Mary’s Pizza Shack — a family-run enterprise for 60 years in Northern California — has lost its lease in Walnut Creek and closed this restaurant.
According to a notice posted at the Citrus Marketplace on Oak Grove Road, Mary’s had served the Contra Costa community for 22 years. This was the chain’s only East Bay restaurant.
“Our crew members are like our family and discontinuing our working relationship with them is so unfortunate, but we must do so because our lease was not renewed,” the note reads. “We want to thank our Walnut Creek team, our guests and the community for being part of our family for 22 years.
“All remaining Mary’s locations will continue to serve our brand of Italian comfort food as we have for 60 years.”
That restaurant family had its beginnings in 1959 in Sonoma County, when Mary Fazio opened her first “shack” in Boyes Hot Springs. She cooked family recipes from scratch using pots and pans from her home kitchen, the website history says. That first restaurant moved to a new location in 1977, and then the expansion began.
There are currently 17 Mary’s Pizza Shacks in Northern California, primarily in Sonoma, Napa and Solano counties.
The third generation is now carrying on Fazio’s legacy. Grandson Vince Albano is the company’s CEO.
Details, locations: www.maryspizzashack.com
