By: Felicia Clark
Welcome Cranky Pat’s Pizzeria & Pub to Shop Local Green Bay’s March Business of the Month!
Sarah Veldkamp spent her childhood in a Cranky Pat’s restaurant, established in Appleton in 1955 by her grandpa Pat Earle. The other pizzerias throughout Wisconsin are owned by her uncle, cousin and mother. With the passing of Sarah’s father, she and her husband Paul took over the Green Bay location in Bellevue, which opened in 1957.
About a year ago, Sarah and Paul opened another Cranky Pat’s in Suamico on Lineville Road. She said they were happy to open the new one to finally have a part of the restaurant they could expand and make their own. Plus, customers were always asking for another location on the West side of Green Bay so it wasn’t as far of a drive for them.
“We’re a pretty expensive pizza, but it’s nice when people see that it’s worth that,” Sarah said. “You can get a cheap pizza for $5 or $10 carry-out but it’s not the same as what we do. … It’s nice when people see all the hard work that goes into it.”
Nearly all of the ingredients used to make the pizza are either homemade or locally grown in Wisconsin. The Green Bay Crank Pat’s are one of the biggest mushroom customers of Schickert Distributing based in Campbellsport. All of the other produce, such as green peppers, onions, tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, etc., comes from Zimonick Brothers Produce Inc. in Green Bay. They also grind their own sausage and make their own dough, she said. The pepperoni comes from Prize Steak Products Inc. in Milwaukee and the cheese comes from Lone Elm Sales Inc. in Van Dyne.
Each restaurant shares a similar atmosphere of comfort with a homey feel decorated in earth tones. The Green Bay locations are especially small with a purpose. That purpose, Sarah explained, was to be closer with their customers and employees on a daily basis.
“Our goal is to not change anything … and the highest compliment is for someone to say, ‘I’ve been coming here for 30 years and it’s exactly the same,’” she said. “We stuck to the recipe and that’s what we like to do. It’s worked for us for 50 years so we don’t want to stray from it.”
Sarah wants customers to know the business is still run by the same people from the same family. She said they are not the kind of owners who come in to work to boss people around, rather she spends 40 hours per week making pizzas along with her employees.
“I think you have be really involved for it to be good and we’re proud of it being good!” she said.
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Cranky Pat’s on Green Bay’s East and West side have specials Monday through Wednesday and a lunch buffet offered every day. To learn more about the business, visit their site at http://www.crankypats.com/