'Room To Welcome More People:' Lantern Pizza Co. Expand With Dining Room

DOWNERS GROVE, IL — Lantern Pizza Co. recently expanded with a new dining room that can seat close to 100 guests. Owner Kim Coudreaut said the dining room triples the pizzeria's seating capacity and offers natural light and views of the pizza kitchen.

That way, diners can watch as the team at Lantern Pizza Co. uses "la lanterna," the hand-built brick oven that reacches between 750 and 900 degrees, getting the pizza ready to serve after an astonishingly swift two minutes.

When the pizzeria opened in 2022, they had seating for 35 diners and a patio space. The patio space was converted to create the new dining room

"We started looking at this beautiful space and realized it was prime real estate sitting unused far too often. At the same time, we were hearing little murmurs around town:
'Lantern is great, but we might not get a table or we may have to wait," Coudreaut told Patch.

She added, "Simply put, we have more room to welcome more people and that changes everything."

Coudreaut said she thinks diners will enjoy the "peace of mind" knowing there's more space at Lantern now.

She said, "The additional space gives
everyone more breathing room and helps the entire dining experience feel more relaxed. Also, the option to book a celebration or group event."

Coudreaut said that during the last 4.5 years it's been "incredibly rewarding" "[b]ringing our family recipes to life at Lantern Pizza Co. and seeing how warmly they’ve
been received."

Lantern Pizza Co. is located at 1420 Ogden Ave. and is open Wednesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.