James Rada, Jr.

When Bev Koontz passed away on August 5, 2015, many people thought that it was the end of an Emmitsburg staple: Stavros Pizza. The restaurant closed and the lights stayed dark for months.

However, Stavros Pizza is returning. David George, owner of the building where Stavros is located, confirmed that he is in the process of selling the business to a new owner.

“The new owner is from the Thurmont area. He was a fan of Stavros and wants to carry on the tradition,” George said.

Stavros is located at 2 E. Main Street, on the first floor, beneath a 17-unit apartment building. It was closed for an extended time once before in 2010, when the building was damaged in a fire. At that time, Koontz had repaired her restaurant and reopened it.

Jerry Muir, Emmitsburg Zoning Tech, said that the plan had been for the restaurant to reopen on December 1, 2015, but the new owner is having trouble finding the right person to run the kitchen.

Stavros was a popular pizzeria on the downtown square for years until Koontz’s death, and the hope is that it will become so once more.

The restaurant is expected to reopen this month, if it hasn’t already opened between the time this story was written and the time when the current issue was published.