The closing of iconic Zamarelli's Pizza Palace is the end of an era in Grove City
Cars were parked along two blocks of Front Street in Grove City on Wednesday and customers lined out the door at Zamarelli's Pizza Palace to place their last orders at a restaurant that has been feeding local residents for 61 years.
Owners Tina and Jack Middendorf, who met at Zamarelli's in 1979 and took over from Tina's father in 1991, will close for good after their last order Saturday. She said they plan to retire.
For many in Grove City, it's the end of an era. Zamarelli's occupies a 1,150-square-foot cinder block building a block off Grove City's main thoroughfare, and it has been in that spot as the suburb grew around it. Barely 8,000 people called Grove City home when Andy Zamarelli opened for business in 1963; more than 43,000 residents live there today.
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Its slogan, "Old World Cooking With New World Service," was no mere marketing gimmick. Zamarelli based his menu of pizza and pasta dishes on recipes his mother brought with her from Italy in the early 1900s.
Lorie Wolfe's parents came to Grove City a few years before Zamarelli's opened, and her childhood memories go back to the restaurant's earliest days. She came Wednesday to order a 16-inch extra-large pepperoni for her own family. She wasn't deterred as word of a two-hour wait worked its way from the counter inside to where she stood about 5 feet out the door.
"Once a month, we'd have a Zammy's pepperoni," she said of her parents' payday treat. "I would split a bottle of soda with my brother."
Inside Wednesday, it was cash-only, as usual, for Zamarelli's. The restaurant also has remained carryout-only — no delivery and only one table inside — and this week has been taking orders only in person because of the spike in business. Zamarelli's has a Facebook page, although its last post was in March 2012. To this day, that "Love my Zammy's pizza" declaration remains its only pronouncement on social media.
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Brad Lind has had no trouble following his favorite pizza place, though, even while calling Florida home. The Grove City native said he has yet to find a good pizza in the Sunshine State, so Zamarelli's has been a regular part of his central Ohio visits such as this week's unknowingly timely trip.
"We arrive and usually come straight here," he said.
For Mike Spezialetti, pizza from Zamarelli's has brought back memories of home in a different way. He has lived in Grove City since 1993, so it was never part of his childhood or high school days. He discovered Zamarelli's soon after his arrival and said he has been coming back regularly since.
He paid it a compliment Wednesday that Andy Zamarelli and his mother would have loved.
"It's the closest to my grandmother's pizza that I've tasted," he said.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Zamarelli's Pizza Palace in Grove City is closing after 61 years
