Honey Pie Changes Ownership

Photo by Jodi Stilp (@jodistilpphotography) courtesy of Aubrey Nichols

There are new owners of Honey Pie Pizza, the popular downtown Newberg NY-Style Pizza Shop located in the alleyway between S College Street and N Edwards Street.

On Wednesday, May 10, 2023, Honey Pie Pizza officially changed hands from an ownership group comprised of Bubba and Sarah King and Alex and Aubrey Nichols to Travis and Anna Miranda, former owners of Baby Doll Pizza in Portland, Oregon.

The ownership change comes on the heels of Honey Pie’s grand opening of a second location in Mac Market, a “collaborative and community-driven eating, drinking, shopping, and gathering place housed in a historic warehouse” in McMinnville, Oregon.

Purchased with Intention

The Kings and Nichols purchased and assumed ownership of Honey Pie in January 2021 — a difficult time to enter nearly any business as the country was in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Aubrey said they purchased with a purpose — they were looking to connect and influence the town in a bigger way.

“We came into it without having owned a restaurant before,” Aubrey said. “We had a really big desire to be a part of downtown Newberg in a more tangible way.”

The intention, said Bubba, was to have a voice during a time when Newberg was changing so much from a tourism and economic development point of view.

“If we own a business — something a little more popular — more people listen,” Bubba said. “That was a big part of it.”

The Kings and Nichols both made true to their intention. Bubba is involved with the Chamber of Commerce, and local event management like Tunes on Tuesday, and is running for a Chehalem Valley Parks and Recreation Board of Directors seat in the May 16 election. Aubrey is the Executive Director of the Newberg Downtown Coalition and is Bubba’s Chief of Staff on his campaign. Sarah King is the founder and director of the Oregon CARES political action committee. Alex Nichols is on the Budget Committee for the City of Newberg.

Then in 2021, Newberg made national news for the Newberg School Board’s decision to ban controversial symbols. Bubba and Aubrey said that event encouraged them to make Honey Pie a safe place for anyone in town who needed it.

“Wherever the community needed us, we tried to show up,” Bubba said.

The Kings and Nichols started supporting fundraisers around town, including their own called “Pie with Purpose,” where they would source seasonal ingredients and make a unique pizza, donating proceeds to a local nonprofit. This month features honey habanero crema, mozzarella, chile braised beef, red onion, cilantro, and beef birria broth benefitting Juliette’s House, for example.

“That was our first foray into, ‘how can we take this little spot and make a difference?'” Aubrey said. “I think that was one of the first choices we made as owners, all of our decisions for how we were going to lead and grow started there — with a mind for community and service.”

The Ownership Switch

Aubrey and Bubba said the decision to sell wasn’t an easy one, but one they knew they needed to do in order to fully dive into their community-driven passions.

“Also, to be able to buy a restaurant in the middle of the pandemic, grow it to what it is, and then sell it; that’s an American dream there,” said Aubrey. “We are very proud of that.”

Aubrey said she and the team feel great about handing operations off to Travis and Anna.

“They have restaurant experience, they are restaurant people, they are pizza,” she said. “We feel very safe in handing it off to them not only for their experience but also their values.”

Travis and Anna Miranda opened Baby Doll Pizza in 2012 on SE Stark Street in Portland. Travis graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and worked in restaurants, “all my life,” he said.

The pizza place made a quick splash in the Portland pizza scene, being named as one of Willamette Week’s best bar pizzas in 2017 and in 2018 was ranked number three in The Oregonian’s “Best Pizza by the Slice” rankings. Travis and Anna sold the business to Old Town Brewing owner Adam Milne in 2021.

The two moved to the Newberg-area in 2019 and became regular customers. Travis said he and Anna had been looking for a way to get back into pizza since the move, and Honey Pie was a great opportunity for building on a popular turn-key operation.

“Honey Pie has a great reputation in town,” Travis wrote in an email. “We align with their ethos and are excited to take over and help it grow.”

He also mentioned the lessons learned during their time at Baby Doll will help them continue to grow Honey Pie in the coming years.

“Baby Doll taught us everything about running a pizzeria,” Travis wrote. “With the large volume we did there, we learned a lot about how to keep consistency through all times no matter how busy we got.”

Pre-COVID, Baby Doll Pizza had 55 employees. He thinks that will help as Honey Pie grows, including the opening of the second Honey Pie location in Mac Market (which opened on Thursday, May 11, 2023).

“The brand of Honey Pie and the people who always felt safe here, that will continue,” Bubba said. “Because the brand ‘Honey Pie’ is not the four of us, and that was very intentional. The brand ‘Honey Pie’ is the staff, the pizza, the physical space, and the vibe — the things the business stands for. And that will continue on.”

For the Nichols and Kings, they’ve made the decision to not commit to anything until the end of summer and are going to enjoy a little time off.

“We’re excited to relax and reflect for a little bit,” said Bubba. “In the next project we get involved with will be intentional — I don’t know if it’ll be food or be political, whatever that looks like.”

Honey Pie Pizza will continue to operate at normal hours and business operations will continue as normal. You can visit Honey Pie Pizza at 112 1/2 S College St. in Newberg, Oregon, or at the new location at Mac Market (1140 NE Alpine Avenue, McMinnville, OR 97128).