Joe Momma's Pizza Reopening In New Tulsa Location

A popular downtown Tulsa restaurant destroyed by fire is reopening.

The building on 1st Street sat empty for years, but now it’s apartments above, and the below space is the new location for Joe Momma's pizza opening this weekend.

On the morning of July 8th, 2015, City Councilor Blake Ewing woke up to devastating news.

7/8/2015 Related Story: Owner Hopes To Have Joe Momma's Reopened Quickly After Fire

"The day of the fire was one of the worst days of my life, and of a lot of people’s lives in my company," he said.

Joe Momma's was Ewing's flagship and he knew it wasn't going to be easy to bring it back.

"And for that to be gone it was depressing and a really sad thing,” Ewing said. "So much of the negative of the last couple of years of my life kind of started at that point…I think we've all had a little chip on our shoulders to say, 'We can prove to Tulsa that our best days are not behind us.’”

Two-and-a-half years later, they're proving just that.

The new Joe Momma's is opening in the old S&J Oyster on 1st Street.

The menu will have the same favorites, and, there will be a full bar.

Vintage pictures hang on the wall and Ewing says the famous Phantasmagoria bus will hang in the new space.

Also, there are video games for the kids.

Ewing has some of his original partners and staff from before but has since sold his shares in most of his other businesses.

Ewing, however, knew he couldn't completely walk away from the brand that got him started and away from everything happening downtown.

"To get to continue to be a part of that, I don’t take it for granted. It's a real blessing,” he said.

The Phoenix in the Pearl District is also partially owned by Ewing and will be Joe Momma's sister business, opening in a couple weeks after renovation work.