Chicago-style pizza shop Armand’s Pizzeria & Grille to close June 20 in Rockville
Location is last of iconic regional chain that operated for nearly 51 years
By
Elia GriffinJune 10, 2026 4:37 p.m.
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Armand’s Pizzeria & Grille, which served Chicago-style, deep-dish pizza pies in shops across the region for nearly 51 years, will permanently close its Rockville shop – its last location – on June 20, according to co-owner Chris Sappe.
“We’re really upset that we have to close,” Sappe told Bethesda Today on Tuesday while sitting at a picnic table outside of the pizza shop at 190 Halpine Road. The reasons for the closure, he said, were mostly financial, citing rising costs for food, wages and electricity.
“The profit margin is so small it’s just too much work to continue at the current pace,” Sappe said.
The restaurant announced its closure Monday with a letter posted on its social media pages. Signed by Sappe and co-owner Jim Hrozencik, the letter said the restaurant was “forced to make the difficult decision” to close and thanked “loyal” customers for their years of patronage.
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“From little league celebrations to family dinners, birthday parties, after-work gatherings, and countless slices shared among friends, we have been honored to be part of your lives for generations,” the owners wrote in an Instagram post. “While this chapter is coming to an end, we leave with a heart full of gratitude for the unwavering support you have shown us over the past five decades.”
The Rockville pizza shop, called Armand’s Pizzeria & Grille, was a franchise of Armand’s Chicago Pizzeria, founded by Lew Newmyer in 1975. The family-owned chain started with a location on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C.’s Tenleytown neighborhood. The original shop closed in 2012.
The Newmyer family grew the chain to a peak of 14 Armand’s Pizzeria locations across D.C., Maryland and Virginia, NBC News 4 reported in July when the business celebrated 50 years. Those locations included a longstanding eatery in Silver Spring at 1909 Seminary Road, which closed in 2018 after 29 years. Lime & Cilantro, a Latin American restaurant, is now operating in the space.
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Armand’s also operated a shop in Loehmann’s Plaza in Rockville, according to Sappe, which is where Hrozencik, who is Sappe’s brother-in-law, had worked for many years. In 2014, the two men bought the Rockville pizzeria and have operated the eatery at The Shops at Congressional Village ever since.
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Since announcing the closure, Sappe said the Rockville pizzeria has seen a rush of customers in the last three days, coming in to buy what may be their last Armand’s pizza pies and to share memories and relish the nostalgia.
“We exploded yesterday,” Sappe said, noting that at some point in the day, there was a line of customers that continued outside of the shop’s door. The shop had to stop accepting delivery orders from Grubhub and Uber Eats by 8 p.m. “We ran out of dough like three times,” he said.
He noted that customers from as far as Waldorf and Baltimore have traveled to Rockville to get a taste of Armand’s deep-dish pizza before the closure.
In addition, customers have taken to social media to express their sadness about the end of Armand’s. More than 150 people have commented on the shop’s posts about the closure, calling out their love for the pizza – especially the heart-shaped pies – and sharing memories.
Ledo Pizza, a Maryland-based pizza chain, was one of those commenters. “This is terrible news. Good Luck on your next chapter friends,” the pizzeria said on Instagram.
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Another commenter said, “This is heartbreaking! Grew up on your pizza and my family had a history with it long before I was even around. We will miss having you around!”
Sappe said the outpouring of support was unexpected and heartwarming during a difficult time.
“We’re all pretty sad. … It was a lot of work getting it back after all the other [Armand’s pizza shops] went out of business. There was a ton of work getting it back on its feet, and I thought I would be ready” for the closure, Sappe said with teary eyes. “It’s tough, it’s very sad to go.”
Sappe said one of the most difficult parts of the closure is that he believes the financial issues and rent negotiations could have been “worked out,” although the shop was facing a “substantial” rent increase.
“But we’ll look at the bright side – it’s another chapter – and hope people remember us,” Sappe said.
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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine