The bar in Mothership Pizza Paradise is an antique. Though its origins aren’t known, it’s believed to be from an establishment in Iowa. Photos: Dallas Currie
The team behind Mr. Paul’s opens a bold and dynamic neighborhood pizzeria.
The team behind Mr. Paul’s Supper Club has a remarkable gift for crafting restaurants that exude pizzazz, magic and culinary excellence. Their passion for food, ambiance and atmosphere has transformed the space at 51st and France, formerly home to Arezzo Ristorante, into the vibrant and flavorful Mothership Pizza Paradise.
“We really want to be a spot for the neighborhood,” says Carrie Erickson, co-owner and operator. “We want to have the sports teams in here and the kids in here.”
With a Brooklyn-inspired ambiance, Mothership serves up a menu that highlights wood-fired Neapolitan-style pizzas, handmade pastas, sandwiches, salads, crudo, cured meats, roasted vegetables and a full bar curated by Mr. Paul’s Aynsley Jones. The owners include Mr. Paul’s Erickson, Tommy Begnaud and Courtney Briden, and Mothership’s kitchen is led by head chef Logan McAllister, sous chef Ben DeCamp and general manager Sam Rosen.
Together, they bring Begnaud’s straightforward vision to life with a focused selection: 12 appetizers, 10 specialty pizzas and six handmade pastas. “Do what you do and do it well. The menu has enough for everybody, but it’s still manageable where we can execute it at a high level and put out consistent, good food,” Begnaud says. “What separates us from the [other pizzerias] are their offerings are fairly limited outside the pizza scope. We are going to offer a little bit more for everybody.”
This new venture is deeply personal to Begnaud. While Mr. Paul’s is an homage to his grandfather, Mothership is dedicated to his late mother, Kathy Begnaud.
“This is for my mom. Our moms. All moms,” he says. “I lost my mom in 2019 to ALS [amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease]. Then we started Mr. Paul’s after that. She wasn’t able to see it. When we started talking about names, I wanted to do something for her. Mothership Pizza Paradise just works.”
Each of the specialty pizzas are named after a staff member’s mom. “All the specialty pizzas are an homage,” Erickson says. “My mom’s got one, [Begnaud’s] mom’s got one. The head chef’s mom, the assistant general manager, the general manager. All of our moms.”
Pizzas are named for the staff’s mothers. This one is the Kathy, named after chef Tommy Begnaud’s mom.
Mothership also subtly pays tribute to its predecessor, Arezzo Ristorante, which was renowned for its stunning hand-painted mural. While much of the decor has been updated, the original Grazie sign remains above the door frame as a nod to the past. If you look closely at the walls, behind the bold pink diagonal stripes, you can catch glimpses of the mural still peeking through, preserving a bit of the restaurant’s history. The centerpiece, however, is the antique bar Begnaud bought from Architecture Antiques in Northeast Minneapolis believed to have come out of a bar in Iowa. Its intricate craftsmanship brings a sense of timeless elegance to the space. Meticulously restored, the bar’s woodwork and detailing evoke a bygone era, adding character and charm to the restaurant’s modern design. It serves as both a functional feature and a conversation piece, seamlessly blending the old with the new. “We wanted it to feel like it’s been here forever,” Erickson says.
It’s clear that Erickson and Begnaud have created a restaurant that is a blend of tradition and contemporary flair. It invites guests to savor not just the food, but the history and atmosphere that make this space both timeless and refreshingly new.
Mothership Pizza Paradise
5057 France Ave. S.
Instagram: @mothershippizzaparadise
