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Looks like the Washington Post wrote the obituary on Radius Pizza a little too soon. The Mount Pleasant eatery isn’t closing, after all. Rather, it’s being sold and is only temporarily closed as a deal with the landlord is finalized and the liquor license transfered.
The soon-to-be owners are husband and wife Matt and Lenka Culbertson, who’ve lived in the neighborhood for the past five years. She previously did financials and accounting for Tonic Restaurant Group—which owned Radius when it opened in 2005. He’s worked a number of jobs in the restaurant industry for more than 15 years, including bartending stints at Rasika and PS7’s. Matt was also a part owner of Cowboy Cafe in Arlington until November.
The Culbertsons tell Y&H that they won’t change the name of the pizzeria or the pizza recipe, but the rest of the menu will be revamped with more family-style pastas and salads as well as new entrees and daily specials.
“It seemed like the last owners tried to make it more of a fancy restaurant like it would belong in Penn Quarter,” Matt says. He hopes to make it more neighborhood-friendly and affordable. (No word yet, though, on whether the $5 pint/slice happy hour deal will stick around.)
Y&H left messages for previous owners Todd and Nicole Wiss, but they didn’t return calls or an email over the last week. Tonic owner Jeremy Pollok, one of the original owners who is now helping the Culbertsons take over, says the Wisses “accepted other opportunities elsewhere before there was enough time to finalize the deal.” He didn’t elaborate on the other opportunities.
No big changes are planned for the physical space, but the Culbertsons want to make it their own. “We’re going to add some small touches to make it our place and show that there’s been a change of ownership,” Matt says.
If all goes as planned, they hope to open in September.
Photo via Google Maps