It will be sad for some but Pizza Place has been closed at Grant Park Shopping Mall after being located there since 1969. The Pizza Place chain was the first pizza restaurant to open in the city as Crestview in 1960. Shortly after that, Pizza Hut and Gondola came as well.
The 88 seat Pizza Place became an institution, a place to get a set down meal at Grant Park for the neigbourhood and before a movie. They had the most memorable jingle in the history of restaurants.
“It’s ready with spaghetti and they season it just right, so let’s go to Pizza Place, they’re ready every night.”
Decades of serving Winnipeg and now the last Pizza Place with its leaning tower of Pisa logo is gone.
In the place of Pizza Place and opening very soon will be Autumnbee’s Pizza. It look to be an Italian restaurant. It is good that a casual dining restaurant will remain inside the mall.
Even now, renovations continue to take place as new skylights, tiling, paint and the like are replaced. Several stores have upgraded, a few others are newly opened. The Landmark Theaters is under renovations as well.
Perhaps when things are completed in the fall, it will be possible to get a slice at Autumnbee’s and then attend a show at Landmark.
This has been a guest editorial by John Dobbin.
To read more from John, visit his blog Observations, Reservations, Conversations
