Pizza World, Voodoo Brewing plan new location in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS — A small pizza chain will be reopening its Cedar Rapids restaurant in a new location soon, where it will have much more than pizza.

As the City of Cedar Rapids plans a major construction project, Pizza World announced the Jan. 17 closure of its 42nd Street NE location in a social media post last week.

“While we recognize and support the need for improvements to 42nd Street, we don’t believe the detour that was presented is convenient, and more importantly, we don’t believe it’s safe or responsible to direct that traffic through the community,” the restaurant said in a statement. “Though we did our best to work with the City of Cedar Rapids to resolve these concerns and find an alternate solution, unfortunately we were left to make a difficult decision.”

Its new location is tentatively set to open later this month or in February at 5100 Fountains Dr. NE, Suite 100, near Hy-Vee. The location was previously home to Saucy Focaccia, which closed in 2022.

But wait, there’s more.

Pizza World will share its new home with a new brewery. Voodoo Brewing Co., a small chain of breweries with franchises across Pennsylvania, the South and the western Mountain States, will open its first Iowa location in Cedar Rapids.

Voodoo was previously planning to open two doors down from Pizza World’s 42nd Street location in the fall of 2024. The new partnership between the two businesses will be a first for Voodoo.

“We are the first family that has been allowed to combine these two companies and, if successful, this will be a model for us moving forward,” a spokesperson for Pizza World and Voodoo Brewing Co. Iowa told The Gazette. “At the end of the day our goal is to create a family friendly destination where everyone can enjoy gourmet pizzas paired with exceptional craft beer in a welcoming, community focused, atmosphere.

Pizza World, based in Branson, Missouri, has several locations across Missouri, Illinois and Florida. Its Cedar Rapids location has been open for five years.

Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.