Months after opening a new City Pork on LSU’s campus, local restaurateur Stephen Hightower is gearing to open a pizzeria on Chimes Street that will feature New Haven Connecticut-style pizza and other Italian specialties.
Hightower says the company got a taste of what City Pork could do in the area after opening a cafe in LSU’s Design Building in the spring. The cafe was strained by the volume of customers, so Hightower’s team set out to find a kitchen nearby to use as a production facility. That, in turn, uncovered an opportunity to pursue a new concept.
It’s all about the synergies with Hightower, who says the pizzeria—to be located at 164 W. Chimes—plays uniquely with what the restaurant group is already doing with meats. They already make their own andouille, alligator sausage, duck bacon and Canadian bacon, and now will begin to make their own pepperoni to top the New Haven-style pizzas. With large, thin slices, the style is similar to a New York-style pizza but features an oblong-shaped crust and Romano cheese instead of the traditional mozzarella.
Also on the restaurant’s menu: lasagna, meatballs, poboys and an Italian hot beef sandwich with a red gravy, pickled peppers and onion and carrots. For dessert, the shop will offer Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice from New York. There will also be alcoholic Italian ice options for adults.
Hightower aims for a mid-August opening and says he wants to be part of the welcoming for new students and families on campus, as well as the revitalization of the area.
“It should be a destination for people coming to LSU,” he says. “If we play a small part of the revitalization of the area, that’s huge. I’m behind it 110%.”
Hightower and former business partner Trey Williams founded City Pork Deli & Charcuterie in 2013 in the Perkins Road overpass area. They later opened City Pork Brasserie & Bar on Jefferson Highway and City Pork Kitchen & Pie on Exchequer Drive—which has since closed—and Southfin Southern Poké in the Southdowns Shopping Center before parting ways last year.
