Levant Corner Store celebrates National Pizza Day

BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - Thursday was National Pizza Day.

If you’re looking to celebrate with a slice, there’s no shortage of options around our area.

TV5 stopped by one location that has much more than pizza on the menu.

For many Mainers, they’re as loyal to their favorite pizza joint as they are their high school basketball team.

“I think we’ve probably got the best pizza in town. There are only two pizza places so that helps!” said Jamie Clark, Levant Corner Store.

Jamie and her husband Jason co-own the Levant Corner Store, where they’ve been serving up fresh baked pies for 14 years.

But Jamie’s experience in the pizza biz goes back even farther than that.

“I actually grew up at another store locally. My parents owned Village Variety over on Broadway. So I grew up making pizza. It was one of the only things I was allowed to do when I was a kid because they wouldn’t let me touch knives but they would let me roll out dough and make pizza boxes. So, it’s kind of in my blood,” said Clark.

Pizza sauce might be running through Jamie’s blood, but she says it’s their cheese that sets the Levant Corner Store apart. In fact, LCS goes through nearly 29,000 pounds of it a year.

“We have a specialty cheese that’s 50% provolone, 50% mozzarella. It’s good,” said Clark.

And it’s not just a warm slice of pizza you’ll be leaving with. The Levant Corner Store might just warm your heart as well.

Back in December, LCS started a new initiative called “pay it forward.”

Here’s how it works: customers leave behind donations, which the staff then give out to someone who may need a boost, or just a surprise to brighten their day.

“We’ve had one lady who cried. She was trying to get milk and bread and she was counting up money. She didn’t have enough to do that and fill her tank. So that felt really really good,” Clark said.

From fuel, to coffee, to sandwiches, they’ve given away more than $2,000 over the last two months.

“I was really surprised because we normally come here every day. We spend quite a bit of money here. So it’s really nice to see the community get out to do that. It helps us out a lot,” said customer Connor Glowa of Glenburn, who was surprised with free lunch Thursday.

“The community trusts us and they continue to support us and I think it’s really important that we’re here when we can to support them. And I think we have a platform that puts us in a unique position to be able to do that. So it feels really good to be able to do it,” said Clark.

In addition to pizza and generosity, LCS is known for their cheeky social media presence.

They have something planned once they reach 10,000 followers -- so find them on Facebook to see what it’s all about.

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