Square Pie Guys, the Bay Area's Detroit-style pizza chain, is closing its Palo Alto restaurant at 369 California Ave. after service on Friday, Oct. 30. The shop opened about a year ago, and this is the chain's first closure, the Chronicle reports.
"I know it was short, but we really did give it our all," founder Marc Schechter told Palo Alto Online. Catering did well, he said, but dinner and weekend business were very slow: "Our Saturdays and Sundays were slower than our Tuesdays and Wednesdays." He thinks Cal Ave being car-free played a part, since passing drivers can't see the storefront. "They can't all be home runs," he told the Chronicle.
Where to still get a square pie
The San Francisco, Oakland, Campbell and Walnut Creek locations stay open. Schechter told Palo Alto Online that he's focused on expanding to the North Bay, though he gave no address or timeline, and that he's updating the menu at all locations. The chain started as a San Francisco pop-up in 2018 and opened its first restaurant, in SoMa, in 2019.