Windy City Pizza to relocate as businesses recover from Adams Village blaze

New signage for Windy City Pizza is up on the building at 960 Morrissey Blvd. that formerly housed Unchained Pizza. Bill Forry photo

The effects of a small electrical incident at an Adams Corner business hub in July have been severe enough to cause Windy City Pizza, a popular local eatery, to relocate to a new location at 960 Morrissey Blvd. The storefront in the Morrissey strip mall formerly housed Unchained Pizza.

Windy City's owner confirmed to the Reporter today that the pizza joint chose not to renew their lease at the Gallivan Boulevard storefront due to the aftermath of the incident.

Muzo Bayturk, who opened Windy City in 1989 with his brother, says that he left the Adams Corner space reluctantly— but felt he had no choice. He hopes to be re-open in the Morrrisey space in the coming days.

"It's been nine weeks [since the incident] and I have 20-plus employees," said Bayturk. "No one would want to leave a place they have been in for 30 years. I'm unhappy about it."

Bayturk said the new space at 960 Morrissey only needs minor changes— including phone and computer systems— to be operational. In the meantime, Windy City is using its second location on Newport Avenue in Quincy to cover the demand of longtime customers in Dorchester. Windy City's Dorchester location typically employs eight drivers on a Friday night, he said.

"Delivery should not be a problem," said Bayturk. "People know us after 30 years and when they call our 265 number for now they get the Quincy store."

Bayturk said that the new location also comes with lower rent and more parking, two things that he says have been a strain on his Adams Corner location for years.

"We are almost finished getting it ready and then it will need to be inspected, probably next week," he said.

The decision came as a surprise to landlord John Lydon, who also leases space to two other eateries, The Butcher Shop and China Sky, at the same property. Those two businesses have officially reopened since power was fully restored to the building on September 4. On the second floor of the building, the Irish Pastoral Center, a law office, and a golf-related business are still slated to open in the coming weeks. As for the vacancy left by Windy City, Lydon says there is no shortage of interested businesses.

“Since they left we’ve had a ton of interest in someone opening up there,” he said, noting he is currently in the process of meeting with potential leasees. With nothing set in stone yet, the newcomers could range from an Italian bakery to a taqueria to a coffee shop. “Between redoing the storefront and getting through the permits and zoning and everything, it’ll probably take a couple months to do a buildout.”

As such, Lydon expects to see a new business open its doors in “January at the earliest.”

By then, the rest of the building’s tenants should be settled in, with the Irish Pastoral Center currently in the final stages of setting up shop on the second floor. The organization’s new digs will mark the first time in over a decade that the space is being occupied, said Lydon.

“It’s a bit of a silver lining to the whole situation,” he said.

Windy City's Bayturk said he is also planning to open a third store— on Main Street in Weymouth— by the end of this year.

Reporter editor Bill Forry contributed to this story.


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