Waterville Man Offers New York-Style Pizza At Wiscasset Restaurant

Waterville resident Richard Petron brought the second of two business ideas to life on Friday, Feb. 14, opening Liberty Pizza at 493 Gardiner Road in Wiscasset. Liberty Pizza’s opening comes after Petron established Seafoam Cannabis, a medical marijuana storefront, at the same location in June 2024.

Armed with over 50 bundles of dough, 20 types of toppings, and multiple types of cheeses during operating hours, Petron and his staff of two intend to recreate New York-style pizza for the Wiscasset community, something he said isn’t available locally.

“This is the only New York-style pizza within 100 miles, so I think this may be pretty successful, but I don’t know,” said Petron. “I hear constantly, almost every day, someone asking me when we’re going to open the pizza shop … I have to imagine that means something.”

The business is takeout only and may include outdoor seating in the warmer months, he said. He plans on having Liberty Pizza open year-round.

Besides providing a product that isn’t available in the area, Petron said he decided on opening a pizzeria because it pairs well with his medical marijuana storefront.

“It just makes sense to have a restaurant tied up with your weed business; it’s just a natural handshake there,” he said. “It brings people to both places. It will bring people to the property.”

Petron said he originally envisioned Liberty Pizza as a food truck. However, Wiscasset’s ordinance made opening a food truck equally as challenging as operating a brick-and-mortar storefront, so he decided on the latter.

“I realized it wouldn’t really be that big of a push to get this going, so we did,” said Petron. “I used to be a cook … So I’ve always loved to cook and make food and stuff like that.”

Petron said he spent months perfecting his pizza making technique, testing out numerous types of sauces and cheeses. He ultimately decided on sourcing his ingredients from Micucci Wholesale Foods in Portland.

“I really started this just trying to make myself a really good cheese pizza,” said Petron. “I looked into some traditional New York pizza joints … We’re doing Stromboli. I didn’t even know what that was when I started this project.”

A self-described jack-of-all-trades, Petron has been in the manufacturing business for nearly a decade, has worked in intelligence for the Special Forces during the Iraq War, and has worked in customer service and managed restaurants.

Petron received a conditional use permit from the Wiscasset Planning Board to operate the restaurant in June 2024, but he was waiting until Seafoam Cannabis was well established to focus on building the restaurant.

Originally an office space, the room directly next door to Seafoam Cannabis underwent renovations to be transformed into a kitchen for Liberty Pizza.

While the establishments are neighbors, Petron said Seafoam Cannabis and Liberty Pizza are two completely separate entities.

“There’s no cannabis in here at all,” Petron said about Liberty Pizza. “We don’t put any THC in this room.”

Petron said he believes there are “big opportunities” in the food industry today, as large corporations selling low quality products at high prices are vulnerable competition.

“I’m just going to make decent reliable food that doesn’t make you sick and I’m going to charge a decent price for it, and I think that that’s all that it takes,” he said. “I just want good pizza … It’s just so hard to find just attention to detail, some care about what you’re doing … Just trying to bring some business to my businesses and hopefully improve the quality of the local cuisine as we go.”

Liberty Pizza is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. For more information, call 579-4713 or go to libertypizzashop.com.