New Restaurants Food+Drink

Heartbreakers Owner Opens Next Door Pizza Pub (and It’s Right Next Door)

cozy and cool new eatery serves savory grub, Halliewood pizza seven days a week

McKenna Scherer |

THE PIZZA NEXT DOOR. Cheese Curd Pizza, the Bianca Pizza, the 4 Meat Pizza, the Breakfast Pizza, and more await your tastebuds. (Photos by SMMG Photography)
THE PIZZA NEXT DOOR. Cheese Curd Pizza, the Bianca Pizza, the 4 Meat Pizza, the Breakfast Pizza, and more await your tastebuds.
(Photos by SMMG Photography)

The aptly named Next Door Pizza Pub (1713 County Highway OO, Chippewa Falls) opened up shop at the start of the new year, dishing up a finger-lickin’ menu of broasted chicken, flatbreads, wings, handhelds, salads, and of course, pizza.

The sixth addition to JAMA Investments – which also owns neighboring Heartbreakers Bar, Cheap Andy’s in La Crosse, Tipsy Tavern in Rice Lake, and others – Next Door Pizza Pub is, literally, next door to Heartbreakers, an area favorite. It’s been several years in the making and after a summer of planning and renovations, locals have already been raving about their food.

Next Door Pizza Pub emphasizes house-made and locally-sourced items from its main meat supplier, Chippewa Falls’s Sokup’s Market, Wisconsin-based Grande Cheese, and even time spent learning the pizza process from an area expert: Sammy’s Pizza’s owner James Jerulle Jr.

With a full-service bar and 12 additional tables for seating, Next Door is a first-come, first-serve establishment with a laid-back, homey environment. Helping curate the snug atmosphere is the plethora of antique decor throughout the space, acquired over months of antiquing by the pub’s team.

“You’re going to feel very cozy in this environment,” General Manager Sophia Taft said. “The entire front area’s wall is covered with different old antique doors; I mean, some of these are decades old. … The owner spent a lot of time searching throughout Wisconsin and Minnesota for antique items, like tailgates that move back and forth like shutters in the back room.”

Folks familiar with the space, formerly the Hallie Bar & Grill, may remember a dining room in the back of the building. That space is now a decked-out game room with a pool table, dart boards, and more cool decor. Those same longtime Hallie B&G patrons likely remember its staple Free Bacon Night: in place of bar food like bowls of popcorn or trail mix, bowls of bacon were put out. That unique special will be brought back at Next Door on Monday nights in the near future.

So far, patrons have been enjoying the Buffalo Chicken pizza and Barbecue Chicken flatbread, while Taft’s foodie favorite so far is the Bianca pizza. Thanks to Next Door, she is now also a reformed Hawaiian pizza naysayer. “I was never a huge fan (of Hawaiian pizza) before, but ours has Canadian bacon that has this smoky flavor, and it’s just killer,” she said.

With hand-tossed crusts, Next Door’s base boasts crispiness and offers a gluten-friendly crust option. While the eatery emphasizes gluten-friendly specificity due to the kitchen’s use of regular flour for other pizzas, there is a designated area for gluten-sensitive items to be made. All pizzas are offered in three sizes: 8”, 12”, and 14”. 

Next Door Pizza Pub serves food seven days a week from 11am-10pm, with the full bar serving customers daily as well from 11am-1am Thursday to Sunday, and 11am to bar close on Friday and Saturday. Delivery, Happy Hour, and other specials will launch in the coming weeks as the eatery settles in.


Keep up with Next Door Pizza Pub on Facebook, swing in at 1713 County Highway OO, Chippewa Falls, or call them at (715) 55PIZZA.