Pictured is Terrie Tremblay, the new owner of Panama Pizza, formerly Family Night Pizza. P-J photo by Sara Holthouse

PANAMA  – Family Night Pizza, a community staple for the village of Panama over the last two years, will soon be opening under a new name and with new faces in charge.

Previous owner of the shop located at 8 West Main Street in the village, Dorothy Miller and her family, closed the shop on June 30. Since then, new owner Terrie Tremblay has been working on taking it over and opening up again under the new name, Panama Pizza.

Tremblay said she heard about the restaurant closing through a mutual friend on Facebook, Dave Tracey, and that she decided she wanted to take over.

“It’s been a lifelong dream to own a pizza and sub shop,” Tremblay said. “It’s important to me to keep this nice restaurant in the Panama community and I look forward to giving back to the community.”

Panama Pizza is set to have their soft opening Friday, July 12, to be open Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. They are planning a grand opening for the first weekend in August, set to include things like raffles and other kinds of activities like door prizes.

For the soft opening, Tremblay said they will be offering pizza, wings and subs. There will be items added to the menu as they continue, specifically for the grand opening, such as calzones, salads, sides and more. She said they are also planning on offering a daily menu of home cooked items and baked goods like Amish donuts. The restaurant will also be open for the football season once that starts in the fall.

The most important thing Tremblay wants people to know about her and the Amish crew that she will have helping her is that they have a drive to help people.

“Our goal here is to help people and help with things like fundraisers for the school and the community,” Tremblay said.

In the future as the restaurant opens again, Tremblay said she hopes to be able to keep the restaurant serving the community.

“My hopes for the future are to be successful and give back to the community,” Tremblay said.

Panama Pizza will have the same phone number as Family Night Pizza, also continuing the same system of calling ahead to order, but with the plan to eventually have text orders as well. Panama Pizza can be reached at (716) 621-4030.