I've been wanting to try Pizza Lucé in the Twin Cities for a number of years. For some reason, I just never got around to doing it. Staying in the south side suburbs of Minneapolis recently, I decided to head over to Pizza Lucé for dinner one evening last fall. Only, I almost didn't get in. The parking lot was full and I was thinking that I wouldn't be able to get in anyhow. However, a parking spot opened up before I exited the parking lot. I thought "What the hell?" and I went inside. Luckily, I found an open spot - the only open spot - at the bar. That's where I parked myself that evening to try a pizza at Pizza Luce.
Joe Baier found a niche in life when he was working for a pizza place doing deliveries and making pizzas. When that pizza place closed its doors in 1992, Baier felt he had enough knowledge about pizzas that he could do his own place. In 1993, Baier opened Pizza Lucé in the Warehouse District in downtown Minneapolis. Initially, it was a by-the-slice place, but after a couple of years Baier was able to expand the space with a dining area.
The only problem was that Pizza Lucé was just treading water fiscally. Baier needed someone with some business sense to come in and help right the ship, so he turned to a former co-worker at the defunct pizza place, Scott Nelson. Nelson was able to turn Pizza Lucé around and they were able to open a second location in the Twin Cities.
In 2001, Nelson and Baier were getting ready to open a third location in Duluth run by Nelson. Baier's niece, JJ Haywood worked in food service while she was going to Brown University, then got her masters in public administration at Harvard. She worked in food service at colleges and universities for 10 years running dining halls. When her uncle called her to come out to Minnesota to help centralize his pizza business, she figured it would be a one year job and she'd be moving on. However, Haywood found Pizza Lucé to be an interesting business and she eventually stayed on and took on the day-to-day operations as the CEO.
One of the Pizza Lucé's first location managers, Laura Hansen, became instrumental in the expansion of the restaurant overseeing quality control, ingredients and human resources. Haywood brought her into the corporate office and Hansen is now one of the co-owners of the restaurant chain. There are currently 8 locations for Pizza Lucé - 7 in the greater Twin Cities area including a concession stand at Target Field for Minnesota Twins games. An 8th location in the Twin Cities will open this year (if it hasn't already) in southwest suburban Eden Prairie.
It was around 7:45 when I walked into Pizza Lucé and I found a nice dining area with contemporary decor. One section of the dining area appeared to be set up for a large party. The other part of the dining area by the bar was full of diners. It was a pretty popular place.
I ended up getting the last seat at the bar. The bar staff was very busy and it took them awhile to acknowledge that I was there and to get a menu. I saw that they had Surly Furious on tap and once someone came over to drop off a menu I ordered up one of those.
One thing that stood out with the staff at Pizza Lucé, nearly every employee sported tattoos or piercings. That's a culture that Pizza Lucé fully embraces and encourages the expression of body art by its employees. The bartenders behind the bar - both male and female - all had tattoos and piercings. So, if that kind of stuff is offensive to you, don't bother going to Pizza Lucé
In addition to pizza, Pizza Lucé features a number of specialty hot and deli-style hoagie sandwiches, some pasta dishes, appetizers and salads. They have a number of vegan and gluten-free options on the menu, as well.
But I was there for the pizza that evening and I ended up getting a small (10") sausage, pepperoni and mushroom, my standard toppings on a pizza. The crust was thin, but not cracker thin, and was more pliable than crisp. The cheese on top of the pizza was caramelized, and the toppings were plentiful.
The Italian sausage had a bit of a spicy taste to it, the pepperoni had a good salty taste, and the mushrooms were fresh and earthly. It had a good amount of mozzarella on the pizza tying all the tastes together. It was a very good pizza, definitely one of the better ones I've encountered in the Twin Cities.
OK, so I finally got to try a pizza at Pizza Lucé - what did I think? Well, they say they have the best pizza in Minneapolis, but my favorite continues to be the one over at Pizzeria Lola. But if you can't get into Lola and need a pizza fix, the first alternative would be Pizza Lucé. I certainly liked their pizza topped with sausage, pepperoni and mushroom. The toppings and cheese were plentiful on top of the thin crust pizza and it went very well with a glass of the Surly Furious beer that I had with it. Sure, I'd go back to Pizza Lucé and I will at some point.
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