Pie Hole Closes Its Doors, Another Pizzeria Abruptly Vanishes
For over 10 years Pie Hole has been serving up a unique variety of pizzas to the masses. Originally located at Roscoe and Halsted, owner Doug Brandt opened the shop and soon became a late night hang out for the local LGBT youth in the area. Mr Brandt with all good intentions, wanted his doors to be open for these underaged youth who could not yet get into the bars. However after years of complaints about these teenagers regularly getting involved in local crime, the landlord was pressured to not renew their lease.
Because of its popularity, a rebirth of the business was inevitable as a new location at 3477 North Broadway was soon followed by a second restaurant at 5001 North Clark. Pie Hole quickly became a staple on the N. Clark strip, even earning them a “Welcome Addition Award” at the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce’s annual award presentation.
However, rumors started to swirl this month about the 3477 N. Broadway store closing after the annual Pride Parade. Then last week, the future of the Clark Street location came into question when a large neon green sign was pasted to the door from the Illinois Department of Revenue stating that their business license had been revoked because of back sales taxes being owed. Pie Hole fans waited patiently to hear of any news, but late last night things were confirmed as their Facebook page simply stated, “The rumors are true, folks: the time came for us to shut our Pie Hole. Thanks for the memories and lessons.”
In another post they explained. “Events and circumstances” made it necessary to call it a day early. We were certainly hoping to hang out for the duration of the month, especially looking forward to a financially helpful time of the year. But in the end, we made the difficult decision to cut our losses rather than risk the chance that things could possibly get any worse for the employees, for the company, and for the brand. We intend to post the full “story” in the next couple days. Until then, got some shuttin’ down to do. All your comments, though… no words to describe how much we appreciate you guys!!!”
The abrupt exit was a shock to many as they enjoyed the unique creations that were baked everyday. However, earlier this month the closing of HomeMade Pizza Co. (also on N. Clark) took everyone by surprise as well and has left us wondering what is going on in the pizza industry today?
With competition from corporate chains such as Papa John’s and Pizza Hut who just moved into the Edgewater neighborhood, the market seems to be getting saturated. Undercutting the prices of these smaller run businesses could be a reason of the closures as their larger marketing budgets send forth coupons into our mailboxes. All in all Pie Hole will be missed by many.
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