BYE, PIE
Beloved pizza joint & Domino’s rival closes after nearly 40 years – they let customers know with a note on the door
Restaurant closures are impacting communities nationwide
A BELOVED pizzeria is closing its doors unexpectedly after nearly 40 years in the business.
American Dream Pizza opened for business in the fall of 1985 and served the community of Northeast Portland, Oregon.
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The pizzeria was famous for letting kids draw on their boxes for its Box Contest.
Their pizza dough was a cherished third-generation recipe that used non-GMO flours from Pendleton Flour Mills
The local pizzeria saw such success that it opened a second location of the same name in Corvallis, located near Oregon State University.
The Corvallis location even got the attention of former President Barack Obama who visited the pizzeria on the campaign trail in 2008.
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Scott McFarland and Sebastian Manilow founded American Dream and McFarland opened the Corvallis location in 1989.
Manilow is now ready to hang up his hat and is putting the original location up for sale.
"I just ripped the bandaid off," he told Oregon Live.
"It’s been an emotional week. If someone wanted to come in and give me $2 million to put a strip club in, and the Sisters of Providence would let them, I would do it. But that’s not my goal," he continued.
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Sisters of Providence operates the hospital across the street and owns the pizzeria building.
American Dream took inspiration from one of Portland's oldest pizzerias, Caro Amico, which opened in 1949.
Pizza joint with restaurants in 12 states abruptly closes location – owners stay silent but thank customers for support
Caro Amico is owned by Manilow's co-founder, Scott McFarland's family.
The pizzeria is now a Portland landmark and is still owned and operated by McFarland's mom, Elsie Baker McFarland, according to their website.
American Dream Pizza has been beloved by the community ever since a local radio personality praised it as the "best pizza in Portland."
"The next day we had a line out the door. We never looked back and have been rockin’ and rollin’ ever since," their website read.
Restaurant closures in 2024
BOSSES at major dining chains have announced a series of restaurant closures. The U.S. Sun has compiled a list of the chain's affected.
- Cracker Barrel: Stores in Medford, Oregon, Columbia, South Carolina, and Sacramento, California, have closed.
- Mod Pizza: Bosses dramatically shuttered 27 shops in April, including some in the state of California.
- Frisch's Big Boy: Restaurant chiefs confirmed the closure of a restaurant in Covington, Kentucky in April.
- Outback Steakhouse: The chain will shutter 41 'underperforming' locations this year.
- Two Bucks: Four restaurants in Ohio closed in April.
- Chili's: A restaurant in Port Arthur, Texas, has shut permanently as well as one in Irvine, California.
- Friendly's: Bosses confirmed an establishment in Ronkonkoma, Long Island will close.
- Pizza Hut: A restaurant in Glen Falls, New York, closed at the end of March, followed by four in Ohio in June and 15 in Indiana.
- Denny's: Two restaurants in Boise and Nampa, Idaho, have closed.
- Carl's Jr.: The first Boise, Idaho location has closed.
- In-N-Out: An Oakland location closed earlier in the year due to crime in the area.
- Cheesecake Factory: The chain is set to shutter a location in Memphis, Tennessee in July.
- Applebee's: Announced the closure of between 25 and 35 locations this year.
- Taco John's: Shuttered a restaurant in Minnesota and put the building up for sale in May.
- Rubio's Coastal Grill: Has announced the closure of 48 locations in California after filing for bankruptcy.
- Burger King: Shuttered a location in California in June after 30 years.
Unfortunately, those days are coming to a close as Manilow is scouting for a buyer to take over the restaurant.
He told Oregon Live there was a plan in place to sell the restaurant to former employees, but it fell through earlier this month.
However, there's still hope for those who want to see American Dream in business.
Manilow told the publication that he preferably wants to sell the business to a buyer who wants to keep American Dream intact so he can retire.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to American Dream Pizza for comment but did not immediately hear back.
MISERY BUSINESS
American Dream Pizza is not the only restaurant closing its doors.
A pizzeria based in Washington called Mod Pizza could also be shutting down after bankruptcy fears.
Sources revealed to Bloomberg that Mod could be entering court proceedings after it closed 26 locations this year.
The community of Pasadena, California is also mourning the loss of a popular local restaurant, Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles.
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The restaurant was open for 30 years and was known for its soul food.
Roscoe's announced the closure with a sign outside their door, but assured customers they were searching for another upgraded location to reopen the business.