A few weeks ago, 26-year-old Jelisa Guy was hurriedly taking an order at Jersey Boys Pizzeria’s front counter when a customer asked if the new owner was around. Word was quickly spreading around Whitefish that the popular pizza place, a staple on the corner of Spokane Avenue and First Street for five years, had changed hands.
Guy looked up, smiled and introduced herself as Jersey Boys’ newest owner. The customer was surprised that the young woman taking orders and slinging pizza pies with the rest of the crew was the new proprietor, but Guy said she’s received that reaction a few times in recent weeks since the sale closed in February.
But Guy is no stranger to running a local business – she operated a spa in Whitefish for six years – and talking with her it becomes clear that she is an experienced entrepreneur with plenty of ideas.
Guy was born and raised in Kalispell and has lived in the Flathead Valley most of her life. She attended college at Montana State University – Billings where she studied education and the University of Colorado to study nursing, although she has long held an interest in business.
She returned to the Flathead after school to be closer to her family and made a living running J-Spa. But last year, she began looking for other opportunities. In November she found out that Kim and Russ Sikorsky were selling the pizzeria they had owned since 2010.
“When I found out this place was for sale I got super excited about the opportunity,” she said. “It already has a great following and I want to expand on that.”
Kim and Russ Sikorsky’s family first built a Jersey Boys’ pizza shop in Colorado more than a decade ago. About five years ago, they decided to move to Whitefish and open another pizza shop using their tried-and-true recipes. Since then, the pizza place has grown in popularity by offering “back east taste, way out west” and it’s often hard to find a table on a Friday or Saturday night, even during the shoulder season.
But last year, the couple decided to sell the business. A few months after it was listed, Guy found it and jumped at the chance to own a restaurant. In December she started working at the restaurant so she could learn more about the operation and in February, Kim and Russ Sikorsky handed over the keys. The couple said they are excited to see the shop move into the hands of someone with Guy’s drive and ambition.
Guy said she has no plan to change the pizza joint’s recipes or menu, noting that many of the items, like the sauce, marinara, meatballs, dough and house dressing, are made in-house.
“There are zero complaints about the food,” she said. “It’s an exceptional product.”
But just because the menu will stay the same does not mean changes are not in store for the popular pizzeria. Guy plans on adding more tables inside and improving the outdoor seating area so that people can take their beer outside and drink while they eat. For that to happen the outside seating area must be enclosed, something Guy said is in the works. She also recently purchased a new bike so that the pizza shop can make local deliveries.
Guy said she is especially excited for this summer and the busy tourism season.
“I can see enjoying this new job so much and loving it so much that I do this for a long time,” she said.