Poor Richard’s Pizza has been open on Main Street here in Porterville since 1970. The first real pizza place in town was originally owned by Mike Freeman. Chris Diaz, Victoria Diaz, and Hussain Rayani recently bought the restaurant from Freeman, and are committed to keeping this iconic Porterville eatery open. Although Poor Richard’s is a pizzeria, the new owners are hoping to add a few more things to the menu. Poor Richard’s still has an arcade and music, but the new owners have added eight flat-screen TVs for sports and entertainment and have reopened the banquet room for private parties. Rayani, Chris, and Victoria Diaz have come together to keep this 50-year-old restaurant for open our community. After a month of planning and elbow grease, Poor Richard’s celebrated their grand re-opening on September 19.
Co-owners, Chris and Victoria Diaz shared, “We have always wanted to have a pizza place, and one day we saw an opportunity to make it happen and we just went for it! The grand opening was great! It exceeded all of our expectations! We have always dreamed about opening a restaurant, but the actual planning of it all took about a month!! It all happened so fast! Our restaurant is located in the heart of Porterville, right on Main Street! The best location if you ask us! Our business is going great! We are so thankful for all the love and support that we have received from the community. We are planning on extending our menu to different and delicious appetizers, and maybe fun events for the future for our community.”
Although the restaurant was closed for a few days for a little face-lift, the hype over the new amenities seems to have made it worth the wait. Co-owner Hussain Rayani added, “The grand opening was great! It was a Sunday with football games and we had a packed house and only room to stand and not sit. Business is booming you would never think we had a recession or Covid factors involved people are coming out and having a great time.”
Located on Main Street you can smell the delicious pizza as you walk by on the sidewalk! The new owners have kept the original Poor Richard’s recipes and signature crust, however, they also brought back fountain drinks and are going to add more alcoholic beverages (for those who are 21 and over) to the menu as well as chicken wings. Rayani suggests, “…so when you’re done with Pizza and the game is still on TV you can have chicken wings.”

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FUN FACT: The Orange & Green News staff member Zahra Rayani also can be found working at the eatery!