Exeter's Supreme Pizza reopening after fire caused nearly 3-year hiatus

EXETER — Supreme Pizza & Seafood is reopening in May after it was shut down for nearly three years due to a devastating fire.

Owner Panagiotis “Peter” Parkiotis said this week repair work is almost complete at the 134 Front Street pizzeria.

“I’m hoping everybody is going to support me,” he said. “It was a disaster for me and my family for the last two years because of the economic situation. … We’ll always try to do the best for our customers."

When customers return, he said, they will be greeted with a new interior design but with the same food they know and love.

Supreme Pizza serves classic and specialty pizzas, salads, subs and calzones, and a variety of seafood dishes.

While its website states Supreme Pizza will reopen on May 7, Parkiotis said it might take “a few more weeks” to clean the space up and train new employees, which includes family members.

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Supreme Pizza: A staple in Exeter for 40 years

A town staple for over 40 years, Parkiotis said he purchased Supreme Pizza on Jan. 1, 2021, and operated it for only about 11 months before the building and neighboring apartment building was hit by a devastating fire early Dec. 6. The town’s fire chief, at that time, said the fire was under investigation but did not originate from the pizzeria’s kitchen.

Parkiotis said he tried to resume business as soon as possible but was met with multiple delays from his insurance company and contractors. He said the delays turned a supposedly “three to nine months” fix into a two-plus-year hiatus for the business.

“After the fire, they told me the building is going to be ready for me to reopen in three months,” he recalled. “I didn’t look around to move my business somewhere else. So I kept waiting and waiting.”

While Parkiotis and his employees’ incomes were covered by insurance for the first year, he said delays had made it “hard” for him. Following that year, he said he didn’t just lose his only source of income, but also a majority of his employees.

However, Parkiotis is optimistic about reopening.

“The business depends on the support that I’m going to have, which I’m sure I’m going to have,” he said. “We’re doing a good job over there, we give good food out, so I think, hopefully, everybody will be back.”

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Supreme Pizza owner: Exeter is my home

Before purchasing Supreme Pizza in 2021, Parkiotis had over 20 years of experience in the industry, owning and operating multiple pizzerias in Salem, Medford and Methuen, Massachusettes.

Parkiotis said he made the right choice and is in Exeter to stay.

“I like the area, it’s very different,” he said. “Even the communication with the customer is different than I had before … they’re nicer.”

Exeter is also the home to several pizzerias, including Otto Pizza which opened in 2022, as well as Romeo’s, Front Row Pizzeria, Pizza Academy and Amato’s.

“For the amount of people in town, I think it’s OK (to have that many pizzerias),” said Parkiotis. “When I was in Massachusetts, there used to be pizza places next to each other… Everybody has their customers. … I’m not trying to compete with anybody.”

Former Supreme Pizza owner Dimitrios Pesiridis still owns the 2,500-square-foot building that houses the pizzeria.

He said despite multiple changes in ownership, Supreme Pizza is still known for its consistently good food made with the highest quality ingredients.

“We believe that a lot of people are going to come back,” said Pesiridis.

After operating Supreme Pizza for 15 years, Pesiridis sold the business in 2005 and opened Gepetto's Pizzeria at 6 Gerry Ave. in Newmarket.

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This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Supreme Pizza & Seafood returns to Exeter 3 years after fire