House of Pizza owner plans West El Paso expansion near Coronado HS

House of Pizza's expansion to the West Side has been a long time coming, says owner Chris Rakas.

Rakas said he owns the Downtown House of Pizza at 208 N Stanton St. and will open the new pizza place at the former Pieology at 6951 N. Mesa Street, Suite A. Other relatives own The House of Pizza on Piedras.

"I have been looking into an expansion for years now. I've looked east and northeast and west, and I saw that this Pieology location closed down and in June I called and everything lined up," he said.

While economic challenges continue to weigh on restaurant owners in El Paso, Rakas remains optimistic that conditions will improve as he looks forward to the expansion.

He believes the location has a good fan base for people used to pizza and it's near Coronado High School, which should attract the high school crowd. He also appreciates that the restaurant already had pizza-place equipment, like a brick oven, which kept his retrofitting costs down.

"And we're very reasonably priced as well. I haven't raised my prices in three years. I don't want to price myself out of business," he said.

Rakas said he expects to open the restaurant in about a month, with a late November opening. The restaurant will be open seven days a week.

Patrons can expect the same menu they love, including the House Pizza with a mix of meats and veggies and pastrami sandwiches. He is adding a fun arcade area with some classic video games like Ms. Pac-Man. He might also show sports on TVs at the restaurant.

More: Pizza boom with expansion from Dion's, Pizza Joint and Basilico

María Cortés González may be reached at 915-546-6150; mcortes@elpasotimes.com; @eptmaria.bsky.social on Bluesky, and @eptmariacg on TikTok .

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: House of Pizza owner plans West El Paso expansion near Coronado HS