Family-owned O'Fallon pizza shop expands to St. Louis

Crazy about calzones? The family-owned pizza shop Flamentco's The Place in O’Fallon will soon expand its reach by opening a new restaurant in downtown St. Louis.

"We're eager and we're hungry to take over the Midwest," owner Brittany Flament said. "My goal is to build my kids an empire, so they have a legacy and can take it to another level."

Three years ago, Flament and her husband, Navy Lt. Cory Flament, opened their first restaurant at 711 W U.S. 50 in O'Fallon.

Cory Flament, an active-duty Naval officer, grew up working in a New York pizza shop, where he learned the trade. Years later, his family pursued the idea of opening their own shop, and now their dreams are a reality.

Inside the O'Fallon shop, you’ll meet their three daughters, their energetic employees and the new manager, who will take over operations at the new St. Louis location.

“It’s very exciting,” said Raheme “The Rock” Bass. “I’ve been a chef for over 20 years. We’re definitely going to have specials and things you haven’t seen before.”

The Place serves pizza, subs, wings and other pizza shop staples such as salad, pasta and breadsticks. But what you might not expect are big calzones, Philadelphia cheese steak fries and cannolis.

Creative pizza options on the menu include a macaroni and cheese pizza and the jungle pizza topped with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, onions, green peppers and black olives. There’s also a Cory’s signature pizza, a pie topped with red sauce, mozzarella, provolone, marinated tomatoes, shallots, genoa salami and bacon.

Bass plans to freshen up the menu in St. Louis, where customers will be able to order pizza by the slice. The New York tradition of ordering a single slice is an option at the O'Fallon location, too.

The new shop, located at 418 South Tucker Blvd., is expected to open in mid-July.

Can't wait until then? The O'Fallon location is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. The restaurant is closed on Mondays.

This story was originally published June 29, 2018 at 5:50 AM.