A rendering of the exterior of a proposed Pizzawala's restaurant. The restaurant is planned to be built in the space next to Peanut Barrel on Grand River Avenue (From agenda packet)

Council Gives Planned Indian-Style Pizza Restaurant Approval to Serve Alcohol

Pizzawala’s, an Indian-style pizza restaurant planned for downtown East Lansing, was granted permission by the East Lansing City Council to sell alcohol.

The restaurant will operate at 523 E Grand River Avenue, a space most recently occupied by MSUFCU until 2023, next to Peanut Barrel. There are other Pizzawala’s restaurants, but this space will be unique because it will be a full service, sit down restaurant.

The site that will soon be occupied by Pizzawala’s, an Indian-style pizza restaurant. (From meeting agenda.

Developers said East Lansing is in need of a family-oriented restaurant on its busiest street. 

“Pizzawala’s is not a student dive bar, it’s a full service, sit down restaurant,” said Jeff Horan, representing the property owner. “Restaurants with indoor and outdoor seating concentrated in a downtown district is not a bad thing, it’s a good thing.”

Pizzawala’s menu shows it offers dozens of different types of pizza, wings, desserts and bread. The site plan states that the business will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. After 11 p.m., people under 21 will need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian to enter the restaurant.

While developers were only seeking a Special Use Permit to sell alcohol at the June 3 meeting, alcohol is an important part of the developer’s plan. 

“With restaurants we’re seeing really high increased food and labor costs,” said Carson Patten, a retail advisor that worked with Pizzawala’s. “Having alcohol service as a supplement really can be the difference between a restaurant just surviving and thriving.”

The restaurant plans to sell beer and wine. Previously, the Downtown Development Authority and Planning Commission recommended approval of the Special Use Permit.

Pizzawala’s will have room for 98 occupants inside, with 80 seats. There will be another 32 seats in a seasonal patio outside. 

Council voted 4-1 in favor of approving the Special Use Permit for alcohol sales. Mayor George Brookover, Mayor Pro Tem Kerry Ebersole Singh, and Councilmembers Mark Meadows and Dana Watson voted in favor. Councilmember Erik Altmann voted against. 

A rendering of what the interior of Pizzawala’s restaurant may look like. (From agenda packet)

“I’ve never had Pizzawala’s before, but I’m excited to vote in favor,” Watson said. “I think it’s cool that the applicant mentioned that they live in Okemos so it’s a local person. 

“It’s also nice to know that if I don’t like the pizza, I can always have a beer,” Watson continued. 

“Have you switched from hard liquor to beer?” Brookover joked in response. 

Explaining his vote against the proposal, Altmann said he thinks there are enough liquor licenses in the downtown area. East Lansing police have expressed concern about adding seats to some businesses that serve alcohol previously, however at a different meeting it was explained that ELPD does not have the same concern with Pizzawala’s because it is family-oriented. 

Altmann also said he has doubts that the restaurant will keep the quality of dining experience that it has promised. 

“I am concerned that you need to think about following the money, and the money is not necessarily in something approximating fine dining,” he said. “The money is in other types of liquor serving establishments in the downtown. So, it may be what we’ve been promised for a while, but I suspect in the end it’s going to be something like we see along Abbot right in the downtown.”