The Pie and The Pig plan to take over empty building near Battell Park in Mishawaka

The city of Mishawaka has approved a redevelopment agreement that could result in a sort of family-style food hall specializing in barbeque, smoked meats and pizza in the former Burns Rent-Alls building across from Battell Park.

The agreement calls for a new entity called The Pie and The Pig to jointly run the new business inside the 4,800-square-foot Burns building, which has been sitting vacant since the business relocated to 2401 N. Home Street several years ago.

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The Prized Pig, which has been operating a restaurant at 114 Lincoln Way E. in downtown since 2019, will move to the new spot along with Bourbon Street Pizza, which currently operates pizza restaurants in several northern Indiana locations.

Hence, the proposed name for the new establishment, which also combines the restaurant operations of Prized Pig owner Greg Petkov and Bourbon Street Pizza founder Tim Harman, whose friendship goes back a couple of decades when they both spent time at a Papa John’s Pizza in South Bend.

Since that time, the food and pizza business has been Harman’s main focus; Petkov, who also owns Greg's Automotive at 1102 E Jefferson Blvd., Mishawaka, came back to the food business in a more round-about way.

Though he built up a sizable used car and repair shop business on Jefferson, he loved the food at the Prized Pig when it operated in Niles and somewhat talked Jeremy Vohwinkle into reopening in Mishawaka after the Michigan location closed in 2017.

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Unfortunately, the restaurant opened just months before the pandemic forced temporary closures and restrictions at eateries across the country, but The Prized Pig survived because of the quality of its food and the loyalty of its fanbase.

“It was probably the worst financial decision that I ever made,” Petkov says. “But we didn't know that COVID was just around the corner when we opened."

After surviving the pandemic, the restaurant also lost Vohwinkle, who left to pursue other interests about a year ago, Petkov says, attributing the ongoing success of the restaurant to the excellent team that’s been developed.

But Petkov still felt the restaurant could do even better.

“I’ve wanted to move since we opened the doors,” he says of the location on Lincoln Way East. “There’s limited parking, the bar is non-existent, the space is too small, and there aren’t any rooms for private parties.”

All of those problems are solved with the new location at West Mishawaka Avenue and Liberty Drive across from the city’s Civil War Memorial. A parking lot is being developed for shared use with St. Monica Catholic Church, park patrons and restaurant visitors.

By bringing in Bourbon Street Pizza, Petkov says, the business will also have an even broader appeal, pointing out that the open kitchen will be designed for use by Bourbon Street on one side and by The Prized Pig on the other.

Because the deal isn’t expected to close until the end of the year, details are still being worked out. But Petkov envisions a bar area on one side of the restaurant and a large patio outside with a nice view of the park and easy access to the city’s popular walking trail along the river.

As part of the development agreement, the city wants The Pie and The Pig to spend at least $1 million developing the property into a new restaurant space to serve the neighborhood as well as the visitors that the city’s riverside parks are attracting.

In exchange, the new business would get the property for $325,000, but $300,000 of that would be forgivable if it operates as a restaurant for 10 years. According to the timeline, officials hope The Pie and The Pig is ready to open by late summer or early fall with construction underway in March.

That’s an aggressive timeline, but one that Petkov hopes to achieve.

“The idea of operating a restaurant was planted when The Prized Pig closed years ago,” says Petkov, who moved here with his family from Bulgaria when he was 13. “It was somewhat of an accident, but it’s also something that I’ve always wanted to do.”

He likes people and he likes providing things they need, such as good food and dependable transportation. "The American dream is real,” he says of the businesses he’s managed to build in less than 20 years.

“Maybe that’s more apparent if you come from a place where opportunities are limited,” he says.

Email Market Basket columnist Ed Semmler at esemmler@sbtinfo.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Mishawaka will gain parking and new restaurant near Battell Park