Serving up pizzas piled high with toppings, Matt B’s Main Street Pizza has been voted a favorite spot in Murray by students, but now they can expect to see the restaurant in a different light.

While the pizzas have been popular amongst many, owner Matt Bartholomy has renovated the store, giving it a new look for the new year.

Manager Aaron Armstrong, who has worked at Matt B’s since 2008, said the restaurant went through the recent renovations during Murray State’s Winter Break.

The changes included new paneling, repainting and waxed floors, and Armstrong said the store will look to add new chairs and tables to the list of renovating within the next few months.

Armstrong said these updates are the latest since 2009, when new seating booths were installed.

The changes have been welcomed by customers as they enter the restaurant and have been received positively by the community.

“A lot of our usual customers that come in on a day-by-day basis or a lot throughout the week have noticed and say ‘this place looks great,’” Armstrong said. “Every time they come in, someone will compliment something about the store, like ‘I really love what you’ve done with the floor with rewaxing it and rebuffing it.’”

Since the store’s opening in March 1997, it’s convenient, close-to-campus location has proven to attract Murray State students, along with customers from the city. Having a social media presence on Facebook has also helped the business.

Students have become dedicated regulars over the years, which has helped the store win multiple awards.

Most recently, those dedicated regulars helped Matt B’s win the Murray Ledger & Times Readers’ Choice Award for “favorite place to get pizza in Calloway County” in 2013.

Students also voted for Matt B’s pizza in The News’ special edition, Best of Murray, in 2013. Matt B’s has been named best pizza in Murray for several editions.

Armstrong said he believes the updates will continue to bring in students, who the workers have grown to know on a personal level.

One of Matt B’s regulars includes senior Matt Wilham from Louisville, Ky., who said he believes the new changes will help the restaurant shine.

“It helps give the place a newer, cleaner feel,” he said. “I’d heard complaints that it didn’t look like a clean place. With the new renovations, one doesn’t think about the look of the store. It helps bring the food to the forefront.”

Wilham said he believes the store should keep up the pictures that used to be on the wall and continue decorating, but as long as the pizzas taste the same, the store will maintain its popularity.

Armstrong said the company always welcomes customers with big smiles and a warm greeting, and that atmosphere is something Wilham said he enjoys more than a slice of “meat lovers,” his favorite Matt B’s pizza.

“My favorite part of the experience is the quick conversations I have with Matt,” Wilham said. “He is such a charismatic guy. He always looks excited to see you. He has such an enthusiasm about his work that you know that he’s doing something he loves. He’s the best part of his restaurant.”

Story by Mary Bradley, Staff writer