Old World Pizza closes abruptly in Inver Grove Heights, but owner plans to reopen this summer

Jared Kaufman, Pioneer Press
·3 min read

Popular Inver Grove Heights restaurant Old World Pizza closed abruptly over the weekend, amid a dispute with its bank following the August 2021 death of a co-owner. Its current owner said the restaurant could reopen elsewhere as soon as this summer.

“After 50 years of serving pizza to our community and many loyal customers we want to thank you for your patronage over the years,” according to a statement posted to the restaurant’s Facebook page. “We don’t know what the future holds but have enjoyed serving you.”

Co-owner Jason Hines said he was surprised to find that Village Bank had locked down the building on Saturday, March 11. He knew the restaurant’s closure was on the horizon, as the temporary operating structure established in the wake of owner Craig Kristof’s 2021 death had dissolved. But Hines said his requests that Village Bank shutter the business on a mutually agreed-upon date, so Hines could close the restaurant and process final payroll on his own terms, had gone unanswered.

The business began as The Pizza Factory in South St. Paul about 50 years ago before moving to Inver Grove Heights. Hines and Kristof took over the business in April 2021, and Kristof died unexpectedly a few months later.

After buying the restaurant, Kristof and Hines also spent about $150,000 in unforeseen but necessary repairs to the building and kitchen. Once Kristof died, full legal ownership of the business — as well as a federal small-business loan in his name — was transferred to his aunt, a beneficiary.

Hines said he’s spent the past year and a half attempting to renegotiate a series of operating agreements to obtain ownership over the restaurant, keep it open, and settle both the loan and an increased property tax bill that resulted from the building repairs.

Ultimately, he said, his attempts broke down and Kristof’s aunt signed the restaurant’s deed over to Village Bank, which gave it the authority to shutter the business it apparently viewed as insolvent. Hines contends the bank acted unreasonably in pressuring Kristof’s aunt to turn over ownership of the business and resisting his requests to accommodate his efforts to get the restaurant’s affairs in order. Hines said the business was successful and that he had in fact been making regular loan repayments.

In a statement made to Dakota County Commissioner Joe Atkins, Jeff Reed, the owner of a company called Cambridge Bank Professionals, claimed the restaurant had defaulted on its loan and voluntarily turned over its deed to avoid foreclosure. When sharing the statement on his official Facebook page, Atkins said Reed represented “the bank that shuttered the 50-year-old Inver Grove business,” but Hines said he has never interacted with Cambridge Bank Professionals nor Reed. Reed has not yet returned a request for comment from the Pioneer Press, and his involvement in the demise of Old World Pizza remains unclear.

What’s next?

Old World Pizza may not reopen in its current location, but the restaurant’s story is not over. Hines said he has secured legal control of the company’s name, recipes and other intellectual property, and plans to reopen a version of the restaurant in a new location nearby.

His top choice for the pizzeria’s new home, he said, is larger than its current spot and has a bar space; he hopes to sign a lease in the coming weeks and reopen in a few months. Nothing has been finalized yet, but he hopes the new spot will be open by summer and be as similar as possible to what longtime customers remember.

“We just want to make sure the dust settles here, and then we can start being positive with our customers again,” Hines said. “We would build this back up in a second if we get all our ducks in a row.”

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