MANSFIELD — The smells of fresh dough and melting cheese mingling with spices and marinara has always greeted each Two Cousins’ Pizza customer walking into the North Main Street shop.
Under the ownership of Nichole Hamilton, customers also have the opportunity to venture outside their comfort zones with crab rangoon, chicken and waffles or Philly cheesesteak varieties.
“I know not everyone wants to eat pizza every day, so we’ve been experimenting,” Hamilton said. “We also added burgers and wings to the menu and have fold-overs, strombolis, subs and salad.”
Hamilton bought the downtown pizza shop in April and celebrated with a grand opening on Wednesday with staff members, friends and elected officials. The new owner has worked at Two Cousins for about two years, mostly as the general manager.
Two Cousins also partnered with multiple local businesses to give away gift certificates and Richland Carrousel tickets.
Two Cousins’ Pizza has about 10 employees and additional workers from the NECIC Summer Youth Work Program and Catalyst Life Services vocational services.
Hamilton thanked her staff and friends at the ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday.
“I’m overwhelmed with love and joy,” she said. “I love seeing our regulars every day, I love our team and I look forward to trying new things and giving people a reason to keep coming back.”
Hamilton said her personal favorite menu item is the BLT fold-over or “anything with jalapeños on it.” The jalapeños are locally sourced from the NECIC Urban Farm.
Hamilton, a mom of five, said she hopes to pass down the business to her children someday if they’re interested.
“I’m hoping we can all look forward to this together,” she said.
Hamilton is planning some remodeling of the shop in the future. She said she wants to get new tables and chairs for the restaurant.
“This is an older building so I’d love to give it a revamp,” she said. “I just want to keep giving back to the community and giving people a reason to come in.
“We do some pop-up events too, so you might see us open past our regular hours for special events.”
Two Cousins’ Pizza is located at 103 N. Main St. It also offers delivery. Customers can contact the business at 419-522-2211 or on Facebook.
Hours are Sundays noon to 6 p.m., Mondays–Thursdays 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Fridays 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturdays noon to 9 p.m.
