Now Open: The Pizza Oven

The Ferrel family couldn’t have picked a more difficult time to open their little pizza parlor, Pizza Oven, in the stone strip center at 80th and State Line. The economy stinks and the national pizza chains keep cutting their prices.

But Kevin and Chris Ferrel are optimists. They leased a storefront that hasn’t had a great track record: It was once occupied by two Philly cheese steak joints and, after that, a short-lived Asian restaurant. The Ferrels, who formerly operated Hallmark card stores, and their daughter Jessica gutted the space, poured a new concrete floor (which now features a very large painted pizza), installed a new kitchen and a dozen or so tables.