MARY BALDASANO / PVT Charleston Pizza continues to turn out the pies. It is one of the four longest-lasting restaurants in town. Advertisement

Those who have been around Pahrump for a long time probably remember the old Pizza Factory which was located on the corner of Charleston Park and David.

Today it's called Charleston Pizza and is still at the same location.

Although built in the 1970s by Beverly and Clarence Cosner, the business did not open until 1983.

Since that time, it has remained a pizzeria.

Renee Weyen, daughter of the Cosners, and her husband Allen took over the operation in the '90s. It is the original pizzeria in Pahrump.

It has remained in the family, and Weyen's daughter, Stacy, and her husband, Tyson Loffredo, took over two years ago.

"We are really happy to have the pizzeria, it's a lot of fun, I remember working here when I was 5 years old; I got to make small pizzas, very small. I worked while in high school then moved to Las Vegas. We got tired of Las Vegas and my parents were ready to retire; it sounded good and we didn't want to see it die," said Stacy.

The pizzeria is now celebrating its 25th anniversary. The pizzeria is one of the four original restaurants in town.

They are also going to start a Tuesday special of a 1-cent pizza with each specialty pizza purchased.

In the early days, pizza dough was made in advance, and when it ran out the shop was closed for the day. "We are going to do the same and hope to run out of pizzas," said Loffredo.

Tyson said, "We still use the same ingredients and recipes that were used when the business was opened."

The recipe dates back to the 1920s, and the original pizzerias were started by Tony Romano in the 1950s and standardized the type of ingredients to be used and how much of each.

It took awhile for it to be accepted as he was ahead of time, but it did catch on. It is the basis upon which all chain pizza parlors and others were founded.

"If you liked the pizzas before, they are still the same," said Loffredo. He added, "Customer service is our priority as well as a quality product. Some small changes have been made over the years as the originals were no longer produced. We spent several weeks just trying to find someone who had the original cheese; we found one company."

The pizzeria does deliver and is available to all areas of the valley. A new e-mail club and Web site are available and you can join at www.charlestonpizza.com.

To order a pizza, just call 751-0700.