Pizza in Progress

The sounds of construction ring out from the building on the corner of 5th and Blair. In the front window, a stuffed bear sits in front of a mirror that explains, in blocky, stenciled letters, the activity within: Pizza Research Institute is coming. Inside the former Whiteaker Station space, funky old bottles stand on a table, a pile of wood planks that used to be high school bleachers sits waiting for its next purpose — and a red shipping container looms in the largest room, instantly claiming a visitor’s attention. 

“We’ve been fascinated with the use of shipping containers as an alternative structure,” says Will Boise, who owns PRI with his wife, Usha. It was Usha, he says, who suggested they use a shipping container to expand the building’s kitchen space. But it’s not just there for a practical, immediate reason. Will Boise says it’s also “sort of the camel’s nose under the tent to get the city thinking” about the concept of using such containers for building.

The striking structure-within-a-structure sits in the middle of an almost sprawling space, a huge change from the funky, charming but undeniably snug location PRI currently occupies at 13th and Lawrence. There, diners sit elbow to elbow at small tables; here, high ceilings soar overhead, making everything airy and bright, and multiple rooms and a lovely courtyard will offer plentiful seating.

While some things about the new place are certain — the restaurant’s new home has double the oven space of the old; the exterior will be silver and black with spirals; the main room will have a projection screen and show art on a monthly basis — others are as yet pleasantly undefined. The central room offers multiple possibilities for speakers or interactive events; the color of the interior walls is “an ongoing question”; those old bleacher planks may or may not become a long table for communal dining; and as for whether this larger space calls for table rather than counter service, Boise says, “I imagine at least at first we’ll come up with some sort of [combination] of the two and experiment with it.” 

Once PRI is moved — phase one of the project, Boise explains — they’ll continue with their current evening-only hours. “Once we get our sea legs under us,” he says, phase two will likely first involve expanded hours and, later, a juice bar that also serves alcohol. “A lounge-type affair,” Boise says. 

As they work toward a projected May 2 opening, Boise says, “We’re choosing intentionally not to predicate everything that happens and let the space find a way.” It's a space to watch — the way it finds is likely to be fantastic.