Tasty Tuesday: Moon Dog Brick Oven brings old building back to life in downtown Wytheville

Moon Dog pizza and 7 Dogs Brewpub beers...a match made in Heaven.

WYTHEVILLE, Va. – In recent years, a number of great restaurants have popped in Wytheville. You may remember Nelson Tidwell from when we featured 7 Dogs Brewpub in a previous Tasty Tuesday.

Before opening the brewpub, he was already leaving his mark on downtown Wytheville with Moon Dog Brick Oven.

He says Wytheville is the right place to be, “Staying here in town, investing in the town and the community has been very supportive. Bolling Wilson across the street for folks to stay at and come across the street here and maybe go down to the brewery at 7 Dogs.”

Before he took over, Todd Wolford with Downtown Wytheville Incorporated tells us the building could’ve been torn down.

The food starts with tried-and-true recipes that have stood the test of time. Tidwell says, “The recipes have always been the same for the last 50 years. Nothing has changed with the recipes at all.”

Everything starts from scratch at Moon Dog.

“We’re not taking a frozen dough out of the freezer. We make all the pizza doughs, all the pastas, all the sauces, all the sub rolls…everything is made.”

After going in the oven, it all comes out with that classic golden look on the crust. The signature pizzas have flavors and colors that pop like the Wythe County foliage this time of year.

The wings glisten in a sweet chili sauce, and a sweet marinara comes on the side of most plates.

For Wolford, he says, “I love the calzones. The salads are really underrated here. If you’ve never had the salads here, I highly suggest it. Especially the grilled chicken salad is my favorite.”

Conveniently, you can top all that off with any of the brews from 7 Dogs Brewpub and even make a trade too. You can get a Moon Dog hat, if you give Tidwell your favorite team’s hat to line the walls around the restaurant.

This leaves lots of customers saying, “If I had a restaurant, I wouldn’t mind having one that looks just like this. It’s just a cool place.”


About the Author:

Meteorologist Chris Michaels is an American Meteorological Society (AMS) Certified Broadcaster, forecasting weather conditions in southwest Virginia on WSLS 10 News from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays on Virginia Today.