INWOOD – Brothers Jordan Whitehurst and Zach Zarou have spent most of their lives working in the pizza business, and now, they’re bringing their family’s business to West Virginia.

The brothers recently celebrated the grand opening of the first West Virginia location of Manhattan Pizza, which opened June 1 in Butler’s Crossing in Inwood.

Whitehurst and Zarou said they started working for Manhattan Pizza when they were children, with Whitehurst beginning around age 8 and Zarou around age 6.

“We started working in the kitchen, answering phones,” Whitehurst said. “Making steak and cheese subs, doing everything. It’s a family business.”

The Manhattan Pizza chain has most of its locations in Loudoun County, Virginia, with additional locations in Maryland and two in North Carolina. The Inwood location is the company’s first in West Virginia.

Whitehurst said the brothers chose the location because of the growing number of people from their area and local high schools moving into the Eastern Panhandle.

“This location just seemed like a good spot, a great community,” he said.

Since opening in June, the restaurant has received a strong response from the community, the brothers said.

“It’s been crazy. It’s been really good,” Whitehurst said. “We’ve had a great turnout in the beginning, great community meeting, a lot of nice people.”

The grand opening follows a soft-opening period that allowed employees to train and prepare for the restaurant’s full launch.

The brothers said they also want the restaurant to become involved in the local community.

“We’re looking forward to getting more involved with the schools a lot, with the community,” Whitehurst said. “We like to do a lot of fundraising, stuff like that.”

The restaurant already has a partnership with South Berkeley Little League and is looking to establish a partnership with Musselman High School.

“We’re just looking forward to being able to help out in the community in any way that we can,” Whitehurst said.

The brothers said their goal is to make the restaurant a fixture in the community as they continue operating their first West Virginia location.