Lucerne >> In a quaint building on the northern shores of Clear Lake, Gregory Belger speaks with a passion about crafting the perfect pizza pie. And while Belger only has about six months of experience when it comes to the business of pizza making and the restaurant has experienced a few bumps, works toward that goal even when off duty. “I watch a lot of food network,” Belger said with a laugh.
It has taken a good deal of effort and a large sum of money for Belger’s Famous Pizza Pies to reach the point they’re at now, Since acquiring the location, he added a mop closet and grease catch, rebuilt the bathrooms so they’re handicap accessible, added a second fan to the fridge, replaced the malfunctioning oven, constructed barriers to protect the outside of the building and replaced an entire wall just behind the counter with transparent material. Now customers can watch the employees throw the dough, pile on toppings and send their orders right through the ovens.
Though Belger received $75,000 from the Oakland Business Development Corporation for his restaurant, the funds haven’t been enough to cover the costs. So far he’s invested $21,000 of his own money into replacing and renovating the space. That figure is likely to grow, as he plans to lay down pavement in place of red rocks outside the building, and replace the laminate floor with checked tile. Belger praises the efforts of small business development and Workforce Lake, as well. While making repairs, he hired and trained staff.
Though it’s been a huge undertaking, the efforts have been worth it. “If you do anything, do it right, I don’t care what it is,” Belger said.
Before opening his business and dealing with broken equipment, Belger traveled a tougher road. In 1979 he was attending a junior college on a Pell Grant when the grant money ran out. Without many other options, he enlisted in the military. “At 19 years old, there was nothing more important to me than the red, white and blue flag,” he said. “[I thought,] I get to serve my country and get money for college. How cool is that?” He has been suffering with PTSD since.
Then, after leaving the military and heading back to school to become a paralegal, Belger was arrested and sent to prison for a crime he claims he didn’t commit. Before the resolution of his case, he filed an appeal. He said this was a huge mistake as he should have waited until after the resolution to file. As a result, he was convicted. He received a life sentence, defined as 30 years in the state of Missouri.
Belger was released after 18. With his paralegal ambitions lost, in 2012 he moved to Lake County to be with his wife. “I’m still working on my appeal as we speak,” he said.
Though he said he greatly regrets the blunder, Belger looks to his faith when he’s struggling. “I just know [stuff] happens, but I know God is stronger,” he said. “We all struggle with our inner issues, but it doesn’t change who God is and who we are and what our role is in society, which is to be blessed and be a blessing to others.”
When he decided to begin Belger’s Famous Pizza Pies, Belger had a clear goal in mind: elevate the community. When he first drove through the Lucerne area, there were few restaurants and those that were around didn’t impress him much. “It’s all about the kids and saving the economy and this is so needed at this time in Lake County. You don’t want to be a tourist destination and not have amenities tourists are accustomed to,” he said. “We’ve never had a place like this in this corridor where [people] can stop and feel comfortable when they come into a place.”
Belger’s employees, each in their late teens or early twenties, are a large motivating factor behind the pizza place. “The most important thing is that I have the opportunity to be a blessing, financially and spiritually, to the kids in this community,” he said. “That’s the only thing that’s important to me is being in a place where I can help other people.”
The menu has been a struggle, too — especially when the oven faltered. But Belger feels the establishment is on firm footing now. Nothing is more important to him than using fresh ingredients. They cook a new batch of ham and season fresh ground beef each morning, fill containers with crisp veggies every day and always prepare new batches of sauce. “The freshness is very important. The quality is very important,” Belger said. “We throw it out if it’s not fresh, because that’s what we pride ourselves on.”
But more than the meat or vegetables, it’s the cheese that sells the pies. It’s not a typical mozzarella. Instead, he purchases a blend of cheese from Hoffman’s Dairy in Wisconsin. Provel cheese, as it’s called, combines provolone, white cheddar and Swiss cheeses and was originally invented for St. Louis-style pizza. It’s expensive, but worth it.
The unique blend met with resistance when Belger first opened his restaurant, but it’s difficult to see why. A customer once chalked it up to the unexpected taste. Most people grow up with traditional mozzarella cheese topping their pizzas and the rich Provel cheese was hard to adapt to. Belger, who’s constantly listening to his customers, began carrying mozzarella, though he said people never request it anymore.
The cheese blend is just the beginning of a long list of unique items at Belger’s Famous Pizza Pies. They sell a taco pizza and a cheeseburger pizza as well the classic southern dish, chicken and waffles. People may ask, why chicken and waffles at a pizza joint? It’s a fair question. “I just wanted to be different, just wanted to do something that no one else was doing,” Belger explained. “Something like that was something they didn’t have anywhere else in Lake County.”
But the list doesn’t end there. Belger is working on a menu overhaul which will add a garlic white sauce chicken, chicken marinara sandwiches, house salads and a meatball sandwich. “We’re going to have the most decadent meatball sandwiches you ever ate,” Belger said. “It’s going to cost us but it’s going to be worth it. People like good food.”
Though there have been hardships along the way, Belger’s goal is to make the world a better place, one pizza at a time. “Compassion is something we have inside of us,” he said. “We can be so much more if we become all inclusive and allow people to harvest their gifts … There’s so much we can do to really change this world. I feel totally humbled and totally appreciative to God to be able to just live the American dream.”
Belger’s Famous Pizza Pies is located at 6232 E Hwy 20 in Lucerne. They’re open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. -8 p.m.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
