Does anyone know of the company taking over Pepperoni Grill? I heard that a restaurant Spaghetti Station (?) might be taking over and possibly Penn Square - who has the scoop?

Edmond's Pepperoni Grill closes

By Tricia Pemberton
The Oklahoman

Pepperoni Grill at 3300 Broadway Extension in Edmond closed Tuesday morning, leaving an undisclosed number of employees without jobs. The restaurant in Penn Square Mall will stay open.

A sign on the Edmond restaurant's front door read, "We are unfortunately closed. We apologize for any inconvenience." Neon from the corner sign already had been removed Tuesday afternoon.

Jerry Bertholdi, vice president of real estate for parent company Eateries Inc., said the company was made an offer it couldn't pass up for the Edmond property and sold it equipment and all. He expects the company to vacate the premises within 24 hours.

"Business is great. We're not looking to do anything with this concept, we were just made an offer we couldn't refuse," Bertholdi said.

He said he could not disclose how much the property sold for or the identity of the new owners.

"It will all come out in a few days, but they don't want to be known just yet," Bertholdi said. Bertholdi also would not say how many employees were affected by the restaurant's closing.

Janet Yowl, executive director of the Edmond Economic Development Authority, said she was not surprised at the restaurant's closing.

"We've known that that it's been on the market for a couple of months, so it's not a surprise that it's closing. We've had a lot of interest in that property," she said.

Pepperoni Grill is owned by Eateries Inc., a privately held, Oklahoma-based company that owns and operates about 60 restaurants nationwide, including six in Oklahoma, Bertholdi said. Chains include Garfield's, Garcia's and Pepperoni Grill.

Founder Vince Orza has taken a leave of absence from the company as he serves as interim dean of the Meinders School of Business at Oklahoma City University

Portabello's Italian Kitchen, which closed its doors last Sunday at 800 S. Broadway, is reopening there this weekend. Until this Tuesday, Pepperoni Grill was the tenant of the property.

Thanks so much! What about Penn Square? Any news on what's going on there?

Eateries, Inc. will still operate the Penn Square restaurant as Peperroni Grill...nothing will change. They only sold the Edmond property because they were offered a large sum of money.