Vicki Rae's Pizza — Restaurant in Priest River

I really hate to write this because the new Vicki Rae's spot has been quite nice the couple of times we've tried it. The food has been good and the atmosphere pretty chill. Until tonight.

We stopped in at 6 and it was pretty busy, so much so that the only places to sit had signs that said "Reserved @ 7PM." Well, that's an hour from now, we should be done well before that, so we sat down. Not long after we put our order in, a young gal came and (like we couldn't read the sign) said "These tables are reserved." Okay, but in an hour. "Well, you're welcome to stay until maybe 6:30 but then you'll have to move."

By the way, this wasn't like a couple of tables, I counted about 30 or more seats that were blocked off, nearly half of the available seating in the restaurant. The young lady started kicking other folks out of their seats as well, and many parties just left the restaurant, which I would have done if we hadn't already paid.

It's an odd business decision to block off half of your seating an hour in advance of a reservation on what's probably the busiest night of the week, but that's their decision. I suppose they were thinking the money from the big party would offset the people they turned away. What got me though was the tone in which this was conveyed, essentially: "You are inconveniencing us, we have a group of very important people coming in, and you, by extension, are very unimportant." Restaurants start and fail in this town all of the time, but it's hard to be supportive with this treatment. If I wanted to eat in a hurry, Burger Express is right up the road (and a...

This place has old time charm and is cute, cute, cute! Despite it's small appearance from the street view, there is ample space, even for large groups. If you like a little privacy for date nights, they have some "private" cubby seating available.

All staff, including the owner, were very friendly and helpful with natural and non-forced smiles. They provide beer, wine, and canned mixed drinks. The Spicy Lemonade by Dry Fly brewing is not to be skipped. It is a perfect pairing if you like the flavor of jalapeno without the heat. The fountain soda was properly set for the syrup mix and tasted like it should.

The pizza was perfectly baked to perfection and was nice and hot when it arrived at our table. The dough was the exact thickness for hand tossed, crispy on the bottom, and a nice browning on the edges. The toppings were generous without being greasy.

They also do not skimp on the take-home box as it's been a long time since I've seen a place go the extra mile to include the added ridged grease trap insert in the bottom of the box, even though I felt is not warranted due to the lack of grease. It does, although, aid to keeping the crispiness of the crust. A must stop when...

I’d never been to this pizza place before. It’s unfortunate for the businesses on Main Street that the entire street is under construction at the moment, but it’s worth venturing down there for a bite to eat. Maybe it’s a north Idaho thing, but the pizzas I’ve had here are piled high with toppings. Same at Vicki Raes. The atmosphere is clean, tidy, cute, the pizza is worthy of a more trips back (I don’t actually live in Priest River). Hopefully, when the downtown is completed, all the businesses will benefit and as they say, “Built it and they will...