When it comes to the importance of community, Kevin Joyce of Middle Grove puts his money where his mouth is. If it’s not enough that over the past 17 years his family of five seemingly knows everyone and is nearly always present, Joyce also contributes to our landscape by giving us a great place to gather, socialize and eat.

Post Pizza and More will hold a communitywide grand opening celebration, inviting all ages to celebrate. This TOG Family Social Hour, held in conjunction with Greenfield’s Recreation Department, will take place on Feb. 28 from 5-7 p.m. at 3A Lake Desolation Rd. Post will offer samples, a bonfire with smores for the kids, raffles with prizes, and wine tasting by local Fossil Stone Vineyard & Winery. Guests will be offered a $13/cheese pizza special to bring home for dinner. The Town of Greenfield Lions Club will be onsite helping with the event.

Joyce spent the past few years cleaning up and renovating the property, which is also home to the Middle Grove Post Office. Joyce has been driving by the building, which dates back to the 1800s, for years and thought it was time to clean it up and put it to use. Joyce completely renovated the building with a new roof, interior and exterior.  

“What makes a community successful is having places to gather for good conversations and friends,” Joyce said. “We shouldn’t have to drive vast distances to get a bite to eat.”

The Dynamic Trio: Joyce, Murphy and Faas

The pizzeria is a dream come true for Joyce and his childhood best friend of 48 years Jimmy Murphy, of Saratoga Springs. Joyce sold his last passion project, Tinney’s Tavern, last spring. In the ten years he owned it, Joyce transformed the spot from a local drinking hole to a family restaurant and tavern with quality food and entertainment. Joyce found, with his full-time, traveling job as Key Account Director at Siemens Healthineers, he needed something that gave him more time with his family. 

“This gave me the opportunity to make improvements to a building that is the focal point of Middle Grove, offer residents a dining option beyond our local Stewart’s and open a pizza business which Jimmy and I had wanted to do forever,” he said.

Murphy has built an extensive experience with pizza having worked for more than 20 years at local establishments like D’Andreas and Spring Street Deli. With a full-time career was in social work, he always found time to work with pizza on the side as his two children, now 29 and 24, were growing up. 

Post Pizza proudly prepares fresh dough and sauce daily and offers our community a style of pizza that is unique to the area with its crispy undercarriage and its exclusive Grande cheese that brings out the flavor and taste. Murphy has created a customized cold fermented dough process that takes approximately three days.

“We pride ourselves on using top-quality cheese, tomatoes and olive oil and create dough that is hand-stretched, giving it an incredible complex taste,” Murphy shared.

Joyce said it was a natural choice to include its third partner, Erika Faas, to the mix. Faas served as the long-time manager of Tinney’s Tavern.

“Erika is extremely trustworthy and an excellent asset,” Joyce said. “She excels at prioritizing the needs of employees and managing all aspects of the business including the finances. We could never do it without her.”

Faas and Scott Wilson have lived in Greenfield for 15 years with their two children, eighth grader Wyatt and Charlotte, a third grader. Faas has more than 25 years in the restaurant industry. 

“Kevin is generous, caring and an excellent businessman,” she said. “We are enjoying seeing the happy faces of so many regular customers. It feels like our family is growing every day.”

TOG Love

The trio share a love for the TOG and all that it offers.

Joyce grew up in Saratoga, moving away for college and returning with his now wife of 19 years, Kim. They moved to raise their family in Greenfield because of its open space and small-town charm. The pair now parent three children: high school freshman Erin; sixth grader Brian; and second grader Jennifer. Kim serves as vice president of the Greenfield Home School Association in addition to her full-time job as mother and career in medical device sales at Cepheid, a leading medical diagnostic company. Kevin spent many years highly involved with the Saratoga Snowmobile Association.

“I am so proud to be a resident of Greenfield,” Joyce said. “There is great diversification, great schools and the people at Town Hall put so much effort into events and community building.”

Faas added, “It’s the perfect location for its beauty but also its kind and close-knit people.”

“We enjoy all of repeat, regular customers we see at Post,” said Murphy. “Greenfield takes pride in supporting local business. We are receiving rave reviews and a ton of word-of-mouth promotion from the people in this town.”

Post has not been shy about jumping in and getting involved. They made frequent appearances at the TOG Summer Farmers Market, offered pizza at TOG Rec soccer, sponsored the TOG Fall Festival and Winterfest and worked with the Town of Greenfield Lions Club to become an additional Christmas tree lot for their annual sale in December.

“Businesses like Post Pizza and the families that run it are what makes Greenfield special,” said Town Supervisor Kevin Veitch. “Our residents are close friends and they are happy to support each other in every way they can. We love what this business adds to our town and are thankful to them for being so involved.”

The Evolving Menu & Operation

Joyce explained that Post has taken a “crawl, walk then run” approach in its early months and is always adjusting to meet the needs of the community, as well as fluctuating product prices. Hours recently changed Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 3-7:30 p.m. and Fridays 9 a.m.-7:30 p.m., and Saturdays 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The menu is vast and features 16-inch pizzas that range from $17 for a basic cheese to low $20s for specialty pizzas like chicken bacon ranch, buffalo, meat lovers and a TOG favorite the Philly Cheese Steak (thinly shaved ribeye, white garlic, Grande mozzarella, peppers, onions and an optional horseradish sauce). Gluten-free cauliflower dough and vegan cheese are available.  Salads like caesar or sweet Thai chili run from $9-$12 and sandwiches include classic and specialty breakfast sandwiches for $6-$8, caesar chicken wraps, Philly cheese steak and a new Parillo sausage parmigiana for $12-$14. Other favorites include “roni rolls” and garlic knots. Bakery fresh brownies are available for dessert. Call 518-450-1210 to order. Indoor seating accommodates approximately 16 and there is outside seating in the summer.