MALTA – Old School Pizza, 507 N. Third St. in Malta, opened for business Tuesday after the COVID-19 pandemic postponed its grand opening in March.

The restaurant is closed Mondays, open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays. Curbside pickup is also available and delivery is coming soon. The restaurant applied for its liquor license and will soon offer alcohol. An arcade with 10 vintage games will be installed later this week.

Pizzeria Owners Josh and Molly Holbrook said they are excited that the restaurant is finally opened.

“We were ready to open in March, but we were waiting for the OK from the health department,” Molly Holbrook said. “We got the OK the exact day Gov. Pritzker closed bars and restaurants.”

The Holbrooks tried opening the restaurant for curbside pickup, but worried about health precautions and sustainably paying their employees.

“I’m a nurse, and I take COVID very seriously. It’s a scary thing to open a restaurant during a pandemic. There's a lot of unknowns. We’ve been monitoring what’s happening in the area, and the numbers are low enough in DeKalb County that we decided to open. But we’ll take it day by day. Our staff will wear masks and gloves and we’re sanitizing everything constantly.”

The pizzeria is old school in more than its interior decor – it’s located in the all-purpose room of Malta’s old school building.

The building was built as Malta Township High School in 1937 and housed Malta’s elementary, middle and high schools through the years. In 1964, the high school and junior high moved to a new location at 5068 Route 38. In 2000, Malta School District 433 was annexed into DeKalb School District 428 and sixth through 12 grades started attending school in DeKalb. Kindergarten through fifth grades remained at the old school location until 2010, when the old school was vacated and the building on Route 38 became Malta Elementary School.

The DeKalb School District sold the building at auction to a private buyer in 2012. The building was vacant and went unused for about five years. The Holbrooks bought the building in September 2017 and spent more than a year renovating it.

The Holbrooks and their three children live in the school building and converted part of the building into the pizzeria.

The atmosphere inside of the pizzeria is its main course, decorated with quirky and retro pop culture nostalgia, including a 20-foot-tall King Tut, the Grand Prize Game from “The Bozo Show,” the leg lamp from “A Christmas Story,” a 1939 Bantam Speedster, a McDonald’s Apple Pie Tree, "The Simpsons" characters riding a train, a wall of lava lamps and a bar top collage of stickers.

The restaurant will serve pizzas, burgers and appetizers. Popular menu items include the chicken alfredo pizza and sweet corn fritters.

“It’s way better than school lunches,” Molly Holbrook said.

“We didn’t skimp on ingredients, everything is fresh and great quality,” Josh Holbrook said. “We have really good pizza and a cool atmosphere.”

Elizabeth Eisenman of Malta visited the restaurant on its opening day with her daughter, 14-year-old Isabelle and her daughter’s friend, 13-year-old Ariana Piwowar.

“We’ve been following the restaurant’s opening for months on social media and love supporting local business – plus we’re hungry,” Eisenman said.

She recognized many nostalgic pop culture items in the restaurant, including the Blues Brothers, the green ghost, Slimer from “Ghostbusters,” Beetlejuice, Big Boy and the Kool-Aid Man.

“I love all of it, they’re things that make you happy and just brings you back,” she said. “It’s all very eclectic. Everyone can find something they’ll love.”

Eisenman’s daughter didn’t recognize all of the pop culture references, but she loved the décor.

“I think it’s very cool and different,” Isabelle Eisenman said. “It’s old school in an old school.”

For more information and to view the pizzeria's menu, visit www.oldschoolpizzamalta.com.