The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

Shuler's Pizza, newly opened in the former Papandrea's building, is bringing a fondly remembered past into the future.

"I remember Papandrea's (Pizza) being there and just knew that that building had to be a pizza parlor," said co-owner Darla Shuler.

Shuler's Pizza is owned by Darla, son Zac and daughter-in-law Haley. Haley grew up in Redmond and went to high school there. She then moved to the valley where she met Darla's son, Zac. They married six years ago, and moved to Bend. Darla, had always wanted to move closer to them and her grandchildren. She ended up selling her own home in Keiser and visited Central Oregon and Bend to try and find a place to live. One evening on her way home, she stopped at the Dutch Bros. in town and saw the vacant building next to it. Then, the idea sparked.

Her son and daughter-in-law and herself had always talked about opening up something together, so Darla called them about opening up a place in Sisters. Her son and daughter-in-law visited the place and fell in love with it as well. So they decided to buy the building. Once Darla sold her home, she moved to Bend and they made the decision to open their own pizza parlor. It was their first restaurant, but they knew once they found the right place they would know what kind of restaurant they would want to open.

"Everything kind of fell into place perfectly for us here," she said.

Haley had experience in the pizza industry and knew that it would fit well in the space. Darla had worked in real estate and for IBM, and decided that she wanted to stamp her own time-card and run her own schedule and business. At the end of the month, Darla will be moving from Bend to a place in Sisters.

All three run the business full-time.

"We really wanted to put our all into the place, and we love it here," said Darla.

Their main goal is to become part of the community and be involved with the schools and fit in wherever they can.

"Overall, the community has been so inviting and welcoming, and it made our decision crystal clear and we knew it was right and we had no regrets," she said.

They plan to continue to figure out what works for their menu and customers.

All of their dough is made from scratch, as well as the sauce. They have calzones, salads, sandwiches and a variety of appetizers. They are currently planning Tuesday pasta night with a different kind of pasta each week. They sell whole pizzas made to order - traditional pizzas as well as unique recipes including their taco pizza. They do not sell by the slice because they wanted to make it to order so it could be as fresh as can be.

"We try to be traditional as well as be out-of-the-box," said Shuler.

"We aren't looking to replace Papandrea's but to be our own place in the historic spot," she said.

The business has been busy and took the owners by surprise.

"It's been great business and it showed us where our weaknesses are and have made changes since," she said.

Shuler's Pizza also delivers and is currently figuring out how far out of town they will be delivering because they want to make sure, based on distance, that the quality of pizza doesn't decrease in the travel time. "We want to be a service that delivers, but we also want to make sure that our quality of pizza is high when the customer gets it," she said.

The three owners encourage the community to give them a try.

Shuler's Pizza is located at 442 E. Hood Ave. in Sisters and can be reached at 541-549-1960.