As you walk into The Fox and Lamb, you enter a space with warm, welcoming lighting, good music, and an emerald green interior. This newly built restaurant in Farmville was created by Maris Johansen, and it all started with a food truck.
The Fox and Lamb began as a food truck on August 3, 2023, serving unique pizza combinations to the Farmville community. In June 2025, The Fox and Lamb opened a full storefront on Main Street, serving even more unique pizza flavors to its patrons.
Owner and founder Maris Johansen said she wanted to be creative and to explore potentially uncommon food combinations. She said, “I think first and foremost, The Fox and Lamb is a space that tries not to necessarily redefine the wheel when it comes to a really beloved and well-known food. But we definitely want to bring a unique twist on it.”
At the restaurant, Johansen and her wife Jessica like to play the game, “Can it Pizza?” where they deconstruct flavor combinations into basic ingredients and try it on a pizza. This has led to pizza flavors such as French onion, roasted sweet potato, spicy maple sausage, “oh my gourd” harvest pizza made of traditional Thanksgiving food and various other creations.
“The big dream is just to have people want to come back. For people who live here to be in here at least once a week. And then people who visit from out of town to think about us when they go back home and to talk about us, and go, ‘Oh my gosh, I had this one pizza at this Fox and Lamb place in Virginia,’” said Johansen.
Johansen imagines The Fox and Lamb as a community space, with food that — while adventurous — is still high quality. The menu still has classics like pepperoni and cheese, but also offers creative twists on pizza, such as their Hot Honey Bacon pizza. They also have a build-your-own section.
Six months after opening, Johansen said things are going incredibly well. She said, “Getting to see the same faces come back in who are just excited about whatever new special we've got. Or they try something new, and they call us immediately to be like, ‘I just want you to know that this was the most delicious thing that I've had all day, or all week, or all year.’”
“People who travel outside the country say that we rival Italy, so that's been really rewarding. We work hard to put out a good product, but it's probably the most rewarding thing to hear that the work is being reciprocated,” said Johansen.
Looking to the future, Johansen explained that there are new opportunities upcoming. “We are in the works of getting our food truck back up and running. So, you'll probably see us more often in a mobile sense. We have partners with The Fishin' Pig and Press Club, so wherever you see their trucks, you'll probably see our truck,” she said.
With the return of the food truck, and continuing to serve customers at their storefront, The Fox and Lamb will continue their quest to supply unique pizzas to Farmville residents and visitors.
Johansen described the vibe of her business as “warmth.” She continued, “Good food brings warmth, and good company brings warmth.”
The Fox and Lamb is located at 218 N Main St. and is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
