March 24, 2005 – Yes! You can now get pizza delivery on St. John. You can eat in, take out or have it delivered to your door at Ronnie's Pizza & Mo', located in Cruz Bay at the Boulon Center.
"As far as Adrian and Cinnamon Bay," owner Ronnie Klingsberg said, speaking of points way out of Cruz Bay.
He also delivers around Cruz Bay, to hotels, to villas, and to bars and restaurants. Klingsberg said that his delivered pizza is often the meal of choice for restaurant and bar workers on duty during mealtime.
While St. John does have a few other pizza places, none deliver.
Klingsberg, 41, opened Ronnie's Pizza just over a year ago after more than a decade at the Rolling Pin Bakery's ovens. He still owns the bakery, located a couple of blocks away on Route 104, and can often be seen making quick time between the two.
He and his wife, Leslie, moved to St. John in 1991 from Boston because his wife's mother, Joan Bermingham, lived on St. John. His father-in-law, the late Ed Bermingham, conjured up a pizza recipe and ran a pizzeria for several years. Klingsberg said he's tweaked Bermingham's recipe just a bit.
"To make it just like back home," Klingsberg said.
His pizza comes in 10 different varieties, including such exotic takes as Tex-Mex pizza with tomato, jalapeno, Monterey Jack, and cheddar toppings. Of course, you can get a cheese pizza with a choice of toppings that run from the familiar mushrooms and onions to the more unusual broccoli, roasted garlic and sun-dried tomatoes.
Ronnie's Pizza also offers a salad bar that includes a couple of different types of lettuce as well as homemade hummus and tabouli and cold curried chicken.
"It's soup to nuts," Klingsberg said.
He said that opening a pizzeria was a natural offshoot of his skills as a baker. He learned the ropes at a bakery owned by his family back in Boston.
While the baking and pizza making may come easy, being in business poses numerous challenges.
"The price of tomatoes has gone through the roof," he said.
Then there's the matter of employees. Klingsberg said he always wonders if they'll be late, or even if they'll show up at all.
It's the same story with supplies.
"Will they come in today, tomorrow, next week, ever?" he said.
Klingsberg jokes about the numerous problems faced by small business owners, including the downside of being self-employed.
"You're a slave to the business," he said, laughing.
Ronnie's Pizza is open from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday. On Saturday, the restaurant is open from 3 to 9 p.m. It's closed Sunday.
Call 693-7700 to order a pizza.