If you go back in time 32 years, Byron was very different, but Legend Pizza was already a massive favourite of locals. You’d have to be a bit of a legend to have a successful business that’s been right in the middle of Jonson St for 30 of those years; that’s been locally owned and operated the whole time. A couple of years ago, owner Scott Levy and his wife Gemma were given notice to make way for a luxury redevelopment, but they found a home around the corner in Marvell St, and their traditional gourmet pizzas are still super-popular with locals, and with cost of living pressures affecting many of us, they are great value (at the moment they have a special of $15 large basic pizzas on Mon/Tues/Wed, and a happy hour 3pm-5pm, but stay tuned as the specials change from time to time).
In fact, Scott’s philosophical about the move. ‘The old place was a bit dated,’ he says, ‘and we’ve become fully-licensed because the new place lends itself more to having a drink with friends, and has a nice outdoor area for about 20 people which we’re doing up. It’s going to be great in summer, and in the future we hope to do some events with local suppliers, which will be fun, and Marvell St is becoming busier, with the hot bread kitchen and the new hotel across the road’. They’ve even got a few unusual elements, like a whisky display and a special cabinet for dangerously hot chilli sauces – be warned!
But some elements have stayed the same, like the laid-back atmosphere, the support of the local sporting organisation and charities, and using the same local suppliers.
‘We’ve had the same F&V supplier for 28 years, and the same butcher for 30 odd years,’ says Scott. ‘It’s so important, there’s been some tough years with Covid, and the big drop in visitor numbers last year, but when you look after the locals we see how that connection sustains everyone.’ Scott views it like a mosaic, where all the little sporting clubs and community organisations work together to create the community. They were one of the first to pitch in by contributing supplies to flood-affected people during the 2022 floods via their local supplier who was one of those few who were able to deliver to people in need.
`I grew up in a small town in Victoria that was flooded when I was 11 years old and we had three families living with us for months,’ says Scott, ‘and we’ve had tough times with a cancer diagnosis for one of our children so we know how important it is when the community helps each other out’.
‘We’re back now, and we’d love to see you in at Legend Pizza,’ says Scott. And if you can’t make it into town, they do deliver all around the Byron area.
Legend Pizza, 2/3 Marvell St, Byron Bay
Phone: 6685 5700
Open for lunch: Thurs, Fri and Sat from 12pm
Open for dinner: 3pm-late, 7 days a week
