When Central Pizza opened in downtown Lafayette in 2018, it was the first restaurant on Jefferson Street to feature wood fired pizzas with elegant cocktails and show-stopping appetizers.
The result was a dining experience that lured in guests from around Acadiana. Central’s “elevated pizza night” concept had staying power downtown, where the restaurant is still a popular destination seven years later. It is now expanding south of Lafayette, where Central Pizza opened a second location in Broussard on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
The restaurant opened to a busy lunch service, with co-owner Collin Cormier tossing pies behind the counter and popular appetizers like cheese curds, fresh burrata and Central dip (a leek, bacon and parmesan dip served with warm pita bread) flying out of the kitchen.
One of Central’s most ordered pies is the Curly Sue, which comes with a white sauce with mozzarella, a pistachio pesto, garlic ricotta and curly pepperoni slices. Pies on the red sauce list include the “Paulie,” with a blend of classic and trendy toppings — mozzarella, pepperoni, pickled jalapeños and Acadiana honey.
Central Pizza is part of a group of restaurants co-owned by Lafayette restauranteur Collin Cormier, whose reputation began with the opening of Viva La Waffle at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2011. What started as one of the region’s first can’t-miss food trucks eventually expanded to a brick-and-mortar restaurant near the Costco development off of Kaliste Saloom Drive…