La Pizza Nostra, owned by Clovis native Stephen Donaghy, changed hands in July after its previous owners agreed to an offer made by Donaghy in February. Photo by Cecilia Lopez

Since 2020, a once-beloved local pizza restaurant in Clovis seemed to have lost its mojo. 

The restaurant once known as Double Play Pizza was a busy place, with fans of Fresno State football and the NFL finding a home, as well as local organizations such as marching bands and more enjoying pizza and fun at the restaurant located on the corner of Gettysburg and Willow avenues.

The restaurant has changed hands several times since former owner and founder of Double Play, Dave Brown, sold the restaurant. The first new owner kept the name “Double Play,” but it went on to change, including a stint as Wild Wolf Pizza.

The pizzeria’s new owner is keeping a name given by a previous owner, but hopes the Double Play days return with business flowing through the doors.

La Pizza Nostra, owned by Clovis native Stephen Donaghy, changed hands in July after its previous owners agreed to an offer made by Donaghy in February.

Donaghy, who has owned several businesses and works as an IT consultant, said he hoped to find and operate a business that could not only be a new challenge, but also one that he could pass down to his children, keeping the community spirit in what many locals still refer to as Double Play Pizza.

He said after looking around town at a few other locations, the timing seemed right.

“Timing’s everything,” he said. “Right location, right price, right owner, right landlord; kids are older now and going off to college…I needed a little different challenge and that’s how I ended up here.”

He said the location will hopefully be the key to driving business. Located a five-minute drive from Fresno State and Highway 168 and surrounded by nearby neighborhoods and apartment complexes, La Pizza Nostra is a prime location for potential growth, he said.

Now with a new crew, La Pizza Nostra will retain its name, Italian for “our pizza,” a concept Donaghy hopes the community will embrace.

One of the ways he hopes to do that is by driving down costs.

Donaghy said that his background in IT will help with online ordering systems. He seeks to eliminate some of the app-based charges that customers ultimately pay.

The goal is to lower the overall cost for the consumer.

He said that the restaurant will eventually have options for customers to order directly through the website or through Doordash, UberEats and other delivery services —  but hopes that his customers are aware of the potential charges they may incur.

Donaghy added that Menufy, a digital ordering platform that owns a large number of online websites for restaurants, also owned La Pizza Nostra’s. He wanted it back.

He said that reclaiming the web domain was a challenge.

“What they do, unfortunately, is they all take a chunk of the order,” he said. “They sell it to me as ‘hey, you know what — it won’t cost you anything.’ Well, it may not, but it costs my customers.”

“My customer now sees a $44 pizza that’s only $29 from me,” he said.

Donaghy hopes that his background in IT will help him solve some of the unnecessary surcharge issues, as well as other issues that happen through online ordering.

“Just recently we had an order come through for an item that we didn’t even have,” he said. “Doordash had published a menu without calling me, without consulting me…let me be blunt, they don’t care. They’re just trying to get it [their sales] out there. It’s very corporate driven.”

Donaghy said that he hopes to make customers aware that by doing business directly with La Pizza Nostra’s website or by calling the restaurant, they can eliminate a large amount of the charges, eliminating service and delivery charges.