Elevate is excited to announce the soft opening of Colony Grill in St. Petersburg on Monday, November 1st! Their new location is right in downtown (670 Central Ave St Pete, 33701) and they are open 7 days a week from 11:30am until late.With a pizza unlike any other, Colony Grill provides simple enjoyment, exceptional hospitality, and abundant civic leadership to the communities in which their restaurants are located. In addition, Colony Grill strives to be an exceptional workplace and a civic leader, contributing to the worthwhile and positive initiatives of our patrons and neighbors – especially men and women “in uniform.” Colony Grill’s story dates back to 1935, when a post-Prohibition tavern opened in an Irish immigrant neighborhood in Stamford, Connecticut. Since then, Colony has become famous for what is now its only menu offering: a one-of-a-kind, thin-crust pizza that is best served with the signature “hot oil” topping. We know what you are thinking… Irish pizza? Grill? The original owners of Colony were indeed Irish-Americans, but they employed some Italian and Eastern European chefs during the Great Depression. These men proudly wanted bar patrons to try the pizza recipes of their homelands, but needed to figure out how to fit a pizza tray on the narrow Colony bar top. The solution: the “bar pie”… extremely thin crust, smaller in diameter than a traditional pizza, and not too much cheese or sauce so that slices can be easily managed with one hand, fittingly leaving the other hand free to hold a glass.
Colony Grill has been consistently named “Top 101 Pizzas in America” by TripAdvisor and has been featured in such publications as USA Today, New York Magazine, Connecticut Magazine, Gourmet, Pizza Today, and Roadfood: The Coast-to-Coast Guide to America’s Best Local Eateries.
Barstool Sports CEO Dave Portnoy reviewed their pizza on his viral One Bite Pizza Review YouTube series saying “I love bar pizza! I love this pizza!”
New York Magazine wrote in their Pizza Perfection: 101 Awesome American Pies (and Slices): “You can’t help but respect a place that only has one thing on the menu. That’s the case at the Colony Grill, where cracker-thin pizza is the only choice. You can pick your toppings, but the only real decision to make is whether you want that pizza with or without the place’s signature hot oil. You want it with.”
