Great Northern Pizza Kitchen was a local pizzeria in Upper Mount Hope. They had an interesting selection of pies, leaning towards more offbeat items like Baked Eggplant & Roasted Red Peppers or Black Bean Taco. Catering also available. Great Northern used to be a local chain.
Brothers Rob and Chris Desino opened their first shop at 1918 Monroe Avenue in Brighton in 1999 under the name Rocky Mountain Pizza Kitchen, with additional locations on Ridge Road in Greece and in the Pittsford Village opening a short time later. Trade mark concerns, which would prevent expansion of the chain, led to the name change. In 2005 the Desino's sold the business to the local franchisee Bruegger's.
Several additional rochester area shops would open and the chain would eventually expand to the Buffalo and Syracuse areas, as well. In 2008, they opened a Marketplace Square store in Henrietta, which closed in late 2014. In March 2010 the Pittsford store closed. In December 2013 the Bushnell's Basin store closed.
The original location at on Monroe Avenue closed in September 2015. Their remaining location, across the street from College Town and inside Bruegger's, opened on October 13, 2014. This location closed in June 2016, ending the chain for good.