By ELIZABETH ROBERTS-ZIBBEL
BG Independent News
Yesterday by lunchtime, my Facebook newsfeed was more united and emotional than I’d seen it since David Bowie unexpectedly passed away in January. More than fifty people had shared links, posts, and personal lamentations that the building housing Myles’ Pizza Pub for 39 years had been sold, and that the recipes and memorabilia that made it legendary would be leaving with its founder Chip Myles, who is retiring. The end of Myles’ Pizza Pub as we know it will be Sunday, October 2.
In July, rumors of the restaurant’s closing led to lines out the door, so now that the news is official, pizza chaos has broken out. Yesterday my friend Erin Holmberg commented that right after she heard, she began trying to call and got through after thirty frantic minutes. “Just ordered 4 large pizzas to freeze… the wait time is 3 hours. Pizza panic!” We hadn’t seen anything yet. My husband and I tried to call soon afterward and they had already stopped answering the phone.
At 6:30, my friend Scott Marcin quipped on Facebook “Who the hell cares about the debate tonight. Myles Pizza is closing for good Sunday! We got a national crisis on our hands right here in BG.”
Myles’ Facebook page and Twitter feed have been posting policies and updates regarding their last week, including the limited menu, predicted wait times, and hours they will be open. You can read the full post here, but some highlights:
- Pub will open at 11 am and they will stop taking orders at 4 pm
- Orders must be placed in person at the restaurant. Internet orders have been turned off and phones are off the hook.
- No timed orders, orders for another day, or reservations
- Orders are limited to 3 pizzas
When I walked by at 10:30 this morning, a car pulled up and a man yelled out to me, “Hey! They open yet?” I replied that the front door was open, and asked how the two men inside the vehicle felt about the closing.
“Sucks,” the driver said simply, shaking his head.
“We just drove over an hour to get here,” said the other guy, who didn’t want to give his name.
Photo by Stephanie Rine
An hour later, a line extended out the door and into the parking lot. Another friend, Stephanie Rine, posted a photo from inside the restaurant and said, “Been waiting in line an hour just to place my order! Hubby [Eric] has to have one more of Chip’s ham and pineapple pizzas!”
Similar sentiments seem to be echoing all over town.
My friend Shari Beeker, whom I’ve known since I was 13 and would win the Most Enthusiastic Bowling Green Townie prize if there were such a thing, posted a series of live updates today while she waited with her husband Shad to get inside. Sharing photos of the iconic “Myles Pizza Pub” glass lampshade as well as her late father’s cigarette smoke stain on the ceiling from 1980, she wrote, “This is actually pretty awesome, it’s like a family reunion. Just talked to the wife and daughter of ‘the first customer,’ who happens to be my husband’s boss. Standing in line behind a guy Shad graduated with, my old playground monitor is a few people back, my co-worker’s fiancé just left with his pies, brother of a high school friend is a few people ahead of me. This is like Blizzard of 78 level noteworthiness!” When Shari first learned of the closing yesterday, she wrote, “If you had a taste for Myles pizza – nothing else would do… Thanks for the pizza Chip! Enjoy retirement. 10/2/16 – the day the pizza died.”
This morning, the owners of Trotter’s Tavern announced on Twitter that they had purchased the property. “Good morning BG and [Wood County], the owners of Trotter’s Tavern are the proud owners of the property and pizza pub at 516 E. Wooster. We ask that you enjoy Chip’s retirement celebration and your last Myles’ pizza. We will provide you with more information as we take possession October 5. Thank you, Jay and Paula Williams.”
As I am finishing up this story, a new Facebook update has just been posted from Myles’ staff. It states in part: “We are terribly sorry folks, have taken all the orders we can today. We are over 300 orders and will not be taking any more… if you placed [one] please expect a 6-7 hour wait.” Tomorrow, Wednesday, the post states, the pub will be closed so they can regroup, clean, and make sauce. “We’ll be back open on Thursday at 11am and will update you with a new plan for taking orders.”
While my own attempt to contact Chip Myles was as unsuccessful as yesterday’s attempt to order a couple pies for a last taste of the unique local delicacy, a statement from Myles’ staff seems a fitting way to end this eulogy for an iconic Bowling Green tradition. “Thank you so much for your outpouring of love and support, here and in person when you come to the pub… you have no idea how much we appreciate your thankful nature not only for our pizza, but for what we’ve done in our community and how we’ve been a part of your lives over the past 39 years.”
