Tri-Cities pizza restaurant closes after 12 years. 30 workers let go
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Hellfired Pizza closed its Kennewick location after one year under new branding.
- Hot Stone LLC cited financial strain and staffing issues in closing all locations.
- Fully equipped site near Highway 395 seeks new restaurant operator
Hellfired Pizza has closed its prominent Kennewick restaurant just a year after the former Rock Wood Fired Pizza reopened with the same owners under a new brand.
Vancouver, Wash.-based Hot Stone LLC shut down its four Hellfired locations on Sunday, citing financial challenges and difficulties retaining staff.
The restaurant operated at Hildbrand and Highway 395 at the entrance to Kennewick for 12 years, 11 of them as the Rock and the last year and a half as Hellfired.
The closure affected about 30 Tri-Cities workers, said Brad Loucks, managing partner of Hot Stone.
Loucks said the Hellfire brand was well positioned to thrive in the post-pandemic years. But rising competition and steep overheads took their toll on finances.
Loucks said the Kennewick restaurant was the busiest of the four locations and could possibly have survived on its own. The 7,000-square-foot restaurant is large, but offers a new operator an opportunity to enter the market with a fully-equipped space.
The restaurant is visible to about 23,000 vehicles passing by each day, according to a property listing from the last time it sold. Hot Stone has about seven years left on its lease with its WEDS LP, its Hayden, Idaho-based landlord.
It is negotiating a settlement to terminate its lease early and does not contemplate a bankruptcy, Loucks said.
Loucks said he’s hopeful another restaurant operator will step in.
“That location is a fantastic restaurant location,” he said. “We don’t want (the landlord) to sit empty.”
Loucks said he’s grateful to the Tri-Citians who patronized The Rock and later, Hellfired.
“We’re incredibly proud of what we accomplished in Kennewick over the years and grateful to the customers and team members who made it all possible,” he said.
Hot Stone was a franchise for The Rock Wood Fired Pizza brand from its opening in 2013 until April 1, 2024.
In 2024, Hot Stone dropped its relationship with The Rock, saying it wanted to evolve the brand, improve quality and transform individual locations into destinations with distinct personalities.
It overhauled its menu with new recipes, recruited new vendors and even replaced the almond wood that fueled its pizza ovens.
Four restaurants — two in Portland, one in Vancouver and the fourth in Kennewick — converted simultaneously.
Loucks said it had trouble operating at scale. It had opened its The Rock restaurants one at a time with years separating the openings.
“This time it was four restaurants at once. The cost to do business at that level is high.”
The team took a chance on the “Hellfired name.” An owner said his uncle, both a preacher and a dedicated fan of Gordon Ramsay’s “Hell’s Kitchen” reality show on Fox, wasn’t put off by using “hell” in the title.
Hot Stone suffered a setback in 2022, when it was investigated by the U.S. Attorney for Eastern Washington after it refused service to a disabled person with a service animal. It agreed to pay $11,000 to settle a complaint and agreed to train employees to avoid repeating the mistake.
The restaurant is at 4862 W. Hildebrand Blvd., adjacent top the Southridge Sports Complex and in close proximity to local anchors, including Southridge High School and Southridge Trios hospital.