Can Barstool Sports Founder Dave Portnoy Resurrect This Popular New England Restaurant?
Angela's Coal Fired Pizza closed on June 17
For years, Angela's Coal Fired Pizza was a staple in Saugus, Massachusetts. If you were going to be in the Boston area and could swing a trip to Route 1 in Saugus, you were either going to check out Kowloon's Restaurant or Angela's. Unfortunately for fans of Angela's, after weeks of rumors that they would be shutting down, they closed their doors for good after service hours ended on Friday, June 17.
Dave Portnoy reviewed Angela's Coal Fired Pizza before it closed
Although the video says that it was posted five days ago, which would have been just over a week after Angela's closed, Barstool Sports founder and Massachusetts native, Dave Portnoy, had Angela's be the subject of one of his famous "One Bite, Everyone Knows the Rules" pizza reviews. In the video (that's NSFW due to language), he mentioned that Angela's was shutting down and while he said he didn't know for sure why, he mentioned he heard the owner got a little too deep into gambling.
Multiple times in the video, he mentions that it's possible (and a very North Shore move) for a restaurant to have to close and then make a comeback. As someone who spent the height of the pandemic helping local businesses stay afloat through the Barstool Fund, is it possible that Dave is going to try and help resurrect Angela's down the line?
Employees may appreciate Angela's making a comeback
Not just for the obvious reason of the business they worked being opened once again to make a paycheck, but former employees like Erin Gardner said they loved working there.
"I started working at Angela’s in 2010. Angela’s was my first serving and bartending job. That job saw me married, saw me pregnant, saw me be a Mom, saw me go through a divorce, saw me move back to NH and I still picked up shifts because I loved it so much. I was lucky enough to work there for 10(ish) years, and I will cherish that time forever… I met the most incredible people, who some are still my closest friends. Thanks for all the carbs, the most incredible wings, the emotional support and most of all the memories. RIP Angela’s Coal Fired Pizza, what a time."
To reinforce her love of working at Angela's, Erin was part of a party thrown at Angela's to say goodbye to the restaurant. Stay tuned to see if Angela's gets a Barstool reboot, or has sailed off into the sunset forever.