Time flew by together

For one Jay County couple, seeing each other after their respective work days wasn’t enough. 

That’s why, 25 years ago on Sept. 3, Carla and Doyle Rheinhart opened their pizzeria, now called Pay-less Pizza, at 117 1/2 E. North St. in Portland. 

“We’d have no idea we’d still be here 26 years later. It was just something that we did,” Doyle said. “I guess it was just a little surprising that 25 years went by so fast. Every day goes fast around here, you’re always busy all the time.” 

Working together was one of the allures of owning their own business, Carla said. 

“We just wanted to be together, we didn’t want to go our separate ways and meet in the evenings,” she added. “(It was) the only thing that we could do together and the opportunity came up to buy the restaurant.” 

Their choice of a business venture made sense for the couple. Carla has worked in food service since she was about 14 years old. While Doyle previously worked in construction, his parents were the original owners of Dick’s Pizza Palace, which opened in 1961. 

“It was in my blood,” Doyle said. 

It wasn’t always smooth sailing, though.

“We thought we knew everything and we didn’t know anything,” Carla said, laughing. “We were lost.” 

One of the things that changed over the years was the name. The couple first called their restaurant “Paradise Pizza,” but decided to change the name about four years later when the business took off. Everything else about the business has stayed basically the same. 

“We haven’t moved at all, we’ve always been in the alley,” Carla said. “It’s basically always been a large menu … we have such a variety, it’s just not only pizza, it’s home cooking and sandwiches.” 

That large menu is one of the things that sets their business apart from other restaurants in town, Carla said. It’s four pages long and includes dinner dishes, pitas, pastas and of course, pizza, in four different sizes. A customer favorite is the baked steak, which won the entree category at Taste of Jay County last month. 

Doyle makes the pizzas, pitas, subs and pastas, while Carla does the home cooking, grill and fryers. They have five employees as well. The couple also runs a catering business out of the location.

The store is open every evening except Sundays, and on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for lunch. Carla said she is always in the store when it is open, while Doyle comes in and out. But neither has to go far for their commute; they’ve lived in an apartment attached to the restaurant for the last 20 years. 

“I think about cleaning two places and I like it just the way it is,” Carla said. 

The business is not a traditional restaurant — there is no sit-down area. Payless offers only pick-up or delivery. But they still love interacting with the customers, especially with the regulars. 

“I like the people, the customers that come in,” Carla said. “We get to talk to them and see them and see how they’re doing. We’re very personable.”

Working together all these years hasn’t always been perfect, Carla said. But the Rheinharts have enjoyed their quarter century working together, even if they can’t quite believe how many years it’s been. 

“My body feels it one way, my mind feels another,” Doyle said. 

“It was just like amazing, we couldn’t get a grip that we’ve been here that long,” Carla said. “Time just flew so fast.”