Wichita’s newest pizza restaurant opens on the east side this week
Wichita’s newest pizza place officially opens to the public on Wednesday and will serve a type of pizza the owners call Arkansas-style.
Kim and Larry Partlow, who moved to the Wichita area from northwest Arkansas 16 years ago, are finally ready to open The Pinnacle Pizza Company, a restaurant they’ve been dreaming about for nearly a decade. They’ve taken over the spot at 832 N. Webb Road that most recently was occupied by Shocker Pools. Before that, the space was home to Livingston’s Diner.
Arkansas-style pizza, which the couple loved when they lived in Arkansas, has a bready pizza “crust handle,” Kim Partlow said, but the underside crust is crunchy. The couple plans to achieve the correct texture using deck ovens, which they say produce a better product than conveyor ovens.
When they lived in Arkansas, the couple was particularly fond of Dennis Bariola’s pizza restaurant in Rogers, which is called Bariola’s Pizzeria. His pies became their gold standard, and they eventually befriended the Bariola family, whose members shared advice and recipes.
In addition to that special crust, Pinnacle pizzas will be topped with Bacio cheese, which is extra stretchy when cooked, Kim Partlow said.
The couple came up with their own topping combinations for their specialty pizzas and gave them names associated with their favorite place to ski — Breckenridge Ski Resort in Colorado. The Falcon is topped with a spicy chicken sausage, Canadian bacon and roasted red pepper. The American features beef, onion, pickles and three types of cheeses. And the Green Run is a vegetarian pizza topped with mushrooms, onion, green pepper, black olives and roasted red pepper. People also can build their own pizzas.
The restaurant also will serve several sandwiches, including a meatball sub and a Cuban, as well as appetizers such as pizza rolls, meatball kabobs, baked wings and nachos. A single trip to the salad bar will be $8.99, and all-you-can-eat salad will be $11.99.
The Pinnacle Pizza Company also offers lunch specials, including a seven-inch cheese pizza for $5.50, a seven-inch specialty pizza for $8.99, and a half sandwich or 7-inch specialty pizza plus one trip to the salad bar for $12.99.
The restaurant will offer beer on draft and in cans. It doesn’t serve wine or liquor but has a few seltzers in stock.
It’s a full-service restaurant where customers will seat themselves at one of several tables, all topped with red-and-white checkered tablecloths. A server will take orders and deliver food. The restaurant also is set up for easy carry out service.
The hours will be 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
Kim Partlow, who has managed Wendy’s and Panera restaurants and also once headed up food service at the Sedgwick County Zoo, said that she’s ready to run her own place and meet her new customers.
“I just want them to be comfortable,” she said. “It’s going to be a cozy, relaxing, comfortable place to come.”
The Pinnacle Pizza Company menu
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