Marinara sauce may not actually flow through Branham Hedrick’s veins, but it must be in his DNA.
After all, Hedrick, 30, was born into a pizza family and now owns 2 Bros Pizza at 2005 E. Main St. in Easley.
Hedrick’s father, Michael, launched Pebble Creek Pizza in Greenville 30 years ago together with his then business partner, Michael Spencer — just a couple of months before Branham was born.
From there, the two Michaels launched Michael’s Pizzeria in Easley before eventually parting ways. Spencer retained ownership of Pebble Creek, and Hedrick kept Michael’s Pizzeria.
But small business ownership is not easy. Setbacks inevitably came, Branham Hedrick says.
“Fire took Michael’s Pizzeria in 2014,” he says. “And with that came some real financial challenges for us.”
But the Hedricks rallied. This time, though, it was Branham Hedrick who in 2015 launched his own pizzeria—2 Bros Pizza—along with his brother, Harley.
At the time, Branham was 20 years old — too young to even apply for an alcohol sales license.
“I to wait until I was 21 to do that,” he says, chuckling.
And while he may have stepped aside as owner, Michael Hedrick is never far away.
“He still comes and makes pizzas with us,” Branham says. “Once you have pizza in your blood, it’s hard to get rid of it.”
In December 2019, Branham Hedrick secured the financing needed to renovate the building that has since become the home of 2 Bros Pizza.
“As soon as I locked down this new location, COVID hit,” Hedrick says. “And that put a three-year hold on the renovation.”
They persevered, though, and 2 Bros moved into the new Easley location in November 2023.
The rise of 2 Bros Pizza
With an indoor dining room that seats 100 and a patio area that seats another 60, 2 Bros Pizza features a 650-degree brick oven, a full beer and wine bar, and an expansive menu.
2 Bros’ pizza dough is homemade, as are the sauces, Hedrick says. The restaurant doesn’t use packaged cheese but instead chooses to shred cheese daily.
“It would be easier to buy preshredded cheese and run the pizzas through a conveyor oven … but we’re proud of how we do it,” he says. “Since moving to the new location, we’ve more than doubled our business.”
With a staff of between 50 and 55 part- and full-time employees, Hedrick still works the pizza line every Tuesday through Saturday with his brother, Harley.
“You have to make it happen when you’re in business for yourself, and we aren’t scared of a little hard work,” he says.
Of course, Hedrick realizes Upstate South Carolina is not seen as a pizza mecca. And that’s fine with him.
“We don’t have that sort of a cool background story that so many other pizza places have,” he says. “But being born and raised here, sticking with it despite some of the setbacks? I think that’s a cool enough story in and of itself.”
