MINT HILL, NC (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Another restaurant is closing its doors, after 24 years of serving the community. Pizza Spiga in Mint Hill will open and close for the last time this Sunday, April 10.
The owner tells us that his lease has not been renewed.
“So we are closing after 24 years of our anniversary,” said Italian restaurant Pizza Spiga owner Philip Randazzo.
Over the past 24 years, the restaurant on Matthews-Mint Hill Road has become more than just a place to buy pizza. The customers who go there are like family.
“We will miss our customers,” Randazzo said. “Some are still coming after 24 years. We have seen their children, their children’s children. It’s gonna be sad.
Since 1988, when the first lease for this space was signed, the taste for Italian cuisine has attracted people from all over the region.
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“When I got here, there was almost nothing in Mint Hill,” Randazzo said. “Our customers came from afar.”
Hoping to commit for another ten years, the leasing company informed the company that it had different plans for the building.
“Oh my God,” Randazzo said. “I was crazy, I couldn’t believe it – after 24 years. Well, last year they let me know. I was angry. Needless to say I was just upset. I didn’t expect it at all, I mean totally unexpected.
The restaurant will actually merge with New York Pizza and Pasta, about 15 minutes down the road.
“We’re basically merging the two restaurants,” Randazzo said. “So we are combining our two teams in order to have a complete squad for the first time in many years.”
While the closure marks the end of an era for Pizza Spiga, it will be the start of a new one.
“I’m sad to leave new customers, but we’re not far behind,” Randazzo said. “They can take a short drive and come visit us. It’s going to be great, so please come see us.