Good Slice Pizza Co. sets opening date for downtown debut, will get creative with pies

Lansing State Journal

LANSING -- Downtown's new pizza-by-the-slice restaurant that can cook 18-inch pies in less than 4 minutes is ready to open next week.

Good Slice Pizza Co., 414 E. Michigan Ave., bills itself as a fast-casual restaurant that will make its debut at 4 p.m. May 30, said Scott VanGilder, a co-owner.

The restaurant has indoor seating for about 13 people within a 1,000-square-foot dining area. It's within walking distance of Cooley Law School Stadium and the Lansing Center.

Good Slice has already served slices to customers inside nearby bars for about a week and has a TurboChef oven that is ready for an increased workload on opening day, VanGilder said.

"I don't know if we've got a set closing time," VanGilder said of the opener. "If we're cranking it (business-wise), then we're just going to stay open."

Prices for a slice of pizza are expected to range from $3 to $4.25. They won't be small because each 18-inch pizza will be cut into six slices.

The oven will allow multiple pies to be baked quickly and give customers the option to have them warned to perfection within 30 seconds, VanGilder said.

Good Slice's menu will also include breadsticks and salads.

The hours:

11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays
11:30 a.m. Fridays to 3 a.m. Saturdays
Noon or 5 p.m. Saturdays to 3 a.m. Sundays (depending on events downtown)

Creative cooking

Good Slice's signature pizza will be meat-heavy and called "Piggie Smalls." It will include sausage, bacon and ham.

The restaurant also intends to make pizzas in honor of local sports teams, including the Lansing Ignite and Lansing Lugnuts.

An Ignite pizza will include chorizo, a seasoned pork sausage, and a honey sriracha sauce.

"It's a quick casual by the slice concept," said Shane Smith, Good Slice's general manager. "We're not building spaceships. It's just pizza, pizza, pizza."

Customers of Taps 25 bar, Good Slice's neighbor, can currently order pizza from the restaurant and eat it at the bar.

This is a door that connects Good Slice Pizza Co. to a bar called Taps 25. Both businesses are located on the 400 block of East Michigan Avenue in downtown Lansing.

Once Good Slice opens May 30, bar customers can eat and drink alcoholic beverages they purchased at the bar inside the restaurant.

A doorway was constructed inside the restaurant so customers in each business can pass through. The restaurant won't serve alcohol.

Elijah White, 41, of Eaton Rapids, tried some slices last week while he was downtown and gave the restaurant its first Facebook review.

White said Wednesday he enjoyed the quality of the pizza toppings and buttery Parmesan cheese crust.

“It’s exactly what’s needed downtown," White said. "Something you can walk into, get some fresh food, not pay a tremendous amount of money on it and move on with your day or night.”

Help wanted

Good Slice is seeking people to fill several jobs at the restaurant.

Applications can be submitted online at Good Slice's website, goodslicepizzaco.com. For more information, visit its Facebook page at facebook.com/goodslicepizza.

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Eric Lacy is a reporter for the Lansing State Journal. Contact him at 517-377-1206 or elacy@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @EricLacy.

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