A Colorado Springs pizza institution has served its last slice. Roadrunner Pizza & Pasta, which for more than 40 years dished out fresh, vibrantly flavored handmade pizzas in Colorado Springs, closed abruptly over the weekend.
In a Saturday evening post on its Facebook page, the family-owned restaurant located at 3113 N. Hancock Ave. in the Venetian Village shopping center announced, "with a heavy heart," its immediate closure. Owners did not specify what factors led to the permanent closure in their Saturday statement. However, the pizza shop had indicated in other social media posts in August and July that equipment failures, staffing issues, and unspecified emergencies were forcing temporary closures during those months. Roadrunner encouraged the community to support small local businesses, stating "it's rough out there."
The carryout-only establishment opened in Colorado Springs in 1983, selling pizzas laden with Roadrunner Pizza's own custom-made cheese blend, fresh tomato sauces, and dough made in-house daily. It offered customized build-your-own pies as well as specialty pizzas, pastas, salads, desserts, and other items. Among its most distinctive offerings, the pizzeria was popular for its unique "taco pizza" — a Mexican-inspired pizza with refried beans instead of tomato sauce, topped with sour cream, lettuce, tomato, black olives, cheddar cheese, and crushed nacho cheese Doritos.
The farewell statement thanked the community and the restaurant's loyal customers for the memories they made and their support through the decades. "It's been a wild ride!!! Thanks so much to all our loyal customers over the years!! We so appreciate all of your support!! It's a sad day, but change is part of life!!" the social media announcement read in part.
Roadrunner Pizza's farewell social media post garnered nearly 300 likes and more than 100 comments as of Monday morning, with many longtime customers and former employees lamenting its closure but wishing the restaurant owners well. At least one commenter suggested the owners consider creating a cookbook with the restaurant's recipes "so we can keep the food alive in our homes and hearts."
It remains unclear whether the owners have any plans to address the outpouring of community response or to offer any further explanation for the closure.