Longtime Spokane restaurant chain Pizza Rita sold to new owners

Longtime Spokane-based restaurant chain Pizza Rita is under new ownership.

Owners Brian and June Dickmann have sold the business to Reagan and Denise Dahl.

Brian Dickmann declined to comment on what led to his decision to sell the locally-owned restaurant chain.

Pizza Rita’s new owners are likely to retain the restaurant’s name, Dickmann said.

“It will be the same great pizza that Spokane has enjoyed for the last 33 years,” Dickmann said.

Reagan Dahl said he is planning to “add wings and other bread choices” to Pizza Rita’s menu.

He’s looking to expand the eatery’s presence in the region.

“We hope to expand within the Spokane area and venture over to Post Falls and the Coeur d’Alene area in the near future,” he said.

“Brian has done a tremendous job with this company and has been a huge help in getting us up to speed on everything Pizza Rita and the community,” Dahl added. “He continues to help as needed and will do so in the future.”

The Dickmanns founded Pizza Rita in 1989, naming the company after their daughter, Rita. The restaurant’s name is also a play on the word “pizzeria,” Brian Dickmann told The Spokesman-Review in 2017.

The restaurant chain has garnered a loyal following of customers because of its emphasis on customer satisfaction and willingness to honor coupons and discounts from its competitors.

In addition to its Indiana Avenue restaurant, Pizza Rita has locations at 5511 N. Wall St. in Spokane and 201 N. Pines Road in Spokane Valley.

Dallas, Texas-based mergers and acquisitions advisor Generational Equity initially announced the sale of Pizza Rita – a client of the firm – in a news release last week.

The acquisition closed March 14. Financial terms of sale were not disclosed.