The Oven was once known as a hidden gem at their location on East 4th Street. But after the community voted them as both the “Best Local Pizza” and then the best overall local restaurant in a competition hosted by Owensboro Times, The Oven’s owners have been experiencing the best business since opening their doors in 2018.
Owners James Harlen and Shelly Marshall said their business has grown steadily since the beginning, but winning the competition led to a boom — so much so that Marshall said need to add a new person in the kitchen and in the dining area.
“I mean, we never had a real big crowd dining in before COVID and COVID kind of stopped what we did have. But now it’s picked up even more than what it used to be,” Marshall said.
She said several customers come into the restaurant and mention they learned about The Oven because of Owensboro Times and other outlets in town recognizing them for their service.
Harlen said all the feedback has been great. He credits a lot of the increased traffic to the OT Eat Down the Street competition.
“I mean if it wasn’t for the contest, I wouldn’t think we would have blown up as much. But since the contest, everybody’s like, ‘well, we got to try it,'” Harlen said.
Marshall said she hears the freshness of the pizza is what keeps people coming back, as the dough is always made fresh each day.
Their reach extends beyond the city as well. Both Harlen and Marshall said they see customers ordering and coming from Henderson, Rockport and other places in Indiana.
As for what 2022 holds, they see first opening their buffet to lunchtime customers, opening earlier in the day, and adding more staff. But that’s not all.
Harlen said with their current location, they have been able to meet people on the east side of town; however, they know that there’s a crowd of customers on the west side of the city they are missing.
“We thought about maybe expanding because we have a lot of customers on the west side and sometimes it takes a while to get the food to them,” Harlen said.
But at the core of it all, the two are thankful for the support they have received from the community since opening, and to the new customers they’ve gained in the last couple of months.
