Salisbury’s Pizza, which opened on August 18 in Casa Linda, is the debut independent restaurant for Will and Julie Salisbury, both veterans of Monarch, Carbone, and Bullion, Will as a chef, Julie as a sommelier. But the new restaurant isn’t fine dining. It’s a casual neighborhood pizza joint, with a nostalgic menu of big 18-inch pies.
“We’re pretty much self-funded,” Will Salisbury says. “We got married in December and decided that we weren’t going to have a wedding. We did it at the justice of the peace. I went to work that night at Urbano Cafe. We were like, rather than pay for a wedding or buy a house, let’s break off on our own and do our own thing. No designers, no general contractor. This has all been us.”
In social media posts, the Salisburys estimate they saved about $250,000 on their restaurant by doing as much as possible themselves. A few weeks before opening, they invited me to the nearly-finished dining room to discuss the behind-the-scenes labor of opening a new restaurant…