Andy's Pizza Has a Home in Albertville

Many-a-St.Michael-Albertville resident has probably called the number of his or her favorite pizza joint lately and heard this somewhat puzzling anwser on the other end of the line:

"Thanks for calling Andy's Hometowne Pizza! How may I help you today?"

Funny, you think to yourself. I thought I was calling ...

Stop right there. 

There's no need for confusion. Andy's Hometowne Pizza is run by Andy Thompson, the same guy who ran the, er, well, OTHER place. 

"It's a long story, but the fact of the matter is we've got the same great pizza, a lot of the same great stuff on the menu and we're excited to be staying here in Albertville," Thompson said. 

What happened is Andy and his wife, Christy, shed the franchise label, and are now running their own, hometown shop. 

"It gives us the freedom to build the relationships with our customers that we'd like to build, and that we have built over the last four years," Andy said. 

Thompson is a St. Michael-Albertville grad. Christy, meanwhile, is a Hanover native. Their roots are, you might say, entrenched here. 

"I can't imagine being anywhere else," Andy said. "We might, one day, like to try another location, but we'll always have our store here. This is home." 

Since the summer of 2007, Thompson has carved out a niche in the pizza market here in St. Michael-Albertville. And it's a very competitive one. He's brought in a background from places like JR's ("my first job") and others along the way. But one thing has set Andy's apart, he believes.

"You gotta have great, extreme customer service. And I think we've had that. I've worked with a lot of family here, my own and my brother's. That's made it comfortable for us to work together, and for our customers, because they get to know us," Andy said. 

Another thing that's set Andy's apart: The Monster Pizza. 

It's 30-inches of pizza goodness that has challenged the biggest of appetites. 

How'd it start?

"I had one customer who loved his 18-inch [extra large] pizza, but he and a friend had a huge appetite one night. We wondered how large we could go?" Andy said. 

Andy's brother, an engineer, helped create a box. The limit, it seemed, was 30 inches, and the Monster was born.

You can view some of the challenges, both victors (free pizza!) and failures, on the wall at Andy's location in Towne Lakes Plaza. 

"I'd say, on the high end, we'll do 15 to 20 challenges a month," he said. 

"It's pretty fun to watch," said Christy. 

With the Albertville Premium Outlets nearby, Andy's isn't just a delivery place. It's become a destination for people and pizza. 

"We want to keep all of that going. There will be some tweaks, but we'll be very much the same. We've got great pizza and we can make it the way I want to make it. That's the good thing," Andy said. 

For more, visit Andy's Hometown Pizza . Or, call 763-416-5669. Yep, it's the same number as it was when it was that other place.