Beloved KC pizza restaurant will open its next location near CPKC Stadium

The expanding Riverfront in Kansas City is getting another food option this summer, potentially in time for World Cup visitors to grab a slice from a growing local pizza restaurant known for offering three pie varieties.

Providence Pizza is coming to Current Landing, the burgeoning mixed-use district located next to the CPKC Stadium and Missouri River.

A fan of both soccer and the open water because of his Rhode Island upbringing, Providence Pizza co-founder Aaron Salvatore said he was indecisive about moving forward with the new location until a well-timed dream he had the night before his signature for the Current Landing lease was due — a dream where, strangely apt enough, he toured CPKC Stadium and played some soccer on the field. He decided to take the dream as a sign.

Now Aaron and his brother, Providence co-founder Luke Salvatore, are opening a fourth location of the pizzeria hopefully by early July, just in time to sell some pies and slices to visitors here for the final FIFA World Cup matches and fans during the KC Current season.

Known for offering three styles of pizza (New York, Detroit and Sicilian), Providence’s menu features both classic and signature pies.

Some of their most popular pizzas, Aaron said, will make the menu at Current Landing. The thin and crispy New York-style East Coast (sausage, bacon, mushroom, ricotta, basil and a hot honey drizzle over mozzarella and red sauce) will make an appearance, along with other favorites like the thick and chewy Detroit-style General Burnside (pepperoni, ricotta, basil and red sauce) and the rectangular Sicilian-style Wicked Rita (burrata and basil on top of mozzarella and vodka sauce).

Aaron said the Providence team is cooking up some new specialty pies, appetizers and desserts specifically for this location, though he wasn’t ready to share those menu items just yet.

“I’m working with some people in the industry to develop this menu,” Aaron said. “Some of the things are going to be new to us, and some of them are going to be improvements on what we’re currently doing.”

For example, Westport Cafe — Providence’s neighbor at their Westport location — is helping the pizza restaurant develop a signature cocktail menu for both their Westport and new Current Landing spots. They’ll offer at least five cocktails, mostly Italian inspired, and both locations will sell wine, something Providence hasn’t consistently done before.

Similar to the other locations, the Current Landing restaurant will have multiple local beers on tap and domestic bottles. Non-pizza crowd-favorite menu items like the garlic knots, wings and cannolis for dessert will be available as well.

Dough production has always been an important part of putting out a pizza at Providence, Aaron said, adding that they use a local flour, sourdough starter and an up to 96-hour fermentation process. In the new space, the pizza stretching, dough mixing and fermentation will be on full display, with the kitchen located behind a glass facade that guests can walk past at Current Landing.

“It’s similar to an open-kitchen type of bakery,” Aaron said.

The Current Landing spot will be Providence Pizza’s biggest space to date, with around 70 seats in addition to some patio seating.

Being a pizza restaurant, a large part of their business will continue to be for those customers who want takeout, either by picking up a slice to eat around the Current Landing property or delivery through third-party apps. But Aaron said he hopes the larger space is useful for groups that spill out of KC Current matches or other events around the Riverfront who need a place to eat that’s accommodating to all ages and taste buds.

Providence also wants to be the pizza of choice for the expanding number of residents moving into the area’s new apartment buildings.

“The goal is to just become the neighborhood pizza shop,” Aaron said. “We’ll have a couple of TVs inside, it’ll be a chill atmosphere for having a meal, but also just really approachable and casual.”

Providence Pizza first opened its doors in 2014 in Grandview — a location that’s still in the KC suburb — as a way to provide a higher quality and bigger variety of pizza the Salvatores were used to back home in New England. The brothers are originally from Providence, Rhode Island, their pizzeria’s namesake. Luke Salvatore also runs Luca Bagel.

The pizzeria also has locations in KC’s Westport and Oklahoma City. Aaron said his team is “always looking” for potential ways to expand more in the Kansas City area.

Providence at Current Landing will be open from Tuesday to Sunday, at least to start, Aaron said. The hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.

It’s located at 1460 E. Front St. and joins other future Current Landing tenants like Clementine’s Ice Cream, upscale sports bar Revel and an Italian restaurant from Washington, D.C., chef Nicholas Stefanelli.