A slice of New York in BR: Prince St. Pizza’s grand opening

Popular NYC chain Prince St. Pizza recently opened its first Louisiana location along with a visit from UFC champion Jon Jones. Fans lined up for hours to try the iconic Sicilian square pies.

Lines stretched around the restaurant and neighboring stores beginning at 6:30 a.m. Friday, almost four hours before the 11 a.m. grand opening. More than 1,000 people visited Prince Street that day, not only to try the food, but also for a meet-and-greet with former UFC champion Jon Jones, a co-owner of the Baton Rouge location.

LSU student John Latterell waited three hours in line to try the pizza and meet Jones. Latterell who is from California and lives near a Prince Street location, said that he is excited for it to come to his college town and to meet Jones.

“I waited here because Jon Jones is a very inspirational fighter. I grew up watching him a lot. I’m a big UFC fan, so it’s really good to meet him and also try the food here,” Latterell said.

Prince St. Pizza started in Manhattan’s Nolita neighborhood in 2012 and became known for its signature Sicilian square pies made with generations-old family recipes. Business partner and Director of National Operations Raymond Durbin said Baton Rouge was a natural fit for its new location of its strong college-town energy, passionate food culture, and gameday traffic along the Siegen Lane corridor.

“So we wanted to come to Baton Rouge as part of our national expansion to bring great pizza to a great college town. Great food scene, but missing a key element, pizza by the slice and that’s why we wanted to come here,” Durbin said.

The restaurant’s most popular slices include the Naughty Pie made with spicy vodka sauce, whipped ricotta, and hot honey, as well as the Spicy Spring made with spicy pepperoni. The menu also includes many other kinds of pizza squares and slices which can be served with their signature “Not Ranch” dipping sauce.

Durbin said the pizza sauce is made in-house daily and that they use a specialized water filtration system which mimics New York tap water, helping recreate the taste and texture of the brand’s New York-born dough and maintain consistent taste across their locations across the U.S.

“We make our pizza with New York water. Every one of our shops has a New York water maker in it, so it’s the exact same water that you get in New York City to make our recipes. So, it’s the same taste whether in New York, California, or Baton Rouge,” Durbin said.

Prince St. Pizza is located at 6556 Siegen Lane, Baton Rouge, LA 70809. The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, closing at midnight Friday and Saturday. Whether you’re a pizza lover or just looking for excitement, expect a bit of a wait when you visit.