Pieology to take a slice of Westwood’s competitive pizza market

Lucio Lopez dances at 8 p.m. on a Friday to bass-heavy music and shouts to students about 99-cent pizza slices, while the Westwood eatery he works for sits empty behind him.

Around the corner, four pizza restaurants rest on a single Westwood intersection. Three more pizzerias are located two blocks down.

Within the next three months, build-your-own pizza restaurant Pieology will join them. Opening in the same Broxton Avenue location that used to be Fab Hot Dogs, the restaurant next to Diddy Riese will compete with 800 Degrees Neapolitan Pizza, another eatery with a similar customized pizza concept.

Westwood Village is currently home to 10 pizzerias, and at least six other restaurants that feature pizza on their menus. Pieology will be the fourth pizza restaurant to open in Westwood in the past four years.

“We’ve seen a recent trend of repetitive and redundant Chipotle-style pizza concepts coming to Westwood in the past few years,” said Steve Sann, chairman of the Westwood Community Council and a long-time Westwood resident.

Pieology will give visitors the opportunity to create individual pizzas with unlimited toppings for a set rate of $7.95, said Frank Kalil, the Westwood Pieology franchiser. The restaurant will also use an 800-degree oven in hopes of serving customers its especially thin crust pizza in five minutes or less.

“When you leave other pizza places you can feel full to the point of sickness,” Kalil said. “Our thin pizza crust makes sure that doesn’t happen.”

Kalil said new Pieology restaurants spend between $400,000 and $500,000 on renovations before opening. He added that although the small interior fits the company’s quick-service mentality, the restaurant will also feature a 35-seat patio.

“We wanted to come to Westwood because we know students are always in a hurry,” Kalil said. “Our quick-service model means they won’t have to wait long for their food.”

But the restaurant will face competition.

BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, California Pizza Kitchen and Enzo’s Pizzeria have long been established in Westwood since the late 1990s, and a more recent increase in pizza restaurants began in 2011.

When Westwood Pizzeria first opened four years ago, they were encouraged to change their name to Lucia’s Café, said Wael Azzam, the shop’s manager.

“The Village wouldn’t even allow us to call our restaurant Westwood Pizzeria because the town already had too many pizza places,” Azzam said. “Competition can be good at times, but I don’t understand why they would allow Pieology, another pizza restaurant, to open.”

Some students said they were optimistic about Pieology’s opening and that they appreciate the many pizza options in Westwood.

“I like California Pizza Kitchen, but it’s expensive. Pieology sounds cheap and doable,” said Maria Davila, a second-year international development studies student. “We’re college students so we need a variety of prices and qualities.”

Julian Sandoval, a fourth-year Spanish student, said he thinks many Westwood pizzerias serve greasy, low-grade pizza, so he said he thinks Pieology will succeed if it matches 800 Degrees.

Some of Pieology’s future competitors said they are not worried.

The most recent addition to the Westwood pizza scene was Open Oven Pizza, a custom pizza shop on Westwood Boulevard that also offers unlimited toppings for a set price.

“We’re not scared,” said manager Jason Jackson. “Our products are pretty similar, but I think that, in the end, our toppings are higher quality.”

Christine Parady, assistant manager for 800 Degrees, said she thinks competitors don’t affect 800 Degrees that much because they serve more than one demographic.

“In Westwood there’s a pizza place on every block,” Parady said. “But families, dates, old and young people come into our restaurant because they love our atmosphere.”

Despite the competition, Kalil said he remains hopeful about Pieology’s prospects in Westwood.

“Anytime there’s a crowd, you have to do something different,” Kalil said. “Pieology customers will only have to wait three to four minutes to get a quality Neapolitan pizza for an affordable price. That’s what distinguishes us.”