Pizza never goes out of style. Particularly in college towns.
Within a week of ringing in the New Year, a Maryland-based pizza company opened the doors on a fast-casual pizza restaurant at 115 E. Grand River Ave. in downtown East Lansing. Nested two-doors down from the corner of Albert and Grand River Avenues,
LOTSA Stone Fired Pizza offers fast pizzas and salads that diners can customize from more than 40 fresh ingredients. Each pizza is ready to eat in just five minutes after being baked in a custom, stone-fired oven.
"What's also appealing is the taste," says Anthony DiGangi, chief operating officer, Colmont Restaurant Group. "We use higher quality ingredients like cheese from independent dairy farms and California tomatoes. We're not cutting corners."
Ingredients cover the pizza spectrum, ranging from pineapple to pepperoni to banana peppers to brown sugar bacon. Multiple sauces include traditional red, spicy buffalo red sauce, and Alfredo. Crusts are hand-tamped, with gluten-free options available. Signature salads are made from hand-cut ingredients, come in two sizes, and can be topped with one of five dressings.
East Lansing is the sixth location for the LOTSA Pizza and the first in Michigan. The restaurant chain launched in October 2015 in Morgantown, W.V., and quickly branched out to markets in Indiana, Maryland and Wisconsin. The company is headquartered in Glenwood, Md. Customers can enjoy sit-down, take-out or delivery, with online ordering available.
"East Lansing fit a lot of our checklist items," says Michael Hannon, chief financial officer of Colmont. "There's a large university here, there's great sports programs, and there was an awesome piece of real estate available. The stars just aligned."
LOTSA pizza created 30 jobs, can seat up to 70 diners and features a small party room. During warm weather, a large garage door can be opened for al fresco dining. The 5,000-square foot space is energized by a premium stereo system as well as sports programming on large flat screen TVs. A custom mural depicting campus landmarks adds local flair.
Source: Anthony DiGangi, Chief Operating Officer, Colmont Restaurant Group
Writer: Ann Kammerer, News Editor
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