Nuri’s Tavern will bring thin, crackly-crusted tavern-style pizza to the downtown core next month

It’ll be another busy year for the Mawardi Brothers and Team Market Group. The management company behind Primrose Lanes, Plantees, Taco Kat and The Wellborn, among others, is planning to launch three (and possibly more) new concepts in 2025.

One of those — Nuri’s Tavern — will bring tavern-style pizza next month to the ground floor space that previously housed the Robinson Coffee Room (another Mawardi-owned operation) at 63 E. Pine Street.

Tavern-style pies, noted for their thin, crackly crusts, are especially popular throughout the Midwest (Milwaukee and Chicago, in particular), and TMG’s executive chefs, Nick Grecco and Jason Campbell, have been hard at work perfecting the pizza dough recipe for Nuri’s over these past few months.

“I might have a gluten intolerance after all the testing we’ve done,” jokes Campbell. “There’s a lot of mediocre pizza out there, but that’s not our mentality or approach. No one is doing this style of pizza.” (Note: Brad’s Underground Pizza makes deep-dish and tavern-style pies out of virtual food hall Collab Kitchens on Curry Ford Road.)

Campbell says the pizza dough will be made in-house and that there will be a dough-making area at the front of the restaurant. But don’t expect to see deep-dish pizzas of any sort served here. In fact, Nuri’s 12-inch rounds topped with quality ingredients will all be “party-cut” so that guests can have a beer in one hand and a square in the other without having to put either down.

The inspiration, says Grecco, came “from people being able to share and not feeling so full, so they can order multiple pizzas, hang out, have a drink, watch the game and listen to some good music. We want people to enjoy multiple pies on the table. We want people to get a little taste of everything — it’s truly the way Jason and I like to eat.”

And drink. Pitchers of beer and a “fun” cocktail program, Campbell says, will also be offered.

Nuri’s, named after Nuriel Mawardi, a non-founder brother of the TMG clan, will have a throwback vibe and an interior that “feels like it’s been on the block for 30 years.” So wood walls and a collection of knickknacks and curios from that era will grace the space.

“We definitely want Nuri’s to be a staple in the neighborhood. We want it to be a family place as well as a place where adults can have pizza parties.”

It’ll also be open late and, naturally, place a focus on takeout. The current plan is for Nuri’s to open Tuesday through Thursday at 4 p.m. and Friday through Sunday at 11 a.m., but be sure to follow @nuristavern for the latest.

Meanwhile, the Mawardis are readying Alfie’s HiFi, their Mills 50 vinyl listening lounge, to open later this month and their Thornton Park restaurant, June,  celebrating the cuisine of the Yucatán, to open in March. Follow @alfies.hifi and @juneinorlandofl for more.

Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | or sign up for our RSS Feed

This article appears in Jan 8-14, 2025.