DICKSON CITY - After more than 40 years at Viewmont Mall, Roma Pizza & Italian Restaurant served its last slices there on Sunday.
Owner Joe Amato said he had a year and a half left on his lease, but mall officials exercised a provision to allow the contract to be terminated early to make room for a large restaurant that will take a big chunk of the food court area's space. He plans to reopen Roma in a few months on Business Route 6.
Customers who stopped by Sunday for a last slice before the hiatus were disappointed to see the longtime Viewmont Mall fixture go.
"It's always been one of my favorite pizza spots when I was a kid," said Dr. Jeff Montgomery, a 35-year-old Moscow resident. "That was the highlight of the week, going up there on a Friday night and getting pizza."
Alissa Lozenski is a Covington Twp. resident who similarly has been eating at Roma for more than 20 years. Her sons Zander, 7, and Chris, 5, said it is their favorite pizza place as they ate with their 1-year-old brother, Wyatt.
Customers recalled that Roma was once located outside the mall, among a strip of stores and a movie theater. Roma relocated inside the main mall building as a stand-alone restaurant before moving into the food court about 18 years ago.
Mall management offered Mr. Amato another spot in the food court for higher rent, but he said he was not interested. He plans to reopen in a few months at the old Entenmann's building at 840 Business Route 6.
Mall officials could not be reached for comment on Sunday.
Mr. Amato bought Roma from Fran and Vince Cimini about eight years ago. Mrs. Cimini said she was disappointed by the change in a restaurant that she had many fond memories of running before Mr. Amato took over.
"We served three generations of people," she said of her 33 years at Roma. "We made a lot of friends, and they were good to us. I like to think we were good to them, too."
"Nothing lasts forever, right?" Mrs. Cimini said. "It's sad, but that's progress, I guess."
Contact the writer: kwind@timesshamrock.com, @kwindTT on Twitter