New ‘dough’-main | Retired teachers, friends to open pizza parlor together in Acton

After 20 years of teaching at Acton Elementary School, three retired teachers have decided to put away the lesson plans and fire up the pizza oven in preparation for their new business venture — serving Neapolitan-style pizza.

Hood County residents Suzanne Francis, Ruth Matheny and Katie Agor will soon be opening a pizzeria in Acton called The Grove Wood Fired Pizza, at 6106 Rollins Road.

‘A VISION’

Named after the pecan trees nestled on the five-acre property, The Grove started out as an idea from Agor about a year ago.

“Katie and I were out here one day doing pecans and Katie was like, ‘I have a vision,’” Francis said.

“I found a TikTok on all the Midwesterners, you know, the farmers, and they weren't making money from their farm, so a lot of them have started pizza farms, or they use everything that they grow on their farm to make the pizzas,” Agor said. “Eventually, we want to try and grow a lot of our vegetables, and that's why we have the greenhouse. This summer we grew some basil and good rosemary. That's our goal eventually is to grow a lot of the stuff here, like a pizza farm.”

As plans for the eatery continue to finalize, the three friends have officially welcomed their transition from educators to pizza aficiona-doughs (pun intended).

“This is totally out of our wheelhouse, from teaching to making pizzas, but Katie loves to cook pizza, so she's our chef who does all the recipes and experiments on everything,” Matheny said.

GOURMET PIZZA SUCCESS

Held solely outdoors, The Grove has already hosted several small events and soft openings, where the ladies received feedback on their unique pizzas.

“We have a pizza called The Grove, and it has pecans, pears, spinach, prosciutto, gorgonzola and mozzarella, so it's something that a lot of people were like, ‘Pecans on a pizza?' But (at our last soft opening), it was one of the pizzas that people ordered the most. We got really good feedback on it,” Agor said.

Other gourmet pizzas include Chicken Alfredo, which includes alfredo sauce, sauteed white meat chicken, bacon and mozzarella cheese; Chuckwagon, which features barbecue sauce, pulled pork, pickled red onions and mozzarella cheese; and Philly Cheesesteak, with Philly sauce, sauteed onion, green peppers, thinly sliced beef, provolone and mozzarella cheese on top.

The Grove will also offer appetizers like the popular Pizza Bones — cooked pizza dough cut into bits and pieces that customers can dip into smooth and spicy whipped feta cheese, processed with roasted red peppers and spices.

A build-your-own pizza option will also be available, along with salads, sandwiches and desserts featuring cinnamon and pecan pie bombs.

The house specialty, Pizza Flight, is sure to be a hit, according to Agor.

“We get drinks from a local tea place, and we always get the same ones because we never want to commit to a whole drink, so we came up with the idea of pizza flights,” Agor said. “What you can do, instead of getting one whole pizza is you can get three small five-inch pizzas, so you can try different ones. That's our motto — try something new, and revisit what you love — because people might be afraid to try our pizzas because they’re gourmet, but this way you can try all the different kinds.”

One unique aspect of The Grove is its mural, painted by Granbury ISD teacher Kylee Peterson. The mural features #TheGroveTX with the phrase, “Delight in a flight” above three pizzas and a large pizza slice, where customers can take a photo acting like they’re eating part of the pizza.

"They can put it on Facebook, and we can have that as like a fun thing for people to do,” Francis said. “It's been so much fun just learning and getting together. We went last year to a big pizza convention in Las Vegas, and we learned that there's still a lot of stuff that we just are going to have to learn as we go.”

SUPPORTIVE BUT SKEPTICAL

At first, their husbands were skeptical about the business idea. They didn’t think they were really serious about opening a pizza restaurant.

“Last year, they really didn't think we went to the classes in Las Vegas, but we really did go,” Agor said. “We even split up. We didn't go together so we could gather more information." 

"We were there from the first class to the last, and our husbands were like ‘Y'all are serious about this,’” Francis said.

“I mean, our business model is rock, paper, scissors, so it doesn’t help,” Matheny chimed in, chuckling.

“For hard decisions we do rock, paper, scissors, so you can tell that's why our husbands were worried we weren't serious," Francis said. “But our husbands have still been very supportive."

AMAZING STORY OF FRIENDSHIP

Starting a business from scratch would not have been possible on their own, but together the three ladies proved that sometimes friendship is all you need to succeed.

“We're just getting to go on an adventure with someone, and that's so fun, you know, because I know I would not want to do this by myself, but it's a lot of fun with your friends,” Matheny said.

From former educators to travel companions, workout buddies, business associates, volunteer partners and now neighbors, Francis, Matheny and Agor have an amazing story of friendship.

“We got our husbands together, too, but the only thing we’re worried about now is that our husbands might want to go on a guy trip without us,” Francis said, chuckling.

Francis said the three always talked about what they wanted to do after they retired, and she’s glad they finally found their next project.

“None of us wanted to retire,” she said. “We wanted to do something maybe just a little bit different, but still wanted to be going and doing. It just seemed like a great adventure for us, and it's been a blessing all the way around.”

GOALS

The Grove is set to officially open for business sometime in the spring on a Thursday through Sunday schedule — leaving ample opportunity for the three to continue their travels together.

Francis said the trio has plans to incorporate live music, cornhole and a dog-friendly area into the pizzeria.

Although one of Matheny’s goals is to “conquer the pizza world,” she said she hopes that The Grove will eventually become a sought-after destination.

“It will be lit up at night to give it more of that destination atmosphere,” Francis said. “It’s gonna get better. We have a lot of plans.”

When asked what she’s most excited about, Francis said, “the excitement of seeing what we thought all come into reality.”

For more information and to watch for the opening date, follow the Facebook page: The Grove Wood Fired Pizza.