December 17, 2020
A staple of the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Florida, has said its final farewell.
Leonardo's By The Slice has served its final slice of pizza after nearly half a century and closed up shop for the last time on Wednesday night. The popular pizza spot had sold the land to the University of Florida in 2016, and leased the block of land each year; its current lease was set to expire next June. So its patrons realized that it wouldn't remain open forever. But with the economic hardships that COVID-19 has caused, the owners realized their shop could no longer stay in business.
“The pandemic led to a financial burden that we couldn’t withstand,” co-owner Brian Johnson told the Gainesville Sun. Johnson, who has worked at the restaurant since 1994, pointed to the lack of students on campus over the past several months and the corresponding lack of business. Johnson added that he'll miss everything about Leonardo's. "Serving Gainesville this long, it's been a pleasure."
In place of Leonardo's By The Slice, the University is planning to build a brand new School of Music. That building will also force nearby structures such as Bistro 1245 and the adjacent gas station/convenience store to pack up.
