Chipotle-Backed Pizzeria Locale Expands to Kansas City

Pizzeria Locale — the Chipotle-backed fast-casual pizza concept — is finally expanding outside of Colorado. So where are they setting up their first restaurant outside of their home state? Kansas City, the first place Chipotle expanded to as well. Co-founder Bobby Stuckey tells Eater Denver that "Kansas City has been a terrific market for Chipotle, and we are thrilled to join our sister restaurant and become a part of the city's dynamic and growing dining scene."

The Kansas City Star writes that the Pizzeria Locale outpost is slated to open this summer and will employee between 15 to 20 people. On offer will be custom pies, alongside speciality options, and premium toppings like capers, pork meatballs, eggplant, and Gorgonzola. All the pies are cooked in a custom-designed, high-temperature, rotating oven. There will also be salads, sides, and desserts on the menu. To drink, the restaurant is offering red and white Italian wines on tap — custom-blended by Stuckey and co-founder Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson — on tap and lots of craft beer.

Pizzeria Locale makes health a priority just like its deep-pocketed partner Chipotle. Stuckey revealed in October that the restaurant doesn't use boring, traditional 00 flour, but instead opts for a hipster heirloom wheat varietal that is "nutrient dense" and offers a flavor "not found in commoditized wheat."

The pizza concept was founded back in 2011, but so far, has been slow to expand. Currently, it only has two locations, both in Colorado: Its Denver location debuted in October 2014 to much fanfare. Perhaps the Kansas City announcement shows that company will soon launch more aggressive expansion plans. After all, the company previously revealed that it intends to "follow Chipotle's expansion formula."