It’s last call for slices and wings at a Saratoga Springs pizza staple.
Owner Rory Wilson has been serving D’Andrea’s Pizza fans on the corner of Pavillion Row and Caroline Street for 18 years, but Wednesday marked the last lunch rush at the popular downtown counter after several decades.
“Guys, have a great one, we’ll see you up north," said Rory Wilson.
There was a stretch where owner Rory Wilson stayed open through 4 a.m. on the weekend, when the less-than-sober crowds leaving the bars needed a spot to rest.
Thanks guys, maybe I’ll hug you later,” said Wilson.
These days, the latest they stay open is 2.
“The emotions are up and down right now, just trying to get through the sale and things of that nature. A couple people have said to me it will hit me next week when I go to drive down here and it’s like no, just going to stop in Wilton today and don’t have to come down here,” said Wilson.
There’s a second location in Wilton. Wilson says it’s exactly 3.4 miles away, so D’Andrea’s regulars can still get their fix.
“Well, now I’m going to get a little emotional. But, I had a couple of kids come in earlier, I call them kids, they brough their kids in and they used to come in for high school and just to see the amount of love and just how much people care about us has been very humbling to me,” said Wilson.
There’s a steady stream of regulars. They’d be coming even if without an everything-you-can-eat deal.
“I rarely come to Saratoga, but the times that I have come, I come to get some pizza and chop it up with my man,” said Malcolm.
Gerald Malcolm came up from Albany for one last slice. They’ve been playing basketball together for the past several years.
“You know it’s funny, when I met him they said, ‘so, you don’t know Rory?’ I said, ‘I play ball with him,’ they said, ‘he has all the crazy commercials.’ So, it was funny where I knew him but didn’t identify him with pizza. And then it all made sense. It’s a great fit – the personality and the pizza, you can’t go wrong with personality and pizza,” said Malcolm.
Three murals, including one made last summer to commemorate the return of Farm Aid, will come down in the coming weeks. Along with the auto repair shop next door, the buildings are being cleared for a five-story apartment building.
Megan Zeim bartended at Clancy’s just steps down Caroline Street for 16 years. She brought Wilson one last free drink – a bottle of champagne.
“I used to make buffalo chicken wantons for the navy guys when the Navy was in town. I mean they’re still in town but not in the way they used to be. So, I used to bring my buffalo chicken wontons here and he’d deep fry them for me at like 1 o’clock in the morning and then I’d bring them back to Clancy’s and give them away,” said Zeim.
Cindy Quade comes to Caroline Street a lot. Her husband is in a band that often plays just across the street from D’Andrea’s.
“2 o’clock, 1 o’clock you’d see the line out here and a lot of people would come here after drinking which was good. Sit down, have some pizza, sober up, before you get behind the wheel. And Rory’s a personality,” said Quade.
For Wilson and everyone coming through his front door, it’s the end of an era for downtown Saratoga Springs.
“I think a lot of it, and once again these are my own thought processes, I look at right now you’ve got the Treehouse [Brewing] and that’s pulling people. You’ve got Chipotle being built. I would like to see it be successful and I would like to see Saratoga thrive. Keep pushing the track, SPAC, having the buildings that make people want to come here on the offseason and maybe that could work,” said Wilson.
You can get one last order in at D’Andrea’s in Saratoga Springs until 10 p.m.
