A Bethesda pizzeria with a history of changing ownership was shut down on Wednesday by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
Bethesda Magazine reported the restaurant — Pitzze at 7137 Wisconsin Avenue — was being evicted for failing to pay rent and two deputies told employees it would be closed immediately.
The restaurant opened as Haven Pizzeria in 2012. Original owner Tiger Mullen sold it to a group of minority investors at the end of 2012 but then bought it back early last year.
Mullen then rebranded it as Pitzze, claiming the previous owners “were absentee owners who really didn’t understand the concept.”
The restaurant had a 100,000-pound coal-powered oven, used to cook up its New Haven-style pies.
Mullen opened the concept in February of 2012. Mullen said some of his partners soon wanted to expand. With a general disagreement about how to move forward, Mullen agreed to sell his majority share of the restaurant to his partners, who he said went to a new manager and slowly lost what the original Haven Pizzeria was about.
Customers were starting to notice. Online reviews claimed the pizza and service had gone downhill. In the fall of 2013, Mullen began talks to reacquire ownership of the restaurant, a deal that was completed in time to put him fully in charge starting in April 2014.
Mullen couldn’t be reached for comment on Wednesday.
Photo via Mike Landsman
