, and craisins, tossed in citrus vinaigrette).
Regular pizza sizes are 12 and 14 inches, and there will be a 10-inch gluten-free pizza offered.
But that’s not all. Burleson said the restaurant will serve 36 varieties of craft beer, and also plans to serve cocktails.
Although there is no sign up yet over the business, Stevens said it “has been ordered,” and will be in place soon.
Burleson said Universal Pizza will be patterned after two other area restaurants he owns – Stefano’s Pizza in Hardin Valley and the Blue Tick Tavern in Maryville.
“We will be combining those two concepts into one in the Clinton location,” he said earlier.
The restaurant will have table service.
The location is on the east end of the new four-unit Clinton Shopping Center, which is between Sonic Drive-In and Wenday’s.
Three other businesses have already opened in the center -- US Cellular, Penn Station East Coast Subs, and the Fifth Nail Lounge.
Christopoulos & Kennedy Construction of Knoxville built the interior of Universal Pizza, which has 3,178 square feet of space.
As for the center overall, the city of Clinton issued a building permit in May 2022 for the nearly $1 million, 7,000-square-foot shell building at the site. The contractor was listed as Creative Structures, Inc.
The site is less than a mile from Interstate 75, Exit 122. It has about 75 parking spaces, according to documents filed with the city.