Old World Pizzeria, a restaurant that specializes in New York-style slices and pies that was founded in Saginaw, has opened at 600 N. Old Woodward Ave. in downtown Birmingham.
Like the original, the Birmingham store caters only to walk-ins and doesn’t take reservations for either its indoor seating or patio seating in front of the shop.
“This is unlike any other place — big-city vibes with a small-community feel,” says founder and chef Eric Shevchenko. “Oh, and the pizza. The pizza is what makes it stand out.”
The menu of the new pizzeria features the classics — cheese, pepperoni, and pesto by the slice or as 20-inch whole pies. The specialty menu filled in faster than the owners planned: pepperoni jalapeño and a burrata and basil pie already are in the rotation, with a different featured pie each week.
Dessert offerings include OWP’s Basque cheesecake and an XXL brown butter cookie loaded with chocolate.
The drink offerings include Something & Nothing sodas, Walker Brothers kombucha, Italian mineral water, and glass-bottle Coca-Cola.
OWP opened in Saginaw’s Old Town in August 2023, but the idea goes back to 1993, when Shevchenko and co-owner Chad Koeplinger were teenagers skateboarding the same streets — a neighborhood their crew nicknamed “Old World.”
Decades of travel, restaurant obsession, and culinary work later (Shevchenko spent years in Napa and Sonoma supplying and cooking alongside some of the country’s best chefs), the two came home and built the pizza they’d been talking about since they were kids: an elite East Coast, New York–style pie built on a dough, sauce, and topping program they refined slice by slice until it was right.
“Sometimes things just work out the way they’re meant to,” says Shevchenko. “Birmingham has one of the most amazing communities I can remember — I spent a lot of time here in the early ’90s, back when there was a skate shop called Pogo’s we used to frequent. And our partners found a location we couldn’t pass up.”
Partner Cyrus Garmo’s involvement started with a single slice.
“I ordered a slice of pepperoni, took one bite, and thought: this is the best slice of pizza I’ve ever had in my life — and I’m a guy who loves pizza,” says Garmo. “I walked straight back to the counter and asked who the owner was. Eric and I became close friends, and from there we planned this project. My vision for Birmingham is to share all of it — the culture, the passion, and the pizza — with this community.”
Co-owner Chad Koeplinger is an internationally recognized tattoo artist, and his work has helped give OWP recognition well beyond Michigan. The Birmingham outlet expects to carry that forward, with limited-edition merch drops — hats, t-shirts, and more — on the way in the months ahead, a tradition that has become part of the OWP experience.
OWP is open Wednesday–Sunday, from 11 a.m.-10 p.m. or when sold out. Expanded hours are planned for the near future as the team hires and trains additional staff.
For more information, visit eatowp.com.
