Henlopen Pizza Kitchen now open seven days a week
Looking to meet customer needs of their existing business and to simply bring a high-quality food product to the area, the husband-and-wife team of Lincoln and Cassie Rogerson has opened Henlopen Pizza Kitchen off Route 24 outside Rehoboth.
The Rogersons took over the former Gray Hare Tavern in 2019 and turned it into Coastal Taproom. As a taproom, food service isn’t required, but their customers have always had a restaurant next door to fill their bellies.
That was soon going to change, because the owners of the restaurant next door wanted to get out of the business, said Lincoln.
“There’s a need for food on this property,” he said.
The reason the Rogersons opened a pizza place?
“What goes better with beer than pizza and wings?” said Cassie.
The new pizzeria has been open for a couple of weeks. Cassie said it’s been a word-of-mouth operation because they wanted to get customer feedback and make sure staff is in place.
“The taproom customers have been excited,” she said, adding the menu will soon have sandwiches too.
Pizza and sandwiches feature dough, breads, sauces and other ingredients made in the kitchen, said Cassie. The online ordering process is very simple, and orders can be placed with a specific pickup time in advance, she said.
Henlopen Pizza Kitchen is a place to get good food quickly, said Cassie. The goal is to get customers in and out in five minutes, she said.
“Fast, casual service that is pretty takeout focused,” she said.
Cassie said to-go slices are available every day, with cheese and pepperoni always ready. The menu will also feature rotating specialty pizzas too.
“Chef’s creation,” she said.
Pizza rolls, calzones and pinwheels are also available sometimes.
“It’s the type of thing where a customer needs to stop by to see what the specials are,” she said.
The menu also has salads – Caesar, house, Greek; starters – fried calamari, hand-breaded chicken tenders; and two flavors of Mommom’s cheesecake for dessert.
Henlopen Pizza Kitchen, 18766 John J. Williams Hwy., Unit 1, is open from 4 to 10 p.m., Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Thursday and Friday; noon to 10 p.m., Saturday and Sunday.
Delivery and daily lunch service are expected to begin soon, said Lincoln. Catering options are also available.
For more information or to place an order, go to henlopenpizzakitchen.com.
Chris Flood has been working for the Cape Gazette since early 2014. He currently covers Rehoboth Beach and Henlopen Acres, but has also covered Dewey Beach and the state government. He covers environmental stories, business stories and random stories on subjects he finds interesting, and he also writes a column called Choppin’ Wood that runs every other week. Additionally, Flood moonlights as the company’s circulation manager, which primarily means fixing boxes that are jammed with coins during daylight hours, but sometimes means delivering papers in the middle of the night. He’s a graduate of the University of Maine and the Landing School of Boat Building & Design.
