A local favorite, Billy’s Pizza Dugout, 332 E. St. Charles Road, Villa Park, has a new owner. Longtime owner Billy Peplowski was the hard-working friendly guy who combined his two passions, baseball and pizza, into a great pizza place. He made the hard decision to sell and get a more “normal” day job.

“I started making pizzas back in high school. I’d made pizzas for 20 years and worked in four different places before starting up my own business. Villa Park was a great place to bring my craft.

“It was a very difficult decision but I got a job offer that I couldn’t pass on and I now have every Saturday and Sunday off, which is just great. I’m working as an inside sales rep for Addison Electric, a motor shop in Addison. It’s a great company and has been there for 30 years.”

Peplowski took his time deciding on a buyer for his pizza business.

“I had the restaurant on the market for about 10 months and there were five or six interested parties. I met the new owner at a Robert Plant concert. We hit it off very well and it came up that he was thinking about opening a hot dog stand but after we talked for about two hours straight he said he would stop in and try the pizza and see the place. He obviously loved it and ended up buying it.”

Even though Peplowski was sad to sell his beloved restaurant, he was very comfortable selling it to the new owner Ben Seaver.

Seaver is also a very friendly guy, very much like Peplowski. He’s not planning to change the name of Billy’s but will add a few new items.

“Billy and I hit it off right away and I could tell he had a lot of passion for his ‘dugout.’ After I stopped by for the two-slice special late one afternoon, I fell in love with the vibe of the little pizza place where you can get a good meal at a great price. Well, I left and that was that.

“I went back to work the next day to find out the company that I was working for was cutting back because of the economy. I bumped into Billy again at Funky Java Coffee House late in the fall and while we had a coffee we both kind of looked at each other and the rest is pizza history.”

Seaver will bring a new perspective to the restaurant but knows not to mess with a good formula.

"This is the first restaurant I’ve owned but I’ve worked in them before. I decided to buy Billy’s because I could tell Billy was tired after 22 years in the pizza business. I won’t be making many changes because I believe that if it’s not broken don’t fix it. Billy used the best products for his pizzas so I won’t change that. I’m planning to add sandwiches, soup and cookies to the menu. So same name, same great pizza, same price. I’ll definitely keep the lunch special which is hugely popular. I’m going to extend the special until 7 p.m. so you can pick up a couple of slices for dinner instead of a whole pie.

“I look forward to meeting all of Billy’s customers, who I know are great,” said Seaver

I asked Billy what he will miss about his restaurant.

“I will miss almost everything and everybody. I loved talking with the customers and getting a feel for what they are doing with their lives. I will miss making pizzas and eating them everyday fresh out of the oven. I will not miss working every Saturday and Sunday. Selling the pizza place in Villa Park was the hardest decision I have ever made.”