Scott Rabb, a native of Chicago has opened Scott’s Pizza Kitchen, at 116 E. Court St., in Trenton. Golden Media Group visited with Scott to discuss not only the business he opened, but how he made his way to Trenton.

Question: First, a little background information. Would you tell us where you are originally from, your family, and your education?

Answer: My grandfather got out of the coal mines of West Virginia after the Korean War and moved the family to Chicago.

He passed and my mom stayed while the rest of the family went back.  I didn’t know my father until his family found me a couple of years ago, and was raised in a hippie lifestyle until we made it to the suburbs and high school in New Lenox Illinois.

So, while I hail from Chicago my roots are deep in West Virginia, where I’ve lived a few times.

My stepfather was a contractor and I worked with him until I went on my own and started at the bottom of the lumber industry. When I made it to a Regional SE Manager, I met and married a woman, Yvonne, who introduced me to the Internet.

I immediately retired from lumber and started an Internet-based company, which I closed after 20 years to start building the restaurant.

Question: This one is easy. How did you make it to Trenton in West Tennessee from Chicago, (and driving on U.S. Highway 45 has got to be easier than driving on the Dan Ryan in Chicago)

Answer: I met my wife Minnie one night after she had just quit her job as a nurse in Altamonte Springs Florida. She was starting a new career as a traveling nurse and her first assignment was in California.

I had moved from California to Florida eight years prior and decided to join her on the road back to California.

We traveled for a couple years stopping in Humboldt to visit friends as we passed through.

One day I said I didn’t want to travel anymore and Minnie responded, “How about here?” That was that – we went back, listed our houses and were living in Trenton within three months.

Question: Were you in the pizza or restaurant business before you arrived in Gibson County?

Answer: I had never been in the pizza business, but I knew marketing and business. When I first left the lumber biz, I quit with a dream of cooking. I went to work as a dishwasher and cleaned squid for a month and then onto working a grill at a local pizza joint in Rocklin, California, for a few months.

I left there for family and went back to West Virginia, where I went to work for Sydex Ho Marriott in the Ashland Oil Corporate Offices, before deciding to move to Florida, and get back into the stable job in lumber.

Question: Tell us about your location. How did you locate the building you are in, and give us an idea about your menu?

Answer: When Minnie and I first moved here in 2005 we went into the O’Brien’s Bar to grab a burger. My first words to her were, “I’d like to own this one day”, but had no real plan. The last owner kept it open until 2009 when it was purchased and left to rot.

In 2012, I had medical issue that put me down for almost year and part of it was a mass found in my lung. I immediately changed my diet and pushed myself to learn to cook whole real foods. I quit going to fast food or chain restaurants and within two years the mass was gone.

During this time, we had dinner parties almost nightly as I tested recipes including crust, sauce and other cooking methods. At one point in 2018 I decided to open a food truck with pizza and Chicago foods. I went to the VFW to rent their kitchen as a commissary, when they asked me to just do it all there.

After expanding the kitchen twice, it was very successful but the restraints of the VFW didn’t work for me. The O’Brien’s Bar happened to go up for sale at the same time, so in January 2019 we bought it and over the next eight months, me and a friend tore it down from the inside and rebuilt it.

The building itself was built in 1904 by Mr. Freed. When I built the inside and front wall, I only had one thing in mind, build it exactly like the bar my mom owned in Chicago, which is now owned by a family friend. It is a duplicate that is about one-foot longer.

The menu is very eclectic. Being from Chicago and especially being a contractor there, we ate all over the city. My step dad was also a worldly man so he introduced us to some very fine restaurants. Mom gave me the desire to keep moving, travel and have experiences, so I did.

I went to work driving over the road just so I could see the country and with me acquiring a taste for new foods and authentic regional favorites, I stopped everywhere. So, our menu focuses on Chicago but also has all the nationalities and other regions represented. We do everything from a fried pizza puff to a gourmet pasta dish, from beans and cornbread to crawfish etouffee!

Question: How has Scott’s Pizza Kitchen been received, and what is the response when customers try pizza with a Chicago flavor?

Answer: It’s been a tough row to hoe since the laws were changed to prevent a bar from being open too close to the courthouse. Trenton is a very church heavy city. We were fortunate to have a couple of driven men, including myself, to modernize the law. That said, I realized very quickly that we are destination place primarily for folks from Chicago that will travel hours to get the authenticity. So, we focus our marketing outside of town and even beyond the county.

The pizza is very well received by those “in the know” but there are so many people used to the chain pizzas.

Question: How many employees do you have, and have you considered adding franchises in the area?

Answer: We usually have 11 employees. I’ve been approached many times by investment companies and the mayors of almost every town around. I brought it up to my wife who quickly responded, “I will divorce you”. This type of operation consumes you. We talked openly about it when we first decided to build it and it was acceptable, that for a time, I would be married to the business. Well, that five-year plan has worked and now it’s time to maintain it and my happy home life.

(PHOTO: Scott Rabb owns Scott’s Pizza Kitchen, 116 E. Court Square in Trenton)