The Hillcrest neighborhood of Little Rock, Ark., recently gained a jewel when one of the state’s favorite pizzerias opened at Kavanaugh and Rose Streets.

The new location of U.S. Pizza boasts concrete floors, large windows, modern furnishings and the same delicious salads, sandwiches and pizza that have made the eatery so popular. The restaurant’s first location opened in 1972 in Levy, a neighborhood in North Little Rock.

Judy Waller is sole owner of the restaurant. “We moved to Little Rock [from Fayetteville, Ark.] in 1971. My former husband worked in a Pizza Hut in Fayetteville, and we hoped to open our own version some day. We opened the first U.S. Pizza in 1972. It was a tiny, little hole in the wall. The building was once a gas station — just 680 square feet — but we served pizza with handmade dough and fresh vegetables.”

Waller described those first days affectionately as “put together on a shoestring”; the top of a freezer served as a prep table and a modified refrigerator housed the kegs of beer they served.