For months, Dan Pizzutillo has taken to social media threatening to move Pizzeria Ida, the Burlington pizza joint he opened with Erika Strand eight years ago, out of town. In an Instagram post on Monday, the co-owners announced they’d be closing their Riverside Avenue shop and moving the business to Manhattan.
In the post, the co-owners wrote that they are “maxed out and need a larger market,” adding that their pizza “deserves a shot in a real food town.”
Pizzeria Ida opened in 2018 and attracted attention for the high quality of its wood-fired Neapolitan and Sicilian-style pies and other offerings, but also their expense relative to other local options: Pies start at $45.
Over the years, the restaurant — and Pizzutillo, in particular — became a lightning rod for debate among loyal fans and fierce critics. Pizzutillo has remained steadfast that his food is worth the cost, but the irascible chef also became notorious for online rants targeting local media, other restaurants, social media commenters and anything else he perceived as injurious. Pizzutillo has been the subject of numerous local Reddit threads and inspired at least two satirical Instagram accounts…