The Elon Town Center will soon welcome another restaurant, Pandora's Pies. The restaurant, which is still under construction inside, will feature specialty pizzas, salads, soups, bruschetta and a small bar.

Owned by Jeff MacKenzie and Peter Ustach, who also own the Fat Frogg, Pandora's Pies will occupy the remaining space on the first story of Elon Town Center, next to the Elon University campus bookstore, Barnes & Noble at Elon University. Smitty's Homemade Ice Cream, a local Burlington business, will lease a small space within the restaurant.

"This is a college town without a cool pizza place," Ustach said. "We want it to be a place where you can get a quick bite to eat at a reasonable price. Subway is the only other quick place to eat that's not owned by Elon."

Ustach said Pandora's Pies would be a place for people to eat in large groups or students coming in to get lunch between classes. The restaurant will offer table seating for groups of up to 10 people, as well as have a counter specifically for takeout service.

Because students have limited dining options late at night, Ustach said he and MacKenzie wanted to provide a place for students to still be able to get food after 10 p.m., a time when only Acorn Coffee Shop, Octagon Cafe and Varsity Sports Grill are open.

Sophomore AJ Kessler said since students can get pizza at Octagon and in the dining halls, Pandora's Pies would need to have impressive options to be successful.

"If it has a reputation for being the best pizza it could do well," Kessler said. "But when you can get other junk food on the meal plan or with meal dollars, I think most people would go with that."

The restaurant's hours have not been finalized, but Ustach said Pandora's Pies would most likely be open until at least midnight Sunday through Wednesday and 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday, opening each day at 11 a.m.

Pandora's Pies will incorporate local elements, such as 100 percent organic flour from Lindley Mills in Graham and Italian meats from San Guiseppe Salami Co., a processing plant that uses livestock from Cane Creek Farm in southern Alamance County.

Sophomore Katherine Elliott said she looks forward to having the pizza shop opening close to campus and is also glad to have another local option.

"We need more local places," she said. "Burlington is very chain-heavy."

Even the furniture in Pandora's Pies will come from a local source, Ustach said. Old doors from the recently demolished Chandler, Colclough and Maynard dorms were used for the restaurant's tables.

"We bought some of the buildings' old slab doors and turned them into recycled cherry and oak tables," he said.

Smitty's Homemade Ice Cream will occupy a small portion of the restaurant. Behind a 15-foot counter, Ustach said Smitty's would have two dip wells and offer all of its homemade ice cream flavors.

Both places will accept Phoenix Cash.