Pizza Lucé in Richfield opens today!

We were invited to try out the new Pizza Lucé opening in Richfield on Saturday by our friend Shondra. It was a pre-opening event for Friends and Family. Pizza Lucé is a Minnesota-based specialty pizza and pasta place established in 1993. Richfield will be it’s seventh location!

The Richfield Pizza Lucé is housed in the old Bridgeman’s Ice Cream building. I seriously thought the building was torn down and rebuilt. However, I’m told that it was only renovated. Nice job, Pizza Lucé! The roomy inside interior looks new, as does the outdoor patio.

I’d been to Pizza Lucé only a few times before and the reason is solely due to location. The downtown location was where I experienced my first visit. We dined there pre-Fine Line concert. Another time was when the St. Paul location opened across the street from a friend’s apartment. And the most recent visit was a few months ago when a friend and I were in Uptown around lunch time. Driving by Pizza Lucé, it was an easy choice. However, this new location is only a 13-minute drive from our house.

One of the draws of Pizza Lucé is that they cater to vegans and gluten-free patrons. Many items are vegan (V), vegan upon request (VR) or gluten-free upon request (GFR). This gives those with a gluten-sensitivity an opportunity to actually go out and dine with friends. I’m told that the restaurant takes this very seriously when gluten sensitivity is a health condition. The order must be followed from start to finish. That’s dedication! In addition, it has recently become a trend for many people to choose a gluten-free or vegan lifestyle. While I don’t follow either, I think it’s great that there are options for people who do.

Our Order:

I was craving some veggies, so I ordered a small salad before our pizza arrived. I think I had split the Spinach Salad with my friend Jen on my my visit to the Uptown location, but it sounded good again. I ordered a small, so I could still try some pizza and scarfed it down before I could take a picture. But our friend Shondra ordered the large one and asked to add bacon and for dressing on the side:

Oh, how I love this salad! {Sans bacon for me, though.}

The pizza we chose:

Ruby Rae Pizza {Medium} | GFR
Upside down pizza pie with red sauce on top. Spinach, bruschetta tomatoes, Italian sausage, and extra mozzarella cheese. Sprinkled with parmesan cheese and spicy crushed red pepper.

We loved the spice of this pizza! It’s a little hotter than Minnesota spicy, so please keep that in mind when ordering. You could probably ask them to hold the crushed red pepper, if you are concerned. However, the crust seemed a little bland to us. {Maybe it could be brushed with some garlic-flavored olive oil?} But the toppings were full-flavored and exactly what we were looking for in a pizza.

They weren’t serving anything from the bar that day, but I did peruse their cocktail list:

With my love of St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur, this list had me at the Pear Tree! Also, I love my bubbly cocktails and had tried the Kinky Liqueur before, so I am pretty sure that I would like the Pink Fusion as well.

There are over 20 beers on tap, many of them craft or micro brews, perfect for a beer snob like me. Rumor has it that Tuesday is $3 Tap Beer Day, all day!

In addition, the bottles of wine were reasonably priced. {That’s tough to find these days.} And the selection is pretty decent for those prices. I hear that Mondays are Half-Price Wine Nights!

We didn’t try dessert, but when I jumped on their website to aid me in writing this post, I read that they are now delivering pints of Izzy’s ice cream. Oh how we love that!

Now that the Richfield location of Pizza Lucé is open, be sure to stop in and give it a try. Let them know that we sent you. And be sure to say “hello” to our friend Shondra, too!

Cheers~
Carrie