Modesto’s Marie Callender’s closes for good — again. What’s next for the location

Marie Callender’s in Modesto shut its doors for good yet again, selling the last of its pies and seating the last customers Tuesday, Feb. 20, after 40 years of business.

This isn’t the first time the city received news that the northeast Modesto mainstay was going out of business. The restaurant announced in 2019 that it was shutting down “permanently” after filing for bankruptcy.

Hope was regained two months later when a franchisee stepped forward to reopen the location, but it wasn’t for three more months and a change in franchise ownership that the smell of freshly baked pie wafted throughout the building again.

To end the rollercoaster ride, Marie Callender’s is closed for real this time, and new plans for the site are already in the works.

What’s going to replace Marie Callender’s?

The owner of the property where Marie Callender’s is located, 3500 Coffee Road, sold the property to McDonald’s, said Mayra Gonzalez Francis, who served as the restaurant’s general manager for four years.

“The building is going to be demolished,” she said.

The Stanislaus County Building Permits Division website confirms that a permit application was submitted for a 3,608-square-foot McDonald’s with a double drive-thru to replace the 10,232-square-foot restaurant at the Coffee Road address.

This will mark the 12th location of the fast-food restaurant in Modesto.

Marie Callender’s had 18 regular employees (and more seasonally), most of whom will be filing for unemployment, Gonzalez Francis said.

“We are all going to miss Marie Callender’s and especially the pies and our loyal customers who supported us,” she said.

If you need a pie fix, the closest locations still operating are at 5622 Freeport Blvd. in Sacramento and 1781 E Shaw Ave. in Fresno.