By Michael Foss and Molly Donovan
HALLOWELL — It all started on a whim in 2016, buying a used Neapolitan oven from Craigslist and mounting it on a trailer. We thought it would be fun to have it on our horse farm in Sabattus, serving barn and soccer team parties, family functions and the occasional school fundraisers.
As our pizza passion and perfection grew, so did our dream of opening a pizzeria. This journey took us to our first location in downtown Bath in June 2019. We named it Bruno’s Wood-Fired Pizzeria after our family’s German Shepherd, who was at the center of it all and shared our love for pizza.
After a long busy week in the summer of 2020, we took a boat ride up the Kennebec from Bath with no destination in mind. We made our way to the beautiful quaint town of Hallowell for lunch; while walking the town we found a vacant storefront with a massive outdoor patio overlooking the Kennebec. The interior offered the aesthetics we love — exposed brick, beams and wide-planked pine flooring. This spot was too good to pass up, so by June 2021, we opened our second location.
Our vision for Bruno’s contains thee simple ingredients — wicked fast, wicked good and wicked fun! To complement our wicked good food, nothing else does it more than craft beer and lots of it!
Our Hallowell location offers 16 taps, something for everyone — pale ales to stouts — but focuses on a variety of IPA’s. We change our selection with each season, keeping the local favorites available year-round.
— Foss and Donovan are general manager and assistant general manager of Bruno’s, respectively
