The return of Smitty’s, Hudson Falls

By Ben Westcott, Chronicle Staff Writer

Smitty’s Pizza in Hudson Falls closed in 1997, but now, 27 years later, original founder John Smith, his wife Diane Smith, and Mr. Smith’s son Connor, 21, and Diane’s son Henri, 17, have resurrected the eatery on the very same street with the new name Smitty’s Firehouse Pizza.

The restaurant was originally at 287 Main Street. Now it’s at 67 Main, in a lately vacant property that previously housed a fish fry and other restaurants.

The new Smitty’s Firehouse Pizza opened July 3 selling pizza with the same recipe used in the 80s and 90s. Chicken wings and subs are also on the menu.

“The first two days we were open we sold out of everything we had,” Connor said. “Last week we were able to prepare a little bit more, so we’ve been working into it. Business has been good.”

“It’s been busier than I thought,” the elder Mr. Smith said. “I tried to do a soft opening, and I got laughed at by a bunch of my family and friends, who said ‘Soft opening!? It’s not gonna work, bud!’”

“The day we opened, we had five people waiting at the door at 11 o’clock in the morning,” he recalled. “They said ‘we want to be the first one.’

“My cousin-in-law called at five to 11 and said ‘Hey, I want to be the first order.’ I said, too late, Brian, there’s already five people at the door. We sold out by 6 o’clock that day.”

Mr. Smith, his two brothers and his mom and dad started the original Smitty’s Pizza in 1987. “We were before Domino’s here,” he said. “There was no other delivery in Hudson Falls at that time. We had Pizza Hut, but we were the only one that delivered. So we had it pretty much cornered. Nobody delivered, but we delivered, and a little shop like that made half a million bucks a year.”

It closed in 1997 because of “family stuff going on,” Mr. Smith explained.

He embarked on a long career working EMS for Fort Edward Rescue Squad and Empire Ambulance, all the while kicking around the idea of opening Smitty’s up again. “People have been asking, ‘Hey, are you gonna ever open again?’” he said.

His son Connor told the story of what finally spurred them to take action.

“We just happened to see this spot up for sale,” he said.

“One day I said to him, hey, that’d be a good spot for a pizza shop. And he was like, yeah, let’s look into it. We looked it up online and saw the asking price, and we were like, that’s a smoking deal.

“We came in, checked it out, and we were like, what better retirement gig to start for him than getting the shop going again?”

Connor said they added “Firehouse” into the name because “it pays tribute. He’s a retired fireman, I’m a fireman. It’s just something we enjoy doing.”

The Smiths are all Hudson Falls lifers. Mr. Smith was class of 1979, Connor was class of 2022, and Henri is a rising senior.

“It’s hometown,” Mr. Smith said. “My wife’s from Hudson Falls, I’m from Hudson Falls. Our whole family is here. This is the roots.”

He added, “We’re community oriented. We will do whatever we can to support anything that’s going on.” He said Smitty’s plans to donate pizzas for snack bars to sell at local high school sports games “just to help them get over the hump.”

In pizza making, Mr. Smith says a focus is “consistency.”

“And we think about the customer,” he added. “If they’re not happy, we try to make them happy.”

Smitty’s hours are currently Thursday through Sunday 11 a.m.-11 p.m., or until they run out of food. Phone: 518-338-3443.

“Right now we’re selling out at night with just pizza, chicken wings, and subs,” Mr. Smith said.

Connor says they will probably expand hours in August or September.

Mr. Smith says he eventually wants to be open every day. “Nobody’s open in this village on Monday, except Dominos.”

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