Beavercreek pizza restaurant closes after more than 40 years

A restaurant that operated for more than four decades in Beavercreek closed its doors in 2018.

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"We want to thank you for allowing us to be a part of your family and for over 40 years of memories," the owners of Rocky's Pizza Ring in the Beaver Valley Shopping Center said on its Facebook page in March 2018, when announcing the closing.

The restaurant closed for good on June 30, 2018.

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The restaurant was nestled in the rear of the shopping center at U.S. 35 and North Fairfield Road. The center has struggled in recent years and suffered a major blow when anchor Lofino’s Marketplace shut its doors in May 2015.

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When a Facebook reader asked whether the owners had contemplated selling the business or letting someone else take over, the owners replied that they had tried to do just that. “Listed it for sale a year or more ago — no one is interested,” the owners said.

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Facebook commenters expressed their grief over the announcement and promised to come in and order pizza before the closure happens.

“Definitely a hidden gem in Beavercreek,” one commenter said.

“That makes me so so sad. We will miss you so much,” another commenter said. “You’ve been part of our family for so many years! Hate to see a Beavercreek tradition go.”

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The restaurant has had two sets of family ownership since it opened in the early 1970s.

Brian and Sharon Baltzer opened Rocky’s Pizza Ring’s doors, and current owner Amy Calcutta’s parents purchased it in 1989.

“I had never even heard of the place,” Amy Calcutta told this news outlet in 2016. “My father worked for Dayton Medical Oxygen and got laid off. I didn’t even know he had the desire to be a pizza place owner/operator. My parents had eaten here a couple times and then, all of a sudden, they came home and said ‘We just bought a pizza place.’” she recalled.

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After 21 years, Calcutta’s parents decided to retire, and decided to leave her previous career of managing medical practices and take over the pizza restaurant.

But the grocery store’s closure dealt the pizza restaurant a body blow.

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"It's definitely harder," Calcutta said in the 2016 interview. "In addition to the shopping center not having a huge draw anymore, you pass so many new restaurants and every place that opens makes pizza. But there's a lot of pride that goes into (my) food. I wouldn't make everything from scratch if I didn't think it would be the best that I could offer."

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