MILWAUKEE, Wisc. — On Valentine's Day, Milwaukee staple Maria's Pizza finally made its grand reopening.
"It smells like Maria's Pizza, it still smells the same!" said customer Patricia Wiese.
Patricia Wiese says the very first slice of pizza she ever ate back in 1957 came from Maria's and she couldn't wait to enjoy it again.
"We're going in, even if we have to wait five hours, we're getting our pizza from Maria's!" said Wiese.
That's exactly what Jennifer Francis wants to hear.
She and her husband Brian bought the restaurant late last year, once they learned that the south side staple still hadn't been scooped up nearly two years after closing.
"When we started to talk to Maria, we realized how much that she was holding out for someone who could take care of the business and carry it on and here we were to do that," said Francis.
That meant keeping the recipes exactly the same, right down to the dough.
Helping them along the way is the granddaughter of the original Maria, Maria Story.
She spent the first night front and center and Jennifer says they couldn't be more grateful.
"We couldn't have done it without her. There's no way that we could have done this if she wasn't so supportive," said Francis.
Jennifer says they plan to only take carryout orders from a limited menu of pizzas and garlic bread for the first few weeks as they settle in, but they hope to add on more of the classics sooner rather than later.
"It's kind of cool to be able to bring that back to other people because I know I'm not the only one. I can't be the only one that feels that way the first time they taste it," said Francis.
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