Pizza Rita to reopen at new location

When a cold snap Jan. 22 caused pipes to freeze and burst at Mary Lou’s Pizza Parlor, the damage forced Pizza Rita, which had shared space there for the past eight months, to close temporarily.

But rather than reopen at the Evergreen location, the Spokane-based pizza company will wait and reopen when renovation is complete on property purchased last fall at 201 N. Pines Road.

They had planned to leave, just not this early, said Pizza Rita owner Brian Dickmann, adding they hope to be in the new location by April 15.

The water ran for four or five hours, running from the main floor into the basement, said Dickmann. But because it was so cold, some of the water refroze, forming icicles on the pop machines. “It looked like stalagmites in a cave,” he said.

Dickmann opened the first Pizza Rita in Spokane in 1989, naming the restaurant after his oldest daughter. The Valley restaurant, added this summer, is the sixth location.

“We just figured the people in the Valley deserved Spokane’s best pizza,” said Dickmann.

The day after the flood at the restaurant, Dickmann sent coupons for a free large pizza to the 2,000 Valley customers listed in his database. The coupons are good at any of the Pizza Rita locations or can be used when the Valley store reopens.

“Things like that make people like us,” Dickmann said. “Nine times out of 10, somebody is going to walk away happy.”

The Pizza Rita menu offers the typical toppings for its Italian pies, which is made daily with fresh dough and sauce from vine-ripened tomatoes. They also carry items like shrimp, anchovies and jalapenos for the more adventurous connoisseur.

“My favorite,” said Dickmann, “is probably pepperoni, pineapple and jalapeño.”