Figo's Pizzeria Serves Fresh Italian Dishes
PITTSFIELD, Mass.— Figo's Pizzeria is offering family-style Italian dishes from scratch in the former Teddy's Pizza Restaurant.
Bridget and Jacob Sweener, spouses and co-owners of Figo's, opened their new location at the end of October, aiming to create a welcoming place for the community.
"We want you to be able to sit down at the bar and have a pizza and a beer, or to be able to sit here together on a date on Friday night or Saturday and have prime rib and a nice glass of wine instead of just pizza," said Jacob.
Even the name suggests how they want it to be a cool place to unwind or enjoy a meal.
"Figo's is a slang word that means trendy or cool. That's what we want this to be. We wanted to be a trendy, cool hangout," Jacob said.
The Sweeners acquired their space at 508 East St. in June and got to work renovating. They replaced the former benches, painted, decorated, and even got a new roof.
"There's been improvements that we've done like that people wouldn't see with the naked eye, too,"Jacob said.
Teddy's was there for over 50 years and while the Sweeners loved Teddy's, they wanted to make the space their own.
"Is it a beautiful thing that the [Teddy's founders Teddy and Susan Bilis] owned it for 50 years and we get to take over their space, but I think we needed our own identity within that," he said.
The two are no strangers to the eatery business. They formerly owned Fat Frogs food trucks and own Pizza Trails, a pizza food truck catering business that they still operate and which has helped them bring in customers to the pizzeria.
"We've grown a wonderful clientele with that. We do a ton of catering. We do weddings, we do events, we do corporate lunches, corporate dinners and whatnot," Jacob said.
"We've had a lot of customers in here. We've established that business over the last three or four years, and I think that that's even helped us here with the customer base and with learning."
Jacob also worked at Dream Away Lodge in the kitchen and waited tables since he was 14. Bridget's family owned the legendary Jimmy's Restaurant that closed in 2015, and she worked in various roles there.
Figo's Pizzeria serves a variety of meals, including pasta, pizza, and more that's made from scratch.
"Everything is handmade. It's not frozen stuff that we're selling. ... Things are fresh. That's our focus," Jacob said.
"Yes, we're a pizza place, but at the same time, we're a restaurant, and we want to have a fresh approach on things."
Figo's is open for dine-in and takeout from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday. There is a full lot on the right side of the building and in the back for parking.
The two are very thankful for the support the community has given them since opening.
They have seen their place packed with customers and say it's great to see so many people come out to enjoy their food.
"I just want everybody to know that we're thankful to be here. We're thankful for the support. We know how many wonderful restaurants that there are around the Berkshires, and for people to choose us, we feel honored and privileged to have people in the doors," Jacob said.
"It's been absolutely mobbed in here from four o'clock on, pretty much every night so far. And on Tuesday night, we were turning people away by 4:30.
"We're overwhelmed with joy from that, especially knowing how many other wonderful places there are to be able to have people come to us is really, really important."
The two are also excited to be creating memories for families and customers. They hope it is a space people want to come for a long time.
"One thing that I'm hearing is, we've had customers from my dad's, Jimmy's, and we've had customers from Teddy's, and all those people come in with their own memories," Bridget said.
"I'm excited to be able to have somebody come back someday and have their memories from 20 years ago. And I hope to be able to be that spot and those wonderful memories for all these families for generations."
Check Figo's Facebook page for special and menus; or call 413-344-9988.
Tags: new business, food, pizzeria,
