Marquee Pizzeria to serve wood-fired pizza in Coralville's Iowa River Landing

Marquee Pizzeria and Bar is set to open this fall inside Coralville's Iowa River Landing with a fire-fueled brick oven cooking up personal-sized pizzas.

The restaurant's owners and city officials are hoping the pizza place will heat-up business and become a cornerstone of the town's burgeoning mixed-use development area.

The 3,400-square-foot pizzeria will seat about 95 customers in the heart of the Iowa River Landing, 920 East Second Ave. Co-owner Sam Hall said the restaurant will strive for a "backyard barbecue vibe" with string lights accenting a casual, family-friendly restaurant.

Hall said 60 percent to 70 percent of the menu will feature wood-fired personal pizzas: eight to 12 signature pizzas with seasonal toppings as well as a build-your-own option. Salads, sandwiches, pasta dishes and a bar full of drinks round out the menu.

Once open, the pizzeria will share the same street with 30hop, High Ground Cafe, Scratch Cupcakery and WineStyles.

“One of the big reasons to come to the IRL was the potential for this area," Hall said last week. "Right now, it’s still going to do well — the market was asking for a pizza place like this in Coralville. But in about two years from now, whenever the arena opens, it’s going to be one of busiest places in the area."

The planned $46 million Coralville arena has been in the works for over two years now. The venue looks to host a U.S. Hockey League team, University of Iowa's club hockey team, major concerts and other events. Deanna Trumbull, a retail consultant for the IRL and Coralville, said the arena is on track to break ground in early 2018 and open in late 2019.

The entire project is slated to bring $190 million in development to the area. When the Johnson County Board of Supervisors approved $200,000 of funding for the project, board members noted that the entire project would bring about $1.4 billion in consumer spending to the area over 20 years.

"Businesses are beginning to see that what we're planning is going to happen. It makes people really interested in bringing businesses down here," Trumbull said.

"The closer the arena and other future attractions are, it has a snowball effect," she said. "Now there's a massing of retail, residential and offices in the area, and people are really seeing the amazing magnitude of the entire project."

Before the arena opens, national grocer Trader Joe's is expected to open in the IRL in October at 950 Ponseti Way, just south of the intersection of First Avenue and Interstate 80, Trumbull said. She added that the city should be announcing two to three more 2017 business openings in the IRL in the next 60 days.

Hall, who has been working with Trumbull on bringing Marquee to the IRL, said he and the city are "in agreement that this spot will really help everything come together in the IRL."

The pizzeria will be in the spot that was once slated to host the Coralville branch of the popular Des Moines eatery Tacopocalypse. After the popular taco shop balked on the IRL, Hall saw the space as a great opportunity.

"I really love this spot and really wanted it for my own," said Hall, the former general manager at Iowa City's Blackstone restaurant.

Marquee will sit at a corner within the row of shops on East Second Avenue. With nearly half of the structure covered in stories-tall windows, Hall's pizzeria will be on full display for those strolling through the IRL. At the heart of Marquee will be its handmade wood-fired oven built in Modena, Italy, and shipped to Iowa.

Hall co-owns the restaurant with Ravi Patel, Raj Patel and Sajni Patel of Hawkeye Hotels. Along with 13 hotels in Iowa alone, Hawkeye Hotels owns hotels in 16 states across the country, according to its website.

After Hall began working as a food and beverage coordinator for Hawkeye Hotels a little over four months ago, he presented the idea for the pizzeria to the Patels and they backed his restaurant idea. The four signed a lease for the space three weeks ago, Hall said.

Construction inside the facility will begin by May, with a staff of about 35 being hired around June or July, Hall said.

With the restaurant's social media accounts already running on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, Hall aims to build the pizzeria's name locally. A soft opening before the official first day of business will also be offered to those who follow the pizzeria on social media.

"I've wanted to make a restaurant that was, simply put, fun. So I can't wait to show it off to people when it's all done," Hall said.

Reach Zach Berg at 319-887-5412, zberg@press-citizen.com, or follow him on Twitter at @ZacharyBerg.