Walk-up pizza joint opening this spring at Rainier and Weller

Coming soon to a shipping container near you: Wood-fired pizza and beer on tap.

Brian Solazzi is hard at work designing and constructing a walk-up pizza restaurant at Rainier and Weller that he hopes to open by spring. The shop will have a fenced-in outdoor seating area, and Solazzi has lots of ideas for events, from music to movies to — if there's room — bocce ball.

"Americans spend 90 percent of their time indoors," said Solazzi, who thinks people will enjoy a pizza hangout focused on being outside (and yes, there will be covered space for rainy days).

Solazzi — who attended the Japanese School across the street from the future pizza joint — said he hopes to grow as many of the ingredients on the long-vacant lot as possible, and he already knows where the chicken run will go.

"Seeing alive things outside — plants and animals — will be nice," he said.

The restaurant has very little overhead, which Solazzi hopes will let him keep prices low. His family has owned the lot for years, and he is the architect, builder and one of two employees for the project. He poured the foundation, hooked up the sewers and even operated the crane when putting the shipping containers in place.

As an architect, he has worked with shipping container homes. He has also worked in an Italian restaurant kitchen. The new endeavor puts the two together, he said.

The restaurant has Brandon Thompson — who has worked with wood-fired pizza before — lined up as the chef. Thompson and Solazzi plan to run the place together to get it off the ground this spring.