A member of the Red Banjo Pizza family honored another pizza purveyor days after it closed permanently.
Park City Councillor Tana Toly spoke about the loss of Main Street Pizza & Noodle during a meeting on Thursday. Toly’s family is the longtime owner of Red Banjo Pizza, located a short distance uphill from the former location of Main Street Pizza & Noodle.
Toly’s comments were brief, and the other elected officials did not respond to them. The comments were notable nonetheless, so soon after the closure. Main Street Pizza & Noodle was a staple on the shopping, dining and entertainment strip since 1990. It closed on Sunday.
“I wanted to just give my respects and bring awareness to Main Street Pizza & Noodle actually went out of business on Sunday after 35 years. And for those that understand Main Street … it is not an easy place for a pizza restaurant to survive,” Toly said.
She added, referencing Main Street Pizza & Noodle owner Rick Smith: “So you know, when someone’s dedicated their whole life to being a small business owner in this community, I think we really need to say thank you to Rick.”
Toly said Smith “did great things for this community.”
She also described Main Street Pizza & Noodle’s prices and praised its time on the street.
“It’s been an affordable place for people to eat for 35 years. And so I just wanted to give my respects to Rick and to his team. They’ve been a great business on Main,” she said.
Toly’s comments about a business that was a competitor highlight the impact the closure had. Main Street Pizza & Noodle, which occupied a high-profile location toward the middle of Main Street, was regularly jammed during busy tourism seasons. It was seen as one of the alternatives to the various fine-dining options on Main Street.
Before the closure, Smith said Main Street Pizza & Noodle estimated the restaurant served upward of 150,000 people each year and served more than 5 million meals in total since opening.
Smith noted the increasing rates of commercial leases on Main Street and said the “economics have become increasingly difficult for an independent family restaurant on Main Street.”