Certified Pies opening next weekend

Brian ChilsonFrom left: Harlem Wilson, Samantha Stewart, Kreg Stewart.
Kreg Stewart, Samantha Stewart and Harlem Wilson began running Certified Pies 3 years ago out of a shared "ghost cooking area" area in West Little Rock. It was the first year of the pandemic, and the three had the ability to make an impression on the neighborhood, delivering pies out of the backdoor to parking lot in an alley behind a shopping center off West Markham.

On Saturday, Sept. 23, the three will open their own brick and mortar at 9807 W. Markham St., in same shopping center-- in addition to Fuller & & Son Hardware, Cheesecake on Point! and Andy's Restaurant.

Kreg Stewart initially leased the ghost cooking area at Arkitchen to start a meal preparation business. The idea to pivot to a pizzeria followed his good friend Harlem Wilson made him a mind-blowing homemade pizza for his birthday.

" I indicate, literally the very first bite I bit into, I was like, 'Harlem, bro, why are you not selling this? Why are you refraining from doing anything with this? We need to absolutely be doing something with this,'" Stewart stated in an 2021 interview with Arkansas Times.
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The strategy went into the motion the following week, and the 2 started working on dough dishes and dreamed up a pizza menu admiring the music they take pleasure in: The Al Green pie includes an Alfredo base with a five cheese blend, spinach, chicken and tomato and the Smooth Operator has a house-made ranch sauce base with a five cheese mix, chicken and bacon collapse.

In 2021, Certified Pies was nominated for the emerging minority company of the year through the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce. It also won third place and $5,000 in The Venture Center's Pint N' Pitch contest.

Samantha Stewart said Certified has a lot of brand-new collaborations with regional minority services she's delighted to bring to the new area. In addition to Truth Sauce, Certified will include Johnny Free & & Paw-Paw's lemonade, Sarge's Famous Pickles, which they're going to fry up and serve with house-made cattle ranch and Truth Sauce. Certified will also offer pound cakes desserts from KB's Love By the Pound and More.

The Stewarts said they've been getting questions about the opening daily in their inbox. A few of their loyal fans have actually even sworn off pizza up until they can get Certified once again.

" It's actually surreal," Kreg stated. "I can't believe three years ago we sat on the sofa and we talked about the vision we wanted to see. I informed Sam and Harlem that I believe this would truly take off, and we might actually make this into a huge organization, and I completely thought it.
Licensed Pies will be open from 10:30 a.m.- 8 p.m. Tue.-Thu. and 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Fri.-Sat. The pizzeria's telephone number is 501-442-5096. Follow its Facebook page here.