New Berlin Restaurant Reopens With A Familiar Face

NEW BERLIN, WI—It is game day for families who go to StoneFire Pizza Co. at 5320 S. Moorland Road: The family-favorite entertainment center and restaurant reopens Wednesday after being shut down because of the pandemic.

The business has a new owner, Ted Cutting, who worked as a general manager when it opened in 2006.

Cutting and founders Dave Church and John Wlodarski came up with the business concept, he told Patch. "We developed this business with the intent to bring food and fun to the family," Cutting said.

Developer Carl Tomich bought the business in 2011 after it experienced some financial trouble during the recession, Cutting said. The business lasted 15 years after he moved on from StoneFire Pizza Co. with the same people in place. "I became very successful after I moved to California," Cutting said. "I currently own 14 restaurants now."

Cutting finds restaurants that need help and purchases them, he said. He soon learned that StoneFire had closed and wasn't in the process of reopening. "I talked to Carl [Tomich], who wanted the business to be successful and open but didn't know how to do it," he said.

Cutting ended up buying StoneFire on his birthday, March 10. He gave one share of StoneFire each to Church and Wlodarski. "The original group is back in charge," he said.

Pizazz, Pizza And Play

The New Berlin building encompasses 40,000 square feet with a state-of-the-art arcade area and a candy store. But there have been changes to the menu and other things.

The buffet has returned but with some modifications. The salad bar won't have a ton of toppings to keep prices cost-effective, Cutting said. "We are stocking three different types of lettuce, vegetables, potato and pasta salad and five different salad dressings," he said.

For the dessert bar, there are freshly made cookies, gelatin dessert, slushies, ice cream and pudding.

The restaurant offers specialty pizzas on occasion, such as a Chicago-style pizza or a sausage, goat cheese and sun-dried tomato pizza. "We won't consistently do it because it takes away from the pizazz of being there, and people ... are lucky to try" them, he said. The dough recipe has also changed.

"The game floor is completely redone," Cutting said. There are three more stages of difficulty on the large climbing wall. "We have more than 40 new games," he added.

StoneFire Pizza offers touch-screen arcade games and old standbys such as skee ball, which has been updated. And there are the bumper cars, an updated bowling alley and a virtual reality arena.

There are several rooms to choose from to eat in or celebrate team events and birthday parties:

• Discovery Room has been updated to include a children and toddlers play area.
• The Lounge is the spot for a quiet bite or business event.
• Toon City is where you can grab a bite and take in a classic animated movie on a big screen.
• The Fan Club is now an adult lounge where you can settle in with a slice and watch the game or grab a drink from a fully stocked sports bar.

Masks Optional

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in March that Gov. Tony Evers did not act lawfully in issuing multiple public health emergencies during the pandemic, ending a statewide mask mandate put in place to limit the spread of the coronavirus and the latest executive order declaring a public health emergency.

"We thought about the glass partitions and the mandatory face masks," Cutting said. "We as a restaurant will always wear masks and gloves."

The business held a mock dining last week and surveyed people. Roughly 200 people said they didn't want to wear a mask, and 50 said they would.

"We can't mandate the mask if the state won't mandate the mask," he said. "What we can do is have masks on hand and ask people who feel ill to wear one." But the restaurant will recommend people wear masks when they are there, he said.