New fast food pizza chain coming to south Iowa Street

Can you cook a fresh pizza in five minutes? I can’t, at least that seems to be the gist of the court order the fire marshall has given me. Lucky for us that there is a new pizza chain coming to south Iowa Street that is all about making handmade pizzas in five minutes.

Pie Five has filed plans at City Hall to locate at 2500 Iowa St., which is the office building that is just north of the shopping center that includes Applebee’s, First Watch and several other shops.

Pie Five is a multistate pizza chain that seeks to bring the Subway sandwich style of food construction to the pizza business. Customers walk up to counter, pick from one of four different crusts, then they choose from up to seven different sauces for their pizza. There’s classic marinara, ranch olive oil, alfredo and others. The restaurant notes that you don’t have to think inside the box here. You can mix different sauces on the same pizza, if you choose. (That sounds like a plan. After all, nothing ever went wrong when I would mix and match flavors at the soda machine. Well, at least nothing that couldn’t be fixed by a carpet cleaner and a dry cleaning bill.)

“We won’t judge,” the restaurant’s website notes.

Then customers choose from four cheese blends, seven meat options, and 16 veggie toppings. Most are pretty standard, but a few go beyond the normal offerings. For example, cheese options include both ricotta and cheddar, meat options include meatballs, and veggies include jalapeños, caramelized onions, artichoke hearts and, for some reason, spinach.

The artful #piedentity process

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My understanding is that, much like Subway, you can add as many toppings as you would like for the same price. The menu online, however, doesn’t list what prices the restaurant charges for pizzas.

Once you have your selections made, the dish goes in an oven that cooks the pizza in about five minutes.

The restaurant also has some nonpizza dishes. The restaurant serves a classic Italian or chicken Caesar salad, and both come in something called a “pizza crust bowl.” Plus, there are dessert items on the menu too.

I don’t have a timeline for when the restaurant is expected to open, but it may be quicker than most. The site plan filed at City Hall shows that the restaurant will use the existing building on site, which houses a Shelter Insurance office. The interior will be remodeled, and an outdoor seating area will be added, but otherwise it is not expected to be a major construction project.

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In case you are wondering, the longtime Shelter Insurance agency that has been in the 2500 Iowa St. location will remain in business. Gary Petersen, owner of the agency, told me the business is moving into a vacant space next door to the First Watch restaurant at 2540 Iowa St.

That’s the Tower Plaza shopping center, which as we previously have reported is undergoing a major renovation. If you have driven by recently, you’ve noticed the facade of the shopping center has been stripped away. It will be replaced with a more modern looking design. The big news in the shopping center, though, is the southern end of the shopping center has been demolished to make way for a new Popeyes Chicken restaurant, as we previously have reported.

In case you have forgotten, another chicken restaurant also is under construction in the area. Across Iowa Street, some work has begun on a new Raising Cane’s chicken finger restaurant. It is locating where Emprise Bank previously had a branch on Iowa. That bank building has been demolished, and site work is underway for a new restaurant building.