While some believe the heart of a college campus is in the library, the classroom or the athletic field, others might argue the hub of EMU’s student community lies in the local pizza place.
Former marine, business owner and restaurant manager Randy Bone breathed new life into the Benito’s family pizza business in May of last year.
“After the Benito family showed me the restaurant, I saw a lot of potential,” Bone said. “The store hadn’t had a manager in a long time. It had been neglected, but I saw potential.”
Part of what drew Bone in was the college atmosphere in Ypsi.
“I liked the location next to Eastern Michigan University,” Bone said. “I just like working with young people — their motivation, their desire to learn, their sense of adventure.”
Benito’s Pizza has become a well-recognized name from the field to the dorm.
“I’m involved with fraternities, Habitat for Humanity, [the] Athletic Department, basketball team, football team [and] the bands, because we give them good prices. Whenever there’s an event, it seems like we’re supplying pizza for it. I see a need, and I try to fill that need. I don’t have one favorite department, I just like helping as many departments as I can.”
The Benito’s mission is to bring quality food to Ypsilanti at affordable prices.
“The ingredients are what set us apart from other places in Ypsi. We give quality. We give grande cheese, we give quality beef. We don’t skimp. We use premium ingredients. We don’t try to compete. We want to provide a premium pizza at a reasonable price, plus we give a bigger portion of toppings compared to our competitors. I could give cheaper prices, but I’d prefer to give quality food.”
Not only that, Benito’s ensures that you’re always getting the best deal.
“I give coupon pricing for everything without a coupon. If you call us we give you the discounted prices. It’s at least 25 percent less expensive than the original price. We do that for everybody,” he said.
There’s more to the Benito’s menu than just ordinary pizza.
“Every time I go in, I eat something different,” Bone said. “I let the employees experiment. We’ve experimented with eggs, mac and cheese — I’ve never really made one I didn’t like. Vegetarian pizza or meat lover, they’re all delicious. Plus we serve the best cheese bread in the industry. We’ve got things on the menu that people don’t even know we have.”
The menu includes pizza, subs, calzones, salads, chicken, ribs, pasta and breads.
Bone challenges pizza lovers to consume the 24-inch Benito’s original pizza, the Big Benito, which rings up at about $20 and can hold over 100 pepperonis.
“We sell a lot of Big Benito’s on campus. It compares to four large pizzas. If anyone comes in and eats it by himself, I’ll pay for it.”
Aside from providing quality food, Bone’s main priority is the community he serves.
“My favorite part is customer service. We try our best to please every customer. We can’t always, but we try. We want to have happy customers. It’s the most important part of the business today.”
Special considerations are made for the Benito’s on campus, catering to the needs of busy students.
“We stay open till two or three in the morning for the students,” Bone said.
“It seems like the kids are up studying late, playing video games, hanging out. We don’t get a lot of business from midnight to one, but I know there are a lot of kids that are hungry at that time. If it wasn’t for them, we’d probably close at 11.”
Drop by Benito’s Pizza at 1088 N. Huron River Dr., or call 734-961-0707 to place an order.
“I hope that everybody that enters our restaurant has a good experience, and if not let me know. We’ll do our best to take care of them,” Bone said.
