In 2004, Galactic Pizza first opened its doors in the Lyn-Lake neighborhood of Minneapolis and quickly earned a name for its irreverent way of doing business.
Notably, the pizzeria once featured delivery drivers dressed as superheroes driving small electric vehicles around town. The pizzeria’s slogan was “planet-saving pizza,” and, according to the Star Tribune, the business had an environmentally conscious way of doing things. The pizzeria was well known for offering vegan and gluten-free options long before that was more standard in urban areas.
That all came to an end Tuesday, when the pizzeria abruptly announced it was shuttering, effective immediately.
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“We have made the difficult decision to close our doors,” the owners wrote on Galactic Pizza’s website. “Thank you to all of our customers, staff, and community for supporting Galactic over the years. We are so grateful to have shared our love of pizza with you.”
The company posted the same message to its Facebook page, where it received an outpouring of well wishes and nostalgic messages. Over 500 people in total had reacted to the message as of Wednesday afternoon, while over 170 had commented.
“I will always remember getting pizza delivered to my door by a cape-wearing superhero who had a sparkly snowmobile helmet on and climbed out of a tiny spaceship-like go-cart in the dead of winter,” one commenter wrote. “It was barely taller than the slosh on the road. It changed my life.”
“Tragic end to an epic pizza place!!” another commenter wrote. “I’m so thankful to have lived in your delivery area for the better part of 15 years. You have (and always will) set the bar for best pizza ever!”
Many commenters openly questioned why the pizzeria had shut down so abruptly. There were no immediate answer—it appeared no members of the media had been able to get in touch with ownership some 24 hours after the closure was announced.
According to Whittier Alliance, Galactic Pizza had changed owners several years ago, which was then reported by CBS News Minneapolis.
