Grace Pizza & Shakes 30A

GRAYTON BEACH, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - At a recently opened restaurant on 30A, attention to detail and passion make for a great recipe.

Grace Pizza and Shakes 30A opened up in 2022 in Grayton Beach. The restaurant features pizzas and dishes with top-of-the-line ingredients.

“When I toss it I’m just looking to see if I have thin spots, finding the right cheese, tomatoes it’s all about flavor, buying the right flour,” said Adrian Hembree, Chief Grace Officer and Co-owner.

Adrian Hembree was one of the ones who started the restaurant. The Grayton Beach location is one of three Grace Pizza locations in the U.S. He occasionally visits the 30A location to check up on things and cook a few pies while he’s at it.

“The detail to me is everything and I think it’s the difference between being good or great.”

Featuring pies like the Supreme Grace to The Garcia.

Making the desserts is VJ Nandlal. He co-owns the restaurant with Adrian.

“Yeah we make some crazy shakes here at Grace,” said Nandlal, Chief Smile Officer at Grace Pizza.

VJ whips up mountain-high shakes topped with Oreos, cinnamon rolls and even shakes with a birthday cake on top.

“I wanted to get into the restaurant business and Adrian knew pretty much everything about it so he had this idea for Grace and asked me to take this journey with him and I was honored and he has been my mentor since,” said Nandlal.

“(VJ) Him and I quickly became great friends and God was speaking to me to do something with him,” said Hembree.

Their attention to detail is more than just the food. It’s also in the name.

“I’m just going to scream grace. We are a Christian-run business so it really gets back to our faith,” said Hembree.

Adrian and VJ met while doing service work in Texas. But VJ’s path to where he is now was bumpy at times.

“Somewhere along the way I think I started partying too much,” said Nandlal. “I asked God, I said, if you take these urges away from me, you take these addictions away from me then I will spend my life helping people.”

“Watching VJ develop as a man over the years become more spiritual, more humble and more kind, it’s been amazing to watch,” said Hembree.

Now, it’s about giving grace back.

“(Adrian) He looks out for me almost like a dad. It’s wild. So maybe I can look out for somebody else or help somebody else,” said Nandlal.

And it may not be on the menu, but for them, it’s the best thing they’re serving up. And it comes at no charge.

“I have had grace from police officers, I have had grace from judges, I have had guests show us grace when their pizza is taking a little long. So many different examples of grace but the first is God’s grace,” said Nandlal.

And nothing says love like a hot out of the oven pizza.

“Yeah through pizza. It’s easy to put a smile on people’s faces with a great pizza pie,” said Hembree.

More information on Grace Pizza and Shakes 30A here.

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