Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Closes Pitzze Restaurant

Popular Bethesda restaurant evicted for not paying rent, source says

March 25, 2015 12:41 p.m.

Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputies this morning closed Pitzze, the popular New Haven-style pizza restaurant on Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda. The restaurant was being evicted for failing to pay rent, a commercial real estate source told Bethesda Beat.

Late this morning two deputies arrived at the restaurant and informed employees that it would be closed immediately. Owner Tiger Mullen evidently was not present. The employees could be seen sitting at the bar speaking with the deputies.

“Yes, he’s going to be shut down,” one of the deputies told Bethesda Beat as he exited the restaurant.

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At noon, a locksmith was changing the locks on the doors of the restaurant at 7137 Wisconsin Ave.

Mullen opened the restaurant as Haven Pizzeria Napoletena about five years ago, sold it to his partners in 2012, and then purchased it from them in 2014 and changed the name. 

“The guys that bought it from me didn’t know anything about the restaurant business or pizza or wines,” Mullen said last year. “They were absentee owners. Things really got driven pretty far down in the dirt in that 15-month period.”

Mullen could not be reached this morning for comment.

The restaurant sold a variety of pizzas and also offered breads, gelato and small plates.

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A blue locksmith van was parked outside the restaurant on Wisconsin Avenue Wednesday. Two workers were replacing the locks on the restaurant. Credit: Andrew Metcalf

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