For 35 years, Magpies Gourmet Pizza has been a cornerstone on Tucson’s historic North Fourth Avenue, serving up praise-worthy calzones, pizza and wings that has earned it a legion of loyal fans and numerous local awards.
But on Saturday, May 18, the restaurant that opened in 1989 at 605 N. Fourth Ave. will bake its final pies and toss its last batch of chili lime wings.
At the end of business Saturday, the restaurant will close for good as the company transitions to more take out and delivery.
“Basically the long and short of it was the lease was up at the end of the month and we kind of had to make a choice,” said Jake Roth, operations manager for the small chain that has two other Tucson locations. “We’re kind of pivoting a little bit.”
Operations manager Jake Roth boxes up an order, one of several right out of the oven at Magpies Gourmet Pizza.
Roth said Magpies is focusing its efforts on the takeout and delivery model that drives sales at its two other locations: 6342 N. Oracle Road, near Orange Grove Road; and 105 S. Houghton Road, near Broadway.
The 4,000-square-foot downtown location is a full-service restaurant, but Roth said post-pandemic, it has seen a dramatic drop in business.
“There was that little period where everything opened up and people were going out” after the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were lifted, he said. “But since then, it’s like we’ve been able to make more money from the delivery and the pickup. The dine-in is still fine, but it is part of the business that is maintaining rather than increasing. With it being such a giant location, we kind of figured we could ... do a little bit better in a different location.”
Roth said the owner, Allen Ozdemir, is hoping to open near North Fourth to maintain Magpies’ longtime downtown ties.
Casey Anderson, executive director of the Fourth Avenue Merchants Association, said Magpies closing was a loss to the avenue, one of Tucson’s most popular dining and entertainment districts.
Jorge Guido serves up a slice of a Mag-nificent pizza for Landon Walls, dining in at Magpies Gourmet Pizza on Fourth Avenue.
“It’s sad to see change,” she said. “They’ve been here for a long time and they were a great community member. It’s definitely going to be a change in the feel of the north side of the avenue, but when one door closes, we know that another one opens so we are optimistic that it will be another mom and pop.”
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