Paul and Kaci Knyasi – Pablo’s Pizza

Every month we will be giving you a chance to get to know our local, Downtown business owners – your friends and neighbors – who make Downtown such a special place. This month we’d like to introduce you to Paul and Kaci Knyasi, owners of Pablo’s Pizza, 319 Main Street.

In 1997, sunshine, friendly people and some amazing mountain biking trails was all it took to convince two twenty somethings that it was time for a change.  It was our first visit to Grand Junction and we knew fairly quickly that this was the place we wanted to make our home.  An idea had been brewing and it was time to start making it happen.  

In 2000, after planning, saving, more planning, more saving, the doors of the Pablo’s Pizza on Main street were finally opened.  There was a steep learning curve for two former allied health professionals.  The first years were lean and we worked from dawn to dark.  But eventually we figured it out and our success fell into place.  The most important lesson we learned during those early years was the value of being open to new ideas and seeking the advice of the experienced.  

  The years have charged on and we’ve had three children of our own in addition to all of the kids we have had the pleasure of watching grow.  On farmer’s market nights, you can meet our children as they often take orders and run the register at our pizza booth.  

Over the years we have gradually made more of our ingredients from scratch.  Every day we spend hours making everything from our pizza dough to our salad dressings, sauces, and chocolate chip almond toffee cookies (made with Enstrom’s toffee).   We also source many of our ingredients from our friends at Field to Fork CSA.  Jessie (she and Scott own Field to Fork) was one of our first employees!  We firmly believe that fresh is best, and that while making everything from scratch is more work, it results in truly delicious food.”