Atlanta Location of Pizza Fusion Closes

When I heard that Pizza Fusion was going to open in Atlanta, I was over the moon with excitement. The only gluten-free pizzas I’d been able to order when dining out were in NYC. Since I live in GA, ordering take-out or enjoying gluten-free pizza in a restaurant on a regular basis was out of the question. Jeff Melnick, who bought the Pizza Fusion franchise in Atlanta kept me updated with possible locations, opening dates, etc. When they signed a lease for a space in one of the most expensive areas in Atlanta I was surprised, but also happy they finally had an Atlanta home.

As often happens with restaurant openings, Pizza Fusion kept moving their opening date out again and again. By the time the doors opened in late 2009, zpizza locations in the burbs were nipping at their heels and my local pizza joint (Pepperoni’s in Duluth) had just started offering gluten-free pizza. It seemed like every month that followed the Pizza Fusion opening brought a new gluten-free pizza to the Atlanta dining scene. While it’s true that the location was not counting only on gluten-free consumers to make the business profitable, in other markets where they reign supreme, they are well known for heavily catering to the gluten-free crowd. Hence, my excitement about the pizza place finally opening in this area.

Very shortly after the Pizza Fusion location opened in Midtown, they hosted a gluten-free dinner club event there. For the most part, attendees loved the food and a great time was had by all. The owner, Jeff, even closed the location down just for our event. We did not pay a rental fee or a party fee – nothing. Event attendees just paid for their food and drinks. The owner even worked up a super low price for a buffet style meal for the group. That night proved that yes, the rumors were true. Pizza Fusion without question, caters to the gluten-free crowd.

Having gluten-free pizza in NYC, where almost every joint makes fresh crusts is not the best idea in the world unless you live there. Risotteria and Mozzarelli’s gluten-free pizzas are not just great for gluten-free – they are some of the best pizzas we’d had in NYC. Obviously, a frozen crust, which is what is served in this market, including at Pizza Fusion, is not going to compare to what we’d had in the Big Apple. Everyone has different tastes and I wasn’t in love with the gluten-free crust that Pizza Fusion served here. We had bad luck on several occasions where the middle of the pizza was not done and the ends were fine or the ends were too tough to eat if the middle was done. When we took gluten eating friends there and their gluten pizza was extremely overdone on the ends, we knew the issue was not related to the gluten-free crusts. There seemed to be something wrong with either the ovens or the pizza baker during each of our visits there.

The owner worked hard with the staff on trying to get the pizzas cooked correctly, but the best pizzas we had at Pizza Fusion were made with a small round crust cut out of the huge oval crust. That made the difference between having a pizza that wasn’t so great to having one that was pretty good.  Many gluten-free people here rave about the gluten-free pizza and vegan brownies that Pizza Fusion serves. Yet again, even the brownies we had were always overdone, except during the dinner club event. I think most people who went to Pizza Fusion really enjoyed it. Certainly, if my local pizza joint didn’t serve excellent gluten-free pizza, pasta and chicken tenders, we would have made the trek to Pizza Fusion more often.

Some of the complaints I heard about the Pizza Fusion concept were that people wanted to order a Coke and they didn’t care that the paint used in the place was non toxic. This consumer does care about those things and the naturally gluten-free Boylan’s sodas that Pizza Fusion serves are simply delicious. However, it would have been nice to be able to order hot tea or coffee during cold weather. Niether is offered at Pizza Fusion.

When Foodie Bhuddha tweeted that Pizza Fusion was for sale and might close soon several months back, I thought the news was sad but not that surprising. Pizza Fusion closed their doors in Atlanta on March 8th. Apparently the owner didn’t find a buyer for the business and a new grandchild in CA was calling him and his wife home to be with family. According to the corporate office of Pizza Fusion, they hope to open another location in Atlanta eventually.

The pricey location might have had something to do with the downfall for the Atlanta location, but it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if Pizza Fusion been the only gluten-free pizza game in town for a while. It would be quite environmentally unfriendly for people to drive over 20 miles to have pizza in town when they could have gluten-free pizza around the corner from their home. Pizza Fusion’s mission statement is “saving the earth, one pizza at a time”, after all.

Special thanks to Joy Johnston for the news about Pizza Fusion!