Ann Arbor has a new food competitor with the arrival of Hometown Pizza, an Adrian, Michigan-based restaurant that features fresh ingredients, arcade claw machines and a soon-to-be golf simulator.
Since opening on January 18, Hometown Pizza, located on 5060 Jackson Rd in Ann Arbor, has become a hotspot restaurant measured by its fresh takes on pizza and innovative gaming Ideas that rival those of X-Golf and popular pizza chains.
Co-owned by Alex Willnow of Adrian, a former ten-year golf professional and the former head golf pro at Hills of Lenawee (formerly the Lenawee Country Club), and his employee-turned-partner, Hunter Comstock. The duo met at a Hometown Pizza location in Adrian, which also doubled as a convenience store. Willnow purchased the property in 2020 and began working closely with Comstock.
Comstock recalled the origins of the initial partnership while working in the Adrian location while a high school student.
“I worked in the convenience store (that housed Hometown Pizza) called the Midway Market, so I was not just making pizza for four years. I was working with stock, and talking to all the vendors,” said Comstock. “After I graduated, I told him that I was interested in starting my own business after high school and not going to college. He convinced me to stay with him and see what we could do together.”
The result of that conversation became an expansion of Adrian Hometown Pizza, leading to Willnow and Comstock opening an official brick-and-mortar location in Ann Arbor.
“We have used word of mouth advertising and worked with some of the local schools like Dexter High School while doing catering orders, dine and donates for local teams, and working with the schools to push more into that area,” Comstock said.
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Regarding food, Hometown Pizza explores a fresh takes on the cuisine offering a host of innovative variations like its hometown special which comes with pesto sauce, bacon, chicken, onions and tomatoes or if you’re feeling particularly adventurous, you can explore their breakfast pizza which comes with sausage, bacon and eggs on sausage gravy.
“Everything is fresh. We make our dough, shred our cheese daily so it does not have preservatives, cut all the veggies, and make everything fresh in-house,” Comstock said. “We are known for our breakfast pizza. It is different in Adrian, because that location is a convenience store that opens at seven. But the breakfast pizza is why we open at nine, and people enjoy it. That’s one of our unique items.”
In addition to the food items, what’s soon to set this space apart from other businesses is its new inclusion of a golf simulator. Led by Willnow, Comstock said the golfing experience will operate in the back of the restaurant and work hand-in-hand with the restaurant.
“Alex is the golfer. He wanted to throw up a golf simulator for fun and hang out. Then he said we can turn this into a business when we can make money, so we planned the layout and just started building,” Comstock said. “It opened in 2021, and it was an absolute hit in Adrian. The idea is to incorporate the two together. The golf simulators do not take much labor to get people going.”
The simulator, positioned in a space equal in size to the pizza shop, will offer space for parties or other events. While the simulator is still under construction, Comstock said the business is expected to be up around October this year and admits he’s excited to see the final result.
Comstock said the restaurant is looking to explore more than food options, with ambitions to gain its liquor and lottery license to place machines like arcade Pokeno.
“We are planning for October 1. We’re finishing up getting the building permit sets and applying for a liquor and lottery license,” Comstock said. “The perfect combination is people hitting on the simulator, enjoying pizza, beer, and wine, and then Pokeno for more entertainment.”
For more information on Hometown Pizza in Ann Arbor, you can visit their website or call (734) 369-9303.
Antonio Cooper is a freelance journalist from Detroit, Michigan. His coverage of music festivals and interviews with local celebrities appeared in The E-Current Magazine, The Detroit Metro Times, XXL Magazine, RichMagDigital, The Ann Arbor Observer, and Pop Magazine.
