All8Up pizzeria in Hamilton on pace for June 1 reopening

Restaurant has been closed since April 23 for remodeling, but limited All8Up menus is available at Pinball Garage next door.

All8Up will be ready to reopen its expanded restaurant by the first week of June ― if not on June 1 ― after being closed for the past few weeks.

Pinball Garage owner Brad Baker purchased the downtown Hamilton pizzeria in January, and it has been closed since Apri 23 for the remodeling project. A limited menu is available at Pinball Garage’s Brisketology food truck.

Baker has expanded the kitchen space, which now takes up most of the original dining area, and is in the process of flooring the relocated dining room. He said they’ll have around 70 seats, including some booths, which will more than double the seating capacity prior to the expansion work.

Baker has experimented with some of the new menu items that will be on the expanded All8Up menu, including BBQ and brisket-topped pizzas, and will much of the original pizzeria offerings. He moved some of the equipment over to his Brisketology food truck a few days after the late April closure to offer the limited All8Up menu for delivery, carryout, and dining at Pinball Garage.

The expansion is due to the growth of Hamilton and the expected continual growth of Spooky Nook events and activities. Spooky Nook is the 1.2 million-square-foot complex on nearby North B Street that features a hotel, conference center, and the country’s largest indoor sports complex. The complex is now consistently seeing thousands of visitors over the course of a weekend.

Before the temporary closure, Baker told the Journal-News, “We’re really trying to think 10 years down the road and really what’s going to happen with Spooky over the years.”

Baker said he’d limit the menu during the construction closure to small and large pizzas with just a handful of topping options, but people are expected to get the first taste of All8Up barbecue and brisket-topped pizzas.

The pizzeria’s building has two addresses ― 21 and 23 N. Third St. ― though the restaurant previously occupied 23 N. Third St. with the exception of the occasional large gathering, which required the use of 21 N. Third St. With the expansion of the kitchen, Baker said he can install in “a much larger pizza oven” that will increase the pizza productivity.

There will also be a dozen beers on tap, along with a selection of bottles and cans, and fountain drinks.

All8Up will incorporate the Brisketology menu when it reopens, though redundant options will be consolidated, and Baker said he believes “we’ll be able to take both of those menus and really make some awesome things.”

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