Thursday, January 22, 2015

PIZZA PASS APPEARS TO BE PLANNING TO CLOSE IN BETHESDA

After slightly over a year in business, Pizza Pass appears to be planning its exit on St. Elmo Avenue. This Craigslist ad offers the entire contents of a pizza parlor for sale, and identifies the seller's street address as that of Pizza Pass, 4924 St. Elmo. Everything from patio furniture, to a satellite radio receiver, to a safe is up for grabs. The headline of the ad says, "Restaurant Closing!!!"

Pizza Pass is still open for business as of the moment, and has announced no immediate plans to close publicly. The ad does mention that the 2 pizza ovens will be available by the end of this month, perhaps suggesting a potential closing date. Anybody thinking of opening a restaurant, or needing additional supplies at your current establishment, will probably want to set up an appointment with them.

The restaurant's time in this space would not be indefinite even if it remained open. Its building would be demolished in about 2 years, should the Montgomery County Planning Board approve a plan to build an apartment tower on the site this year.

Over the last year, Pizza Pass has earned a very good 4-star average rating on Yelp, and has been known for its community involvement and events.

75 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is clearly Robert Dyer's fault for not supporting local bethesda businesses.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

I've never been - is it worth trying before they sell?

Anonymous said...

should be: "slightly MORE than a year in business"

Anonymous said...

How do I become a blog administrator on this site?

Seems like all the most hilarious comments get deleted.

Comment deleted said...

This comment has been removed by a blog adminstrator.

What a thin-skinned dipshit.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if Riemer is using CraigsList to troll Dyer.

Anonymous said...

Not sure what Riemer has to do with this.

I think he's going to introduce legislation to ban craigslist from MoCo. He thinks they have an unfair advantage over the Gazette and Sentinel classifieds. (He doesn't care about the Post ever since they withdrew their endorsement of him.)

Anonymous said...

"Riemer... thinks [CraigsList] have an unfair advantage over the Gazette and Sentinel classifieds.

He does? Really?

Have you ever actually read the Sentinel recently? All the classified ads are legal notices.

Anonymous said...

@6:43..I was joking, but you're right, the Sentinel is all legal notices I believe. I assume they live off that because I don't know how else they print a newspaper every week. Some of their reporters are terrible in covering news in the county.

Hoping we can get back on topic about pizza and not the council.

Anonymous said...

PizzaPass is not closing just talked with the owner. Changing concept straight counter service. No more Unlimited dining.

Anonymous said...

Did &pizza just crush the pizza market?

Anonymous said...

Not even two days ago he reported Smashburger was closing when it was not. What kind of bogus reporting is this.

Anonymous said...

Their pizza sucks so I wouldn't be surprised if it closed!!

Anonymous said...

The Sentinel seems to be one of the few papers that's sold in coin-operated vending machines anymore.

Don't forget those quarters!

Anonymous said...

Kraut wrote about this, cited Dyer, and now he had to write a hasty retraction.

That oughta learn him. LOL

Anonymous said...

They're selling literally all of their stuff that's not nailed down...Utensils and all, but they're staying open?


Anonymous said...

Robert - you need to calm down and call these places before you report this stuff. They aren't closing, they're selling off equipment they don't need. This is how you harm local business. You already got the Smashburger story completely wrong, learn from your mistakes.

Anonymous said...

Another way to harm local businesses: Call legitimate massage therapy clinics "massage parlors".

http://robertdyer.blogspot.com/2014/08/what-is-deal-with-bethesda-massage.html

Robert Dyer said...

7:41: Did you read the ad photographed at the top of the article here? It says, "RESTAURANT CLOSING!!!" Who placed that ad on Craigslist?

In no place in my article did I say it was definitely closing. Maybe they are not closing, and are going to operate without all of the equipment listed.

You can't blame me for the restaurant saying it was closing, and selling off everything inside the restaurant.

I didn't get Smashburger "completely wrong." There was a report by an authoritative source on dining in the DC area, and it was of relevance to readers in Bethesda, so I shared that information.

Stop lying.

Robert Dyer said...

7:50: Orwellian doublespeak at its best. I've been helping promote local businesses on here for years, FOR FREE, including Pizza Pass.

If you read the article, you would know it was just the opposite of your BS claim. It explained why a legitimate massage business might be forced to close by DPS, at a time when the public was not well aware of the rules change that caused that to happen. Stop lying.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Robert, you reported the Smashburger close based on an off-handed two-word comment in a message board comment thread..........

Robert Diller said...

Love &pizza. Just never am really walking by that way it seems.

Anonymous said...
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Robert Dyer said...

8:18: A comment posted by the owner of the website, which is one of the top resources for dining news and reviews in the DC area. Don't try to distort the facts.

Robert Dyer said...

5:50: No.

Anonymous said...

Robert, you do understand that the blog owner can post a comment there without any fact-checking, and since it was literally just a two-word comment, you have no idea whether is was conjecture or speculation or fact or what... and you didn't bother to find out before you parroted it here.

Anonymous said...

I've heard from reliable sources that Dyer is the winner of this week's "Worst Week In Washington" by the Post's Chris Cillezza.

Robert Dyer said...

8:31: He isn't known for posting conjecture. There were some people questioning his report on Isabella taking over the Vapiano space, too. Guess who took over Vapiano? (Hint: Isabella) The guy is a credible source.

Anonymous said...

Guys: I hope no one in town closes, but the fact is that it's extremely rare that anyone announces that they're closing in advance. So, if you're waiting for official announcements or goodbye closing parties, it ain't gonna happen.

According to Dyer's link, the guy posted an ad saying they're closing and everything must go. Be an adult and make your own conclusions.

Anonymous said...

Dang, Dyer. Another 100% inaccurate post? Rough few days for ya.

Anonymous said...

@8:42AM: lol..any specifics on which part of dyer's report is inaccurate?

Anonymous said...

Now I'm having my doubts about that report that the Women's Boutique Consignment is moving. Probably they were just doing an early spring-cleaning.

Anonymous said...

@ 8:45 AM - "100%" would indicate that it's all the specifics of the report.

Anonymous said...

@8:50 AM Are you saying the craigslist ad isn't real? I just clicked on the link on dyer's report and it's still up saying restaurant closing and "everything must go".

Help me understand where you're coming from.

Robert Dyer said...

8:32: When your identity is eventually revealed, you and your boss will be winners of "Worst Millennium in Montgomery" by Chris Cillezza. Because when the public knows you're the guy behind the campaign of harassment, and libelous, vulgar, bigoted, (even calling local 9/11 tributes to first responders "lame") comments you've posted on here, you both are going to have a lot of explaining to do to the public. In all my years in Montgomery County, I've never seen an orchestrated campaign of harassment and personal attacks on a journalist such as what you are posting on my blog. It's despicable. Has anyone seen this kind of abuse directed at other Montgomery County reporters in comments? I never have. You've been asked to leave repeatedly.

Robert Dyer said...

8:42: Which sentence in the article is inaccurate? More importantly, who's paying you to post here?

Robert Dyer said...

8:50: Which specific is false?

Anonymous said...
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Robert Dyer said...

9:27: In other words, you can't even trust announcements from the businesses themselves anymore? What is the world coming to? "Hello, just wanted to ask if little green men from Mars posted a fake Craigslist ad for your business? Oh, they did? Good thing I quadruple-checked!" Nice ad for competing website, by the way.

Anonymous said...

I don't even lie in Bethesda - I come here for the delicious arguments.

Fight on guys ... FIGHT ON!

Anonymous said...

Lazy? Inept? Take your pick, 9:27 anon.

Anonymous said...
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Robert Dyer said...

9:41: Until your identity is exposed, punk.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Why does Dyer reply to comments after he deletes them? That's hilarious.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Wait, Dyer, did you just call yourself a journalist? lol You're a blogger, buddy.

Robert Dyer said...

12:38: You may need the Hot Tub Time Machine to join the rest of us in the year 2015. "LOL" Welcome to Journalism 101.

Anonymous said...

I love the changed headline in the CraigsList ad:

"Restaurant Changing Concepts Selling off equipment not needed!!"

I guess he was originally following the example of those rug stores that are constantly holding "going out of business" sales.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

That's so weird to post an ad saying a restaurant is closing if it's not.

G. Money said...

Journalist typically are expected to fact check. That's what phones are for. Welcome to journalism 101.

Robert Dyer said...

G. Money, which sentence in this article is false?

Anonymous said...

9:27 here. Not sure why you deleted my comment. I was asking why you didn't call the restaurant owner to verify, like the other website did. To me, a call to verify what is posted on CL (compared to info from an official press release) seems like good journalism.

You need to stop assuming so many commenters are trolls. I'm a regular reader and not trolling at all.

Robert Dyer said...

7:53: The problem is that the troll guy likes to promote that website on here, so it read like another one of his "this isn't a real news site, head over to News.spam for the real journalism!" ads.

I'm standing by my story because nothing I've read elsewhere disproves any of the above facts. All the fact-checking in the world won't help if the information you're getting when doing so is inaccurate.

Anonymous said...

@ 6:13 AM - the sentence that said PizzaPass was closing.

Did you even note that the CraigsList ad no longer claims that the business that placed the ad is closing?

Do you plan on updating this article, so that you don't place another local business at risk of losing customers?

Anonymous said...

LOL 2:07 Give it a rest.

Anonymous said...

And Robert didn't write the ad, the restaurant did!

Robert Dyer said...

2:07: There is no sentence that says the restaurant is definitely closing. The restaurant itself posted a Craigslist ad saying it was closing. But I made no such definitive statement in this article. The evidence does suggest the restaurant is closing, but it is still in operation now, as I noted clearly in the article.

Anonymous said...

I repeat, did you actually go back and look at the CraigsList ad to note that the headline has changed?

Anonymous said...

I still don't understand why you didn't call the restaurant to confirm.

Robert Dyer said...

5:48: The restaurant put out a public announcement declaring it was closing.

Anonymous said...

To me, "public announcement" would be an official press release, an announcement on their Facebook page, or some other news source quoting a representative of the restaurant. A Craigslist ad hardly seems like an official channel for such information. I'm not sure why giving them a call to verify is such a bad idea -- seems like you are opposed to contacting them for some reason.

G. Money said...
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Anonymous said...

Give it a rest already.

Anonymous said...
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Robert Dyer said...

G. Money, you just proved you are the same Anonymous guy posting all the negative comments with that statement.

Anonymous said...

Dyer is afraid of the word "garlic".

Enquiring Bethesdans want to know why.

G. Money said...

Believe what you will Dyer, but I happen to be capable of reading and understanding other people's posts (notice I said people, as there are clearly more than one), and responding to them. I look forward to you reporting me to the cops though, so they can pull the IP logs of your anonymous posters and show you that I am not any of them.

Also, I work in VA and have never been to a county council meeting, so I can't be the Riemer employee who stalks you.

G. Money said...

Accusations aside, I apologize if I actually offended you. I find the vampire jokes funny because they are so random, but I think you mean well and do a good job reporting local news, I just think it's fair to call you on bullshit when you are wrong, or contradict yourself.

Flynn said...

G. Money is right on the money! :)

Robert Dyer said...

G. Money, apology accepted. I don't have a problem with people disagreeing with or criticizing my ideas constructively. If people think they're making Hans Riemer look good via the crazy comments and harassment they post on here, they really are delusional. Or any of the other entities/businesses/politicians they've claimed to support. Who'd benefit from being associated with childish behavior like that? It's embarrassing.