OLD SCHOOL PIZZA

Schoo Old Sc

Couple Converts Former Malta Elementary Into Home and Restaurant

Although most people are eager to get out of school after they grow up, Josh and Molly Holbrook recently left their suburban home to move into an old school building in Malta, Illinois. Fittingly, the couple met while they were in high school together.

The Holbrooks purchased the former Malta Elementary School three years ago to be their family’s residence and have now converted part of it into a pop culture themed pizza parlor appropriately named, “Old School Pizza.” The unique restaurant, which is scheduled to open in the next month, features a huge collection of memorabilia, along with delicious casual food and games.

Despite the fact that Josh Holbrook runs a lawn care service in Elgin and his wife, Molly, worked as a nurse, they had always wanted to open a family restaurant together.

hool Pizza

“We’ve been together over twenty years and numerous times we were almost going to open up a restaurant or a bar, but it never fell into place,” said Josh Holbrook. “When we got the school, it just made sense to use it to open up a restaurant.”

Josh worked in many restaurants when he was younger, starting as a busboy at the famous Blue Moon in Elgin when he was only 13 and eventually managing a Little Caesars. Molly worked at some restaurants over the years, as well.

The Holbrooks, who describe themselves as “kind of hoarders” have a huge personal collection of pop culture items that they have accumulated over the years. “The difference between a hoarder and a collector is how you display it,” joked Josh Holbrook. Now that they have a large building and a public restaurant, they are able to take advantage of their life-long passion and share it with others.

The couple’s idea for Old School Pizza is for it to be a fun community restaurant, that is also interesting enough that people from outside the community will visit as well. “I think it’s the coolest restaurant

ever,” Josh Holbrook said. “It is all my stuff, so of course I’ll say that, but I can’t think of any other place that’s got such a variety of cool stuff to look at.”

The pizza parlor contains items dating from the 1930s to today, so there’s something for everybody to enjoy and help bring back memories. One of the centerpieces of the restaurant is a giant 1972 McDonald’s train carrying Simpsons and McDonaldland characters. Other prominent items include a 1939 Bantam Speedster and a HarleyDavidson motorcycle.

The memorabilia was obtained by the Holbrooks through a variety of methods. They have a large Big Boy statue that they bought online specifically for the restaurant. The largest item in the restaurant is a King Tut statue they got from a man in Maple Park who had it in his barn. It was originally used for a yearly festival in Chicago.

The couple met a toymaker, who designed toys for some wellknown companies, and bought several of his one-of-a-kind figures, such as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, E.T., and Batman.

They acquired a Keebler Elf from Josh’s friend, who worked next to a Keebler warehouse and found it by a dumpster. Monsters, Inc. and Simpsons characters were movie theater props. They also have many old McDonaldland figures from old McDonald’s playlands. Other figures in the restaurant include the Blues Brothers, Alvin from Alvin and the Chipmunks, Elvis, and Jaws.

They also have a collection of 30 lava lamps that Josh bought from a garage sale, and about 20 are displayed in the restaurant behind the bar.

Josh and Molly also love finding items on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. “It’s pretty much what we do almost all day,” said Josh Holbrook. “My thumbs are wore out.” The couple loves the show “Pickers,” because they enjoy finding cool things that are valuable and getting a good deal on them. “You get a little rush out of it,” said Josh Holbrook. “And then when you get to do something with the stuff, rather than just keep it in your house, it makes it a little more worth it, because now it’s like a museum.”

Several of the items at the restaurant are Chicago area icons, including a big stained glass window that they acquired from Barnaby’s Pizza in Schaumburg when it closed. “Barnaby’s was always my favorite pizza place,” said Josh Holbrook. “I’m not trying to steal their thing; I’m just such a fan of their pizza and there’s no Barnaby’s out here.”

They also have a working Bozo Buckets game that they will let every child play after they are done eating.

“[We wanted] anything that’s iconic and stirs up memories and good feelings,” said Molly Holbrook. “There’s a lot of stuff from the 80’s, because we’re both 80’s kids. That’s what we’re into. We both collected stuff for our whole lives.”

Some of the restaurant decor includes remnants from the old Malta Grade School. The pizza parlor is located in what used to be the cafeteria/lunchroom, that was also used as a gym. They kept the large mural on the wall that was painted by some of the children who attended the school in 1961-62. The mural depicts the entire town of Malta, in addition to DeKalb and Northern Illinois University. “Everybody’s been really, really happy we kept it,” said Molly Holbrook.

Above the bar, they installed one of the original chalkboards from

the school. Someone also gave them his 1959 basketball jersey that they will frame and hang up in the hallway, along with yearbooks from the 1950s that were donated by the former prom king of the school.

As far as the food goes, the Holbrooks are excited to serve a pizza recipe they developed with the help of some friends who own pizza places. Featuring great sauce and fresh ingredients, their pizza will be available in thin crust and double dough varieties, and possibly some type of deep dish as well. “I think we’ve got a really good pizza to give to people,” said Josh Holbrook.

The menu, which is still a work in progress, will also include a small selection of other entrees like burgers and chicken tenders, and sides such as fries and onion rings. “The menu will be kind of small, so we can focus on what we do really well,” said Molly Holbrook. They said they want to have a special once a week, and if people really like something that is on special, they will add it to the regular menu.

Building on the family-friendly theme, Old School is planning to serve at least 6-8 flavors of ice cream, sundaes, milkshakes and floats, so that people from town can come and enjoy ice cream with their kids. They would also eventually like to get some pinball and video game machines in the restaurant, so kids can stop by after school and play games while they eat ice cream or pizza.

The restaurant currently has seating for 84 people, but they have space to expand and add more tables to accommodate up to 130 patrons. Parts of the restaurant can also be sectioned off for parties.

Overall, the Holbrooks are looking to provide a cool and clean environment, with the friendliest staff and the best food to top it off. “We want this to be a go-to family restaurant,” said Molly Holbrook. “It will be a fun place to come If you’re on a date. It’s not just going to be for kids, but we definitely want it to be familyoriented.”

Old School Pizza will be open for lunch around 11 a.m. and close at 10 p.m. on

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weekdays and probably stay open until midnight on weekends. They hope to get a liquor license so that adults will be able to come in for a beer and enjoy some music on their vintage jukebox on any night.

Being family-oriented, though, they don’t want to be a bar that’s rowdy and stays open too late. The Holbrooks want to make sure they are good neighbors, since the restaurant is in the middle of a residential area.

HOME SCHOOLED When the Holbrooks realized that their growing family of five needed more space, they considered building an addition onto their St. Charles home. They also looked into buying an old church building in Batavia, but someone else beat them to it. It was at that point the couple stumbled upon the former grade school in Malta. While Josh was in Malta helping his brother renovate his home, he met Bob Canova. He was serving as the caretaker of the school and had a floorplan of the building with him. Two days later, the Holbrooks were signing a contract to purchase the property. “We got a really good deal on it. I can tell you that much,” said Josh Holbrook. The couple just happened to be in the right place at the right time and it all came together. “I’m always worried that people get the wrong impression that we have a lot of money,” said Molly Holbrook. “We’re just regular people.

The previous owner of the school was a restaurateur from Iowa who also owned a school building in Cortland and the former South Pointe Center in DeKalb. He had planned to turn the Malta school into a banquet hall, but never got around to it and it sat vacant for years.

acquired it, because it already had a new roof, windows and doors. With the help of friends and family, they cleared out, cleaned, painted, and carpeted the entire building. They know someone in almost every trade, so they reached out to many people to help with the renovation.

“A lot of people will be getting some good deals on pizza. I can tell you that,” said Josh Holbrook.

Every room in the building now has a theme and has begun the process of taking form. Themes for some of the rooms of the house include a cinema room, a personal bar with pool table and booths for playing board games, a medieval castle dining hall with a table that seats almost 30 people, a zen/ meditation room, a workout room, and a gymnasium with a stage, basketball court, trampoline and bouncy house.

The old library has been transformed into a Victorian style living room and a kitchen. The kids have a video game room, and the home also includes a guest room, several offices, and storage upstairs for all the rest of the things they’ve collected over the years records, posters, antiques, pop art, etc.

“It will be a long process in making it the way we want it,” said Molly Holbrook. “We’ll still be doing work the rest of our lives, but it’s coming along.”

The family did retain some features from the school in their home. They left the lockers in one hallway, most of the bookshelves in the library area, and one whiteboard in each of the children’s rooms. The school’s P.A. system still works and they can use it to play music throughout the entire building.

The original basketball hoops with the hand-painted Mustang mascot on them were moved into the gym from the restaurant area, but remain as they were when students still roamed the halls.

A FRIENDLY WELCOME The people of Malta have greeted the Holbrooks with open arms and are grateful that some life will be restored to the long dormant school in the center of their little town.

“It’s just a nice small town,” said Molly Holbrook. “People are out and about and everybody’s looking out for everybody. You feel safe.”

they got hold of it they just went like wildfire,” Canova said. “Josh is a get up and go getter.”

Canova, who has lived in Malta since 1962 and has a hand in many community revitalization projects, also helped to get the restaurant ready by donating memorabilia.

“It’s going to bring a lot of people into town to have a meal and then look at all of the memorabilia,” said Canova. “People travel a long ways to see a unique restaurant like this.”

One person who’s definitely excited about the Holbrooks moving into the old school and opening a restaurant is Bob Canova, the man who helped to make it happen.

“Josh and his wife had been looking for a place like this for years, and once Canova is hoping that once people come and see their nice little town, they will want to move there or open a business. “We’re in a very unique situation right here between the college and university,” said Canova. “It’s a small village, but we’re all family.”