In early November, a new vegan-style restaurant named Pizza Riot located on Walnut St and 2nd St. will open to the city of Chico.

Chico State students can now enjoy the fresh plant-based and organic non-genetically-modified organism (GMO) ingredients in the restaurant’s pizza creations.

Pizza Riot has had pop-up events to show off their new menu items all over Chico at businesses such as The Commons Chico, at “Fork In The Road” located at Degarmo Park, and the Third Love shop.

Pizza Riot has a variety of items on their changing menus, in order to keep the menu fresh, ranging from $10-$13. The items that are on the most current menu are: Calzone Sunflower, Wu-York 12” Pizza, Margherita 12” Pizza, and Custom Cheez 12” Pizza. They all contain ingredients ranging from vegan ricotta, mozzarella, basil, amriniar, sunflower petals, parmesan, and spicy buffalo drizzle.

When asked about what Pizza Riot is and what fresh ingredients they stand for, Kristin H. , Pizza Riot’s co-owner, explained that they believe that all animals are friends, not food

“Some people think that just because something is vegan, that it doesn’t taste good,” Kristen H. said. “Pizza Riot is here to help change people’s minds and outlooks of vegan food. Our dough, our sauce and ricotta cheese are all made from scratch.”

The business currently has two employees, they said.

“But what makes us so different is that we don’t offer any meat or dairy products but we still have one of the most amazing tasting pizzas in Chico,” Kristin explained when asked how Pizza Riot was different from other vegan style restaurants in Chico. “We strongly believe in the importance of using organic, locally sourced, non-GMO ingredients.”

Zach Engurasoff, first-year student and English major, was asked if he was looking forward to Pizza Riot’s opening in early November.

“I’ve never really heard of Pizza Riot until I’ve seen their Instagram pop up on my feed but it excited me,” Engurasoff said. “Vegan style pizza does sound different but makes me excited to try it out. I really do look forward to tasting everything on the menu due to the photos that they post.”

“It might take some time for students to discover and enjoy what Pizza Riot has to offer but from what I’ve seen and heard, I do think they will become a very popular and cool hangout space in the future for students,” Engurasoff said, explaining why he thinks Pizza Riot will rise to the top.

Melissa Juan, first-year and criminal justice major, explains how she attended one of their pop-up events and got to try some of the new items on the Pizza Riot menu.

“My friends and I attended the event that was held on August 18th at the Blackbird when we were moving into Chico,” Juan said. “We thought it was a great opportunity to get to know the city as freshmen. I got to try the calzone and it was delicious. It was a bit out of my price range but worth it.”

“We also have many organic gluten-free options!” Kristen H said. “Many of our customers aren’t vegan, but they do have certain things like allergies and health problems so we make it work. We are looking forward to our grand opening in early November!”

Pizza Riot will open in early November after finishing touches on the store-front. They will be the first 100% vegan pizzeria located in Chico.

Angelina Mendez can be reached at [email protected].