Pizza and desserts might not seem like a natural combination of foods for a restaurant to specialize in, but Pinocchio Pizza seems to have found the right mix.
Pinocchio Pizza, located in the 1200-block of Seventh Street, opened last week, and already it has enjoyed a good response from the public, said Abhi Bhatla, who is one of the owners of the business.
The business has locations in Regina and Moose Jaw, and they viewed Estevan as an opportunity to expand. It was a good location that was the Slice and Go pizza and grill restaurant previously.
鈥淎ctually our game plan there was to put in an ice cream shop where we would have varieties of ice cream and varieties of a few things,鈥� said Bhatla. 鈥淏ut there was a pizza place already there.鈥�
They already owned Pinocchio Pizza locations in Regina and Moose Jaw, and they thought that the take out and delivery business model of Pinocchio Pizza would work here. Pinocchio Pizza does not have a dine-in option.
In addition to their deep-dish pizza, ice cream and desserts, they serve a variety of appetizers, side dishes, salads, pastas, burgers and poutines. Bhatla said this will be really new for the community, and he expects a response similar to what was seen in Moose Jaw.
鈥淥bviously lots of people do pizza, it is a big competition in the market. Pizza is always our number 1 thing, but we also wanted to accommodate a taste of different types of appetizers, different types of desserts, which are not easily found in Saskatchewan.鈥�
Pinocchio Pizza has built up a good following in Regina, and once COVID-19 hit and it placed a greater emphasis on pick-up and deliveries, Pinocchio Pizza saw a greater opportunity for the concept, and expanded to Moose Jaw and Estevan.
He expects it will take a little bit of time to adapt to the different menu offerings, and the diversity, but with the different pizza options, they will enjoy the experience.
鈥淲e are doing lots of online things as well. We are introducing online ordering, so it鈥檚 very easy for people to go to our website and do online ordering, so we鈥檙e very user friendly with online ordering as well.鈥�
And they鈥檙e working on a rewards system for purchases.
鈥淲e are trying to be creative with the ongoing pandemic as well as dealing with the rest of the market as well.鈥�
The business employs several people in the community.
Bhatla said they are looking to forward to giving back to the different organizations in Estevan.
鈥淲e are very happy to come to the community, and we want to give as many different products to the community and help out the community as much as we can in different ways as well,鈥� said Bhatla.
