A developer has purchased the red and white-striped Pietro’s Pizza restaurant on Main Street in Milwaukie, a retro dining establishment that dates back to 1969.
The lone Pietro’s Pizza store left in the Portland area is uncertain about when or even if it would close. However, the restaurant business intends to open a new site at the former McGrath’s Fish House in the Milwaukie Marketplace shopping district, which is approximately one mile away.
Pietro’s presently only has two restaurants left, in Salem and Hood River, from its peak of over 80 chain sites.
The classic neon sign of Pietro’s Pizza in Milwaukie is really cool.Brence, Michelle
The Milwaukie Petro’s existing location has been sold to Pahlisch Commercial. According to the Portland Business Journal, the developer from Bend bought the site at 10300 S.E. Main St. but hasn’t submitted project permits yet.
This year, the 178-unit Henley Place apartment development debuted after Pahlisch Commercial demolished the old Kellogg Bowl bowling alley next to Pietro’s in 2022.
Following a 58-year run and six months of forced closure due to the pandemic, Kellogg Bowl closed permanently in 2020. (Those who grew up in Milwaukie will recall the unique pizza phone that was located inside the bowling alley and connected callers to Pietro’s Pizza straight to place orders.)
A Pietro’s Pizza is now being built in the location of the former McGrath’s Fish House.Oregonian Samantha Swindler
According to building permits submitted to the city, Pietro’s intends to create an outdoor seating space, rebuild the roof, and renovate the kitchen and seating areas at its new location at 11050 S.E. Oak St. The pizza parlor on Main Street is still open, and no opening date has been set.
In 1957, a former plumber named—no, not Pietro Norm Kolln—founded Pietro’s Pizza in Longview, Washington.
Children wait in line at Pietro’s Pizza in Milwaukie to exchange their arcade game ticket stubs for goodies. The majority of children will leave with some candy and little items.Brence, Michelle
After being acquired by Campbell’s Soup Company in the early 1970s, the company quickly expanded, reaching almost 60 Pietro’s outlets throughout Washington and Oregon. After that, California investors bought the chain, and before Pietro’s filed for bankruptcy in 1995, it had grown to around 80 locations. Many of the Pietro’s parlors were turned into BJ’s restaurants after the chain was acquired by BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse.
By 2004, there were just three Pietros left, all in Oregon, and they were acquired by Ken Bay and Ray David, two longstanding staff members. A Beaverton facility was later opened by the partners, but it closed in 2023.
The new Pietro is located on Main Street in Milwaukie, according to an advertisement in the August 3, 1969, issue of The Oregonian. The phone number is the same; you simply need to add the area code. The street number has changed, as addresses occasionally do.Archives from Oregon
In 1969, the Milwaukie site began for business. It has been a favorite location for children’s birthday parties since 2002 because it has an arcade and a prize redemption center.
It’s unclear if the famous neon sign outside the Milwaukie location—which depicts a cartoon chef racing while carrying two pizzas—will remain there or relocate to the new eatery.
Requests for comment from Pietro’s owners were not answered.
Here is Oregon and The Oregonian/OregonLive are covered by Samantha Swindler. You may reach her at oregonian.com/sswindler.
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