Trendy's Pizzeria Expands into E.P.

Mark Etheridge has expanded a pizzeria considered among the finest in the East Bay for years into East Providence. 

Trendy’s Pizzeria opened at 2777 Pawtucket Ave. in mid-May. Etheridge and his wife, Karina, have been operating in Barrington for years. The East Providence location is their second shop. 

“We were getting so much business from the Riverside area that when we began looking for a second location, we decided to expand into East Providence,” he said.

The shop does far more than sell pizzas, though. It includes grinders and wraps, salads, pasta dishes, and appetizers. But a New York-style thin-crust pizza crafted with dough and sauce “made from scratch” every day is its claim to fame, he said.

“Nothing frozen here,” he said. “It’s always fresh.”

Fresh and made from scratch are words he applies to just about everything else he makes in the shop as well: meatballs, soups, salad dressings, and the breads and rolls and wraps purchased from Vienna Bakery in Barrington each morning.

“It’s delivered daily and if we don’t use it by the end of the day,” he said,” “we throw it out.”

Etheridge describes his pizza as far different from just about every other pizza sold in the East Providence, perhaps in the East Bay.

“It starts with a flaky crust dough,” he said.

Etheridge doesn’t offer coupons. But he does offer a special five days a week in each store, including his “Tuesday pizza night” that easily draws 200 customers to the Barrington store for the 16-inch regular cheese pizza for $6.

"You have to wait for about an hour," he said. "But people don't seem to mind."

Etheridge spends just about every day in the East Providence shop. His manager is Jen Helgerson, a longtime pizza shop operator who describes herself as “pizza and personality.”

The shop is open every day. Hours Tuesday through Saturday are 10 to 10; hours on Sunday and Monday are 10 to 9.  There is free delivery for an order of $10 or more for East Providence, Riverside, parts of Rumford and parts of Seekonk. 

You can find Trendy’s on Facebook and at www.trendyspizzeria.com.