Pizza Lucé () is a

pizzeria A pizzeria is a restaurant focusing on pizza. As well as pizza, dishes at pizzerias can include kebab, salads and pasta. Many pizzerias offer take-away, where the customer orders their food either in advance or at the restaurant and then take ...

restaurant company in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

with locations in the

Minneapolis–Saint Paul Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area in the Upper Midwestern United States centered around the confluence of the Mississippi, Minnesota and St. Croix rivers in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is commonly known as the Twin Cities ...

area and Duluth. Pizza Lucé was founded in 1993.

History

Pizza Lucé owner Joe Baier worked in pizza delivery until the pizzeria he worked at closed in 1992. Having worked for years in the industry, Baier decided to open a new pizza restaurant, named Pizza Lucé, which opened in 1993 in downtown

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. It was not initially profitable and in 1995, Scott Nelson, who had worked previously alongside Baier as a pizza deliverer, was hired as the pizzeria's

General Manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

helped ensure that the restaurant became profitable. The pizzeria includes

gluten-free A gluten-free diet (GFD) is a nutritional plan that strictly excludes gluten, which is a mixture of proteins found in wheat (and all of its species and hybrids, such as spelt, kamut, and triticale), as well as barley, rye, and oats. The inclus ...

and

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...

items on its menu. Pizza Lucé has since expanded to nine locations in the

area and one in Duluth. In 2010, the pizzeria began offering online ordering and within a year over 20% of its delivery orders were placed via the Internet. Lucé was named 2011's Restaurant of the Year by the Minnesota Restaurant Association.

Culture

Due to Pizza Lucé's practice of allowing workers to return to their jobs after touring with their bands, their employees have included band members from groups such as Cadillac Blindside and Clair De Lune as well as Jesse Johnson and

Joshua Cain Joshua Allen Cain, (born July 31, 1976) is a guitarist and record producer from Saint Paul, Minnesota. He was the co-founder and lead guitarist of United States, American pop punk band Motion City Soundtrack. Cain is also a record producer, music ...

from Motion City Soundtrack. Since 2003, Pizza Lucé has hosted an annual block party in Minneapolis, originally on the corner of

Lyndale Avenue Lyndale Avenue is a major street in the U.S. state of Minnesota that traverses the cities of Minneapolis, Brooklyn Center, Richfield, and Bloomington. A noncontiguous portion also exists in Faribault, part of Highway 21. There are several com ...

and 32nd Street, featuring artists including Brother Ali and P.O.S. The 2012 block party was cancelled and the organizers sought a larger venue for future years. In 2013, the block party was moved to the Downtown Minneapolis warehouse district location.

References

External links

Official website of Pizza LucéPizza Lucé Block Party website
{{Restaurants in Minnesota Pizzerias in the United States Restaurants established in 1993 Restaurants in Minnesota 1993 establishments in Minnesota