Beloved Restaurant Closes, New Eatery Plans To Build At Same Site In Columbia

COLUMBIA, MD — Another Chick-fil-A plans to set up shop in Howard County, taking the spot formerly occupied by Bertucci's in Columbia.

The East Coast Italian restaurant chain was located at 9081 Snowden River Parkway, where it served up pasta, brick-oven pizza and other dishes for more than 30 years.

“It’s been our pleasure to serve you in our community,” reported The Baltimore Sun. “Unfortunately, we have had to make the very difficult decision to close this location.”

Two other Bertucci's locations have closed their doors this year, including one in White Marsh and one in Timonium.

In late April, Bertucci's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the third time in seven years, according to Fox15.

The chain was founded in 1981 by Joseph Crugnale, an Italian immigrant. By 1989, USA Today ranked it one of America’s top 10 pizza restaurants. By the end of the 2000s, it had about 100 locations, Fox15 reported.

Howard County officials with the zoning department have signed off on an environmental concept plan for the Chick-fil-A in Columbia.

The plan calls for a 6,058-square-foot restaurant with seating for 102 diners. There also will be an outdoor seating area of 900 square feet and the typical drive-thru for a Chick-fil-A eatery. Plans for the eatery will proceed through the approval process, officials noted.

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