“I saw that it was opening up, and it sounded good,” Sanders said.

The restaurant will be one of the first locations in the city to offer alternative options to the traditional pizza — organic options — co-owner Ken Targal said.
Opening an eatery in East Lansing has been one of Targal’s ambitions for years, he said.

“I always wanted to do healthy fast food (and) make it easier for people to eat healthy,” Targal said. “I have been working in this town for probably 10 years and one of the first jobs I did was pizza. About eight months ago to a year, I started working on this idea and it’s finally here.”

Many other restaurants in the area are moving toward organics and natural products in promotion of healthier lifestyles. Restaurants such as Pizza Hut, 1331 E. Grand River Ave., also offer natural toppings, manager Kerry Adams said.

“We have all-natural beef and pepperoni and chicken,” Adams said. “(We will) probably (offer more) in the future.”

Pizza Pi offers four different types of handmade dough with locally grown toppings, as well as several different desserts, Targal said.

The best part might be the traditional brick oven, an item that is lacking in many other pizza places, he said.

“We feature brick oven organic pizza,” Targal said. “Our oven is pretty much unlike anything in the state for pizza, definitely unlike any thing in this town. It bakes pizza in under five minutes, from start to finish, from toss to putting it in the box.”

Sanders, who is from Clinton Township, Mich., said he would come back to Pizza Pi in the future when visiting and would tell people about the food.
“I will recommend it to people and I will try it again when I come back up,” Sanders said.

Targal said the pizzeria will offer more all-natural products in the coming months.

“In the future we are going to offer gluten free stuff, so people with allergies will be able to come in here,” he said. “It’s healthy, it’s fast and it’s organic. It’s hard to beat those three things.”