Luna Pizza brings the flavors of Naples to Clayton

CLAYTON — Pizza enthusiasts can taste something new at Luna Pizza Cafe, a small chain that has brought its Neapolitan-style pies to 802 E. Front St.

Co-owner Richard Williams said his guiding principle was to provide diners with a delicious escape from the routine. “That philosophy really tells us what we have to do all the time,” he said of the staff at Luna Pizza. “It means from the minute you walk in to the minute you have paid your bill, you are experiencing something different.”

Luna Pizza aims to change assumptions about pizza restaurants, Williams said. “People have an expectation that it’s going to be a pizzeria in a strip mall, and that’s not us,” he said. “It’s a different kind of pizza than you can get anywhere else. It’s the revolving, original-style pizza from Naples, Italy.”

Neapolitan pizzas are known for being simple, tender, light and moist. To make that happen, the cook continually moves, or revolves, the pizzas around the restaurant’s stone oven.

Williams said he wants both the pizzas and the dining experience to be different. “We have different music here,” he said. “We play Bossa nova and jazz.”

The eatery puts chilled water in upcycled wine bottles and serves it in cafe glasses. “We don’t have coffee,” Williams said. “We have espresso. We do everything a little differently.”

The Luna menu offers a selection of appetizers, including meatballs made in-house with beef, pork and pomodoro sauce, and Pizza Bones, or baked pizza dough served with pomodoro sauce.

Among the pizza offerings are the Margherita with crushed tomatoes, mozzarella and basil, and The Greek with extra-virgin olive oil, spinach, tomatoes, olives, mozzarella and feta cheese.

Williams tries to get the best ingredients possible. “We get our flour and our tomatoes from Italy,” he said. “The best pizza flour in the world comes from Parma, Italy. We would not be able to do what we do without it.”

The menu also offers a range of salads, desserts and specials. See the full menu on Facebook at Luna Pizza Cafe in Clayton.

The cafe, near the Spinning Mill Lofts, can seat around 58 people.

“There is a different level of service that we really try to create here,” Williams said. “We try to hit people right when they walk in the door with a different experience, like, ‘Hey, this isn’t the same place you were a minute ago. Let us serve you for a couple of hours, and we will treat you right.’ ”

With that experience in mind for his customers, Williams has surrounded himself with good people who uplift the cafe. In turn, the employees have flourished in a chain that now numbers three restaurants, including the original in Greenville, a sister cafe in Selma and a food truck in Charlotte.

“Jack is our kitchen manager here, and he started as a dishwasher in Greenville,” Williams said. “And Natalie is one of our managers here, and she was one of our managers in Greenville. She started as a hostess.”

“My goal is to be the worst at every position in the restaurant,” Williams said. “I want people who are just way better than I am at everything, and then that makes my life a lot easier.”

Luna Pizza Cafe is open from 5 to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 5 to 9 p.m. Sundays.

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