— Daily Freeman-Journal photo by Anne Blankenship Leon’s Pizza in downtown Webster City will continue to offer carryout and delivery service. The owners have chosen not to reopen the dining room yet to be sure their employees and customers remain safe during the pandemic.

Editor’s Note: The following article is part of a continuing series on how Webster City area businesses are faring during the COVID-19 pandemic,

On a Friday night in June each summer, Carlisle softball coach Jim Flaws brings his seemingly always highly-ranked team to town. Yes, he’s a local boy so it makes sense that he’d want to return to his roots for a game against his alma mater, but he openly admits there’s an ulterior motive.

Leon’s Pizza is just a three minute drive from the softball field, and it’s always the first stop of the Carlisle bus after the game is over.

Carlisle’s softball team — its players, coaches and fans — is just one of the many out-of-town enthusiasts of the local restaurant that has been in business for since 1972.

“People come from all over,” owner Leon Ott said. “They come from Des Moines, Mason City, Eagle Grove, Clarion, Clear Lake … just from all over.”

Leon’s is a favorite among Webster City residents as well and not even a pandemic has stopped longtime customers from enjoying the pizza and chicken.

Open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week for curbside pickup or delivery, Leon’s has continued to churn out the orders since it was forced to close down its dining room on St. Patrick’s Day due to COVID-19.

“We were shocked at first that we had to lock up because we’ve been open for 48 years, but as it turned out, it was the right thing to do,” Ott said. “Business has been really steady and the public has been absolutely fantastic.”

Leon’s pizza oven is constantly in use and the establishment’s 20 employees have adapted to the new protocols put in place. Servers wear masks and gloves, and deliver food for curbside pick-up on trays. Customers are required to take the food off the trays themselves to avoid any contact.

“I have a family of good employees and I couldn’t do this without them,” Ott said.

It’s out of his concern for his employees, as well as the customers, that Ott says he’s in no rush to fully reopen, even though Governor Kim Reynolds last week gave restaurants the green light to do so.

“It was an easy decision not to reopen right now,” Ott said. “Right now I don’t want to open up to put my employees or the public in danger.”

Ott saw the sudden closure as a chance to refresh his restaurant. Leon’s Pizza is currently undergoing a remodeling project that Ott hopes to have completed within the next few weeks.