In just five short years, Late Night Slice has become an iconic part of The Short North. The pizza shack, located at 1030 North High Street in a small lot sandwiched between two larger buildings, has been home to many late night meals and many late night memories.
LNS owner Mikey Sorboro says that the wear and tear on the shack has brought the structure to the edge of functionality, and he thinks a shipping container with a beer-garden style patio replacement is the best solution to keep the business running while fixing some of the other issues with the site.
“The inspiration for the update came because of the parking lot configuration,” he explains. “There’s a lot of traffic in and out mixed with people on the sidewalk, so we want to move the parking to the back to retain it but separate it.”
With parking shifted to the back, Late Nigh Slice would be able to put up fences to separate parking from the patio, separate trash cans from the patrons, and separate noise from the neighbors who live on the street behind their lot. The front of the site would be home to a new patio and the shack would be replaced with a shipping container kitchen.
“The Italian Village Commission doesn’t want to see a lot of money going into what is essentially maintaing a surface parking lot,” says Sorboro. “So this solution would make the experience better, but do it on the cheap. A shipping container is half the price it would be to rebuild the shack.”
Sorboro says that shipping container businesses have become a popular trend around the world, specifically for entrepreneurs looking for affordable solutions. The container would also not be affixed to the site permanently, meaning that it could easily be relocated in the future.
“If this lot gets purchased and a developer wants to replace it with a mixed-use apartment building, we can pick up the container and move it to Franklinton, and we’re not out any money,” he says.
The plans for Late Night Slice will go in front of the Italian Village Commission for review this Tuesday during the regular monthly meeting. Sorboro says that the plans they are presenting are very preliminary and that they’re not expecting them to be approved immediately.
“We want to get a conversation started,” he says. “It will probably take two to three meetings to get approvals because we want to get everyone on same page. After that it might take us a month or two to build out a container as a kitchen.”
Some long-time fans of the LNS shack are already lamenting its potential demise on the Columbus Underground forums, which Soroboro finds surprising.
“The shack is not meant to do what it’s doing, and it’s kind of a piece of shit to be honest, inside and out,” he says. “So it’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when. I think people will like the novelty of the container.”
For ongoing discussion on the LNS Shack, CLICK HERE to visit our Messageboard.
For more information, visit www.latenightslice.com.