MSU’s student population makes East Lansing the place for a pizzeria, said the owner of the new spot in town.

Cottage Inn Pizza owner George Hoover said the new location in East Lansing was in part because of MSU.

“With opening up any business, the demographics are a big thing,” he said. “And MSU demographics are great.”

Cottage Inn Pizza, 615 E. Grand River Ave., opened Saturday.

The restaurant has three other locations in Holt and Okemos and serves up pizzas and Cottage Inn Stix for delivery.

Good Times Pizza had originally called the space home but closed after difficulties paying taxes.

The new location is primarily for take-out orders and stays open until 3 a.m. on weekends and 2 a.m. during the week.

Hoover said his managers and he have had plenty of experience running a pizzeria and know the new location will be a great place for area residents to grab a bite to eat.

Offering several types of pizza, he said a favorite dish is the South Western Chicken. The pizza has chicken, onions, barbecue sauce and bacon.

But pizza isn’t the only dish served up at the restaurant. Salads, subs, buffalo wings and lasagna are also part of the menu.

“We have got a lot of passion for what we do, that is what really drives a business and makes for a great environment,” Hoover said.

Melynda Sidel, assistant manager for the Okemos Cottage Inn Pizza, 1743 W. Grand River Ave., said the new location is part of an expansion plan. She said the space was purchased a few months after the closing of Good Times Pizza.

“We are hoping to expand into Lansing, and East Lansing is kind of our first step,” she said.

Sidel, who is also an accounting junior at Lansing Community College, said the opening was pretty decent. She said the restaurant took in $1,000 in net sales for the first day of business.

“Right now we are relying on word of mouth,” she said.

Sidel said business should pick up because the restaurant in Okemos is quite popular.

Coupon offers such as 50 cents for a second pizza on selected days of the week are a customer favorite, Sidel said.

“It has been on our menu for quite some time now, it has been pretty popular,” she said.

While business might be slow, the pizzeria has already built up some loyal customers.

Food industry management senior Steve Plichta and pre-law junior Tim Kish said they would make no bones about admitting to have eaten at a Cottage Inn Pizza at the University of Michigan.

“It’s good food and it is pretty cheap,” Plischta said. “We like the 50 cent pizzas.”

But Kish said everything on the menu looks good to him.

“I just really like the pizza and bread sticks,” he said.

Aaron Keillor, an LCC no-preference sophomore, said his favorite is the standard medium size deep dish pizza with pepperoni and mushrooms.

“I had the pizza here the day it opened and I liked it,” he said.