St. Joseph will be welcoming a new pizza spot this spring as part of the new House Food and Tap food hall.
Birdie’s Pizza and Garden Bar will bring Neapolitan-inspired pizza and unique flavor combinations to central Minnesota this spring.
Longtime family friends Tyler Thieschafer, Sheena Thieschafer, Chelsea Gauthier and Michael Gauthier came together to start the business, which is inspired by Michael Gauthier’s efforts to recreate the pizzas he had eaten in Italy back in Minnesota.
“I was like, ‘I can eat one of these pizzas every single day,'” Michael Gauthier said. “I wanted to make something that was close and did justice to what I had over there.”
The two families got involved with The House Food and Tap due to their friendship with owners Craig and BriAnne Hern. Sheena Thieschafer has worked with Craig Hern for many years, and when she found out last year that he was working on a food hall concept, she called him to talk about collaborating.
A sample pizza that will soon be served at Birdie’s Pizza in St. Joseph.
After that conversation, the Thieschafers and Gauthiers decided to bring their skills and careers together to open a restaurant, which is their first venture into the small business world. They explored many business ideas together before settling on a pizza and salad spot, Sheena Thieschafer said.
“That type of pizza is really difficult to find in this Central Minnesota market, and so we knew, if we would introduce that into the community, it would be something different than what is out there today,” she said.
Tyler Thieschafer, “Birdie” Thieschafer and Michael Gauthier stand in front of the Birdie’s Pizza and Garden Bar sign at The House Food and Tap.
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Birdie’s, named after the Thieschafers’ daughter’s nickname, will serve a varied menu of brick-oven pizzas and salads. Customers can order typical pizza options, or they can try unique specials like bacon Brussels sprout or lemon ricotta pizzas, as well as the pretty girl, which Michael Gauthier called an “amped-up Hawaiian pizza.”
The restaurant will also offer a salad bar, with some staple salad options, rotating seasonal items and build-your-own salads.
“Our families are really excited about all of this work and effort that we put in over a number of months to actually come to life, and … using the skills that each of us uniquely have to pour into this project has been really cool,” she said.
Construction is continuing on the The House Food and Tap in St. Joseph, which is eyeing a March opening.
The team said starting a restaurant for the first time can be a bit stressful, but with the support they have received from the Herns and the other chefs in the food hall, they feel ready to get started.
The Herns and the food hall’s restaurant owners meet weekly to discuss business plans and progress toward opening. The meetings have helped the business owners get to know each other and created a guide for the Birdie’s team to follow.
“We’re kind of the youngest of the bunch really in there, in the culinary aspect of it, but we feel really prepared and well supported, because of the people that are a part of the project,” Michael Gauthier said.
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St. Joseph’s House Food and Tap plans to open soon
In addition to Birdie’s, The House Food and Tap will include three other restaurant spots, such as local roastery Eminent Coffee Roasters. Joetown Smashburger, from Krewe and Flour & Flower team Mateo Mackbee and Erin Lucas, and former Minnesota Vikings player Esera Tuaolo’s 98 Hawaiian Grill will be located in the food hall.
Construction is still underway on the building. BriAnne Hern said the team is working toward a spring opening, with soft openings in the works for late February into early March and a grand opening around mid-March.
Once up and running, The House Food and Tap will be open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at 13 Second Ave. NW in downtown St. Joseph.
Teagan King covers business and development for the St. Cloud Times. She can be reached at teking@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: St. Joseph food hall adds Birdie’s Pizza to restaurant lineup
Dining and Cooking