New vinyl record-themed pizza shop to open in downtown Hot Springs

HOT SPRINGS - In the past, Hot Springs has lacked an establishment that specializes in possibly the most popular food option in history: pizza.

Soon, that will change, as Vinyl Pies Pizza owners Karen and Gary Goss hope to open the pizzeria and sports bar by the end of September.

The vinyl record-themed pizzeria will offer specialty pies, listed as its "Greatest Hits," while patrons can customize their pies in the "What I Like About You" portion of the menu. The shop will also offer two dessert pizzas, according to Gary Goss.

"The unofficial town motto is 'Where Mayberry meets The Twilight Zone,'" Karen Goss said. "So, we said 'Pizza, plus a throwback theme - magic.'"

The Gosses, who also own Iron Horse Station, helped organize the "80s weekend" theme party earlier this year, from Feb. 25-27.

A pizzeria in Hot Springs

The idea to open a pizzeria in Hot Springs was one many years in the making.

"When we got here, we knew Hot Springs needed pizza," Karen Goss said. "Gary told everybody, 'You should do a pizza shop.'"

"People would ask me, 'What would you do here?' and I'd go, 'Open a pizza shop,'" Gary Goss said. "I told them, 'You open it, and you'll make a fortune.'"

Now, years later, the Gosses and their business partners Marty Martin and his girlfriend, Ashley Skipper, will embark on the business venture.

Years ago, Martin was in town visiting the couple. The idea to open a pizzeria started out as simply a pipe dream.

"Marty came and was here one night, and he said, 'Let's get pizza,' and we all started laughing," Karen Goss said. "I think I came up with the 'Vinyl Pies' name, and Gary came up with the pizza idea. We told (Martin), and he said, 'That's genius. I'll do that with you guys tomorrow.'"

According to Gary Goss, the long treks to neighboring towns for pizza was another incentive for bringing a local pizza shop to Hot Springs.

"Here's the problem we had: Everybody goes on these huge waits," Gary Goss said. "We've got families camping that say, 'I just need something fast for the kids,' and we know it's 45 minutes to Weaverville. But now, we can produce a quality, brick oven pizza in 10 minutes."

The Gosses manifested their dreams in buying Iron Horse, too. While the couple bought the building Aug. 31, 2018, the dream started in 2008.

"We came (to Iron Horse) to get away from the beach craziness," Karen Goss said. "We ate here, and we loved it. We were obsessed. We thought the town was so quirky and different. We sat in the back booth, and we split a meal, because we wanted to have enough money to tip.

"Gary sat in that back booth and said, 'We're going to buy this one day.' I just laughed and said, 'We can't buy two dinners.' We just laughed. That was in 2008. A decade later, we bought it."

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Martin and Skipper have been working on establishing the restaurant's decorations, which features rock lyrics and memorabilia from 2Pac, Jim Morrison, Jimmy Buffett, Billy Idol and many others. The pizzeria is even adorned with old records, including some on the base of the ceiling fans.

"We wanted that feel of 'quirky,' but inclusive and diverse," Karen Goss said.

To honor the Bridge Street building, located in the site of the former Capital Bank, the Gosses plan to keep the ATM outside of the building and will sell their T-shirts and clothing merchandise out of the former bank's vault.

Bringing you football, karaoke, more

The Vinyl Pies management team are all avid sports fans and hope to attract other fans to the restaurant.

"We're sports people, for sure," Karen Goss said. "There's nowhere in Hot Springs where people say, 'We've got to get the game.'"

Martin said he plans to be behind the bar serving drinks, and the Vinyl Pies team's plan is to offer a wide variety of events to bring in more customers.

"We're going to do a lot of things where people can come," Martin said. "A few nights a week, we're going to do something - whether it's a chicken wing night, karaoke, Thursday Night Football, college football, or Sunday Night and Monday Night Football."

The Vinyl Pies team will cook its pizzas in "Brick House," a 7,000-pound brick oven.

"We heat by gas," Gary Goss said. "You can do heat and wood. You can do just wood. But to maintain the temperature, we went with gas."

Goss said the total cook time for a pizza will take between four to six minutes.

"That's why we went with a brick oven - you can get in and out," said Goss, who has worked in restaurants for his entire adult life.

While the Gosses are thrilled to open their second restaurant in Hot Springs, the town's residents are equally excited.

Hot Springs resident Robert Tully has lived in the town for 11 years. Tully, who was born in Dublin, Ireland, and grew up in New York City, said the town is very excited about the new pizzeria.

"We need pizza in Hot Springs," he said. "They have pizza in other spots here, but this is going to be pizza. Real pizza."

Karen Goss said that enthusiasm and camaraderie is just another aspect of what she loves about Hot Springs.

"Another thing I love about this town, is that everybody's been so supportive," Karen Goss said. "I was a little worried (about the reception), but people could not have been more supportive. We love celebrating everyone in the town."

For the latest updates, including on the restaurant's "The Vinyl Countdown" to its opening, follow Vinyl Pies Pizza on Facebook at www.facebook.com/vinylpiespizza, and on Instagram at hwww.instagram.com/vinyl_pies_pizza/.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Vinyl Pies, a vinyl record-themed pizza shop, to open in Hot Springs