By Alex Sorrells / The Jambar
Once located on campus, Republic Pizzeria and Pub in Canfield is opening another location in Boardman at The Bunker in the Southern Park Mall.
This addition came after a brief period in which the Canfield location, next to the Pour House, temporarily closed down.
The Bunker is a golf simulator-focused venue that houses Double Bogey’s, the sister location of Bogey’s in Lowellville.
Jonah Karzmer, owner of The Bunker at Southern Park, said the addition comes after the former partner, Emmanuel’s Pizza, recently closed its doors, no longer serving from The Bunker.
“[It’s] Canfield location at that time was closing, or had just closed,” Karzmer said. “I know him personally and trust him, and I’m looking forward to doing business with [Republic]. They needed space [and] we’ve got a lot of space.”
Karzmer said Double Bogey’s has a local following and hopes the new addition of Republic will bring in even more customers.
“We’re just trying to increase our offerings to the public,” Karzmer said. “Two good offerings is better, in my mind, than one good offering. So, I’m looking forward to being able to offer pizza … and complement Double Bogey’s menu.”
Although Karzmer is finalizing the weekly schedule, the plan is to serve Republic Pizza on Mondays and Tuesdays, altering the schedule as needed.
“We’re just now looking to see if Republic wanted to do more than just pizza, what they would want to do and how creative they would want to get,” Karzmer said.
The Bunker has the space to take on more food clients, and although nothing is set in stone, Karzmer said to look out for even more announcements in the coming months.
“I’ve seen a lot of positivity around them joining The Bunker. It’s a couple weeks out until they open, but I know people have been texting me saying, ‘They are glad Republic was coming and love their pizza,’” Karzmer said.
In a Facebook post earlier this month, Republic stated that they are hoping to open another location in downtown Youngstown “sometime in 2026.”
“I don’t know that there is an official date. We’re working towards [an opening] before Thanksgiving,” Karzmer said.
The Jambar reached out to Republic Pizza for comment, but they were unavailable at the time of publication.
