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One of Kelowna’s favourite downtown spots just got a whole lot better.
DunnEnzies Pizza Co. has expanded their original Ellis Street location, which now boasts a full bar and plenty of quality seating.
For co-founders and owners, Deb Dunnigan and Karyn MacKenzie, this move was something they’d discussed for a while, but the timing was finally right.
“We talked about it a couple of years ago and we were kind of on the fence about adding booze service to what we were already doing,” explained MacKenzie. “But we were limited by space too, so maybe that kind of stopped that train of thought a little bit.”
MacKenzie says it also helped that the space became available in a positive way, with Milkcrate Records vacating it for a bigger and better space of their own.
“It wasn’t like we were taking over a negative energy scenario where we forced them out the door,” she said. “So it just felt right, the timing was good.”
After opening the doors on DunnEnzies new Airport Village location in October, the pair had a little time to catch their breath before starting this venture in January.
The success of that bigger Airport Village location, as well as the good sized DunnEnzies in the Landmark Towers, definitely helped Dunnigan and MacKenzie pull the trigger on the downtown expansion.
“Downtown, we’ve always done such high volume, but we’ve never really been able to accommodate groups,” MacKenzie said. “If you’re by yourself for lunch, great place to come, but if you have two or three people, where are you going to sit?”
The new space, full of large tables and plenty of extra seating, definitely solves that issue and brings even more to the table than just a place to eat.
DunnEnzies’ new bar allows people to enjoy a mixed drink, $4 can of beer or a pint of Big Rock with their slice of pizza.
Dunnigan and MacKenzie say that they picked Big Rock not only because the sales representative is a good friend of theirs, but because they’re impressed with how far the Calgary brewery has come in recent years.
“Big Rock kind of mirrors our story a little bit,” they explained. “We’re Calgary transplants moved to B.C., Big Rock is a Calgary thing that’s moved on to B.C., and we’re super impressed with the lineup that they put out on their craft beer now.”
They added that not a lot of places in Kelowna feature Big Rock, so they were happy to go a little different route than some of the other establishments in the city.
From Sunday to Wednesday, the hours of DunnEnzies’ new space will mirror the hours of the pizza joint, but not on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
On those nights, when the pizza is served well past midnight, the bar and seating will close between 11 p.m. and midnight.
“Late night pizza is just so busy here and we don't want to sell booze to drunk people,” MacKenzie said, adding with a laugh that “we want to give drunk people pizza and send them in a cab.”
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