Popular Pizzeria To Close Downtown Greenwich Location

GREENWICH, CT — Planet Pizza, the Fairfield County, family-owned pizzeria chain, will close its doors at 28 Railroad Ave. in downtown Greenwich by the end of May, according to Greenwich Time.

But the pizza joint is not leaving town entirely, the Time said. Planet Pizza will move into the Stop and Shop Plaza at 139 W. Putnam Ave. in Central Greenwich.

The closure is due to major renovation project planned for Greenwich Plaza and the train station.
Rink & Racquet Ltd., and Gym Source, both on Railroad Avenue, also recently closed as a result of the impending construction, the Time also reported.

Planet Pizza was founded by Joe, Mike and Frank Rocco, who have a combined 100-plus years of pizza-making experience, according to their website. The brothers grew up in the Bronx, N.Y., and spent a lot of time at their family's pizzeria.

The menu features an array of Italian dishes, from appetizers and salads, to entrees, sandwiches and of course, pizza. Planet Pizza says their dough is made in each store using a generational recipe, and the sauce is made from ripe California tomatoes, fresh basil, and they use aged whole milk Wisconsin mozzarella made from a proprietary recipe.

Besides Greenwich, there are Planet Pizza locations in Stamford, Norwalk, Ridgefield, Fairfield, Westport, Shelton, Danbury, and White Plains, N.Y.

In March, the Greenwich Planning & Zoning Commission unanimously approved plans that will demolish the old 16,349 square-foot Bow Tie Cinemas movie theater on Railroad Avenue and, in its place, construct a new mixed use restaurant and retail space with a pedestrian plaza and better access to the train platform.

The restaurant will measure about 5,000 square feet, and the retail space will be roughly 2,000 square feet.

The project will also include the re-facing of the remaining mixed-use building, and both interior and exterior improvements to the train station.

Sidewalks will be replaced, a crosswalk with bumpouts on either side will be added in front of the plaza, and new plantings and a "green wall" will be installed.

Plans for a bigger project at Greenwich Plaza were abandoned in 2019.

The town of Greenwich and The Ashforth Company, who owns Greenwich Plaza, have held a public-private partnership for over 50 years, ever since the train station, commuter lot and plaza office buildings were built in the 1960’s.

As part of the 2019 proposal, the town would have sold the air rights over the Greenwich Plaza office buildings at 2 Steamboat Road to Ashforth, but a deal was never struck and the plans fell apart.

The movie theater was already in financial trouble before it closed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The building's physical deficiencies have also worsened over the years, thus necessitating a demolition.

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