Long-standing Iowa City restaurant Pagliai’s Pizza faces building ownership turnover

The building housing an Iowa City favorite restaurant is up for sale for $5 million.

September 27, 2023

Nang Nguyen takes a pizza out of the oven at Pagliai’s Pizza in Iowa City on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022. Nguyen has worked at Pagliai’s Pizza for 18 years.

Pagliai’s Pizza has been a staple in the Iowa City community since 1957. Now, the building that houses the landmark is up for sale for $5 million, but business is slated to continue as normal.

In addition to the restaurant, located at 302 E. Bloomington St., the property contains 16 apartments and a long-running commercial laundry mat. Neither establishment will close upon the sale of the building.

According to the Iowa City Assessor’s website, the building’s current value as of Jan. 1 is $1,530,570.

The manager of Pagliai’s, Nang Nguyen, said the business has been aware of the sale for a few years and has priority to purchase the property over any other buyer.

Despite the uncertainty of a potential buyer, Pagliai’s has no intention of changing its current operations. The restaurant owners said they will continue to serve food to the Iowa City community as it has for over 65 years.

“Nobody here wants to see us go,” Nguyen said.

About the Contributors

Grace Olson, News Reporter

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Grace Olson is a first-year student at the University of Iowa majoring in Journalism and Mass Communications. She's a news reporter for The DI, reporting primarily on local government. She is from Denver, Colorado and worked on the pirnt publication from her high school prior to her work in college.

Grace Smith, Senior photojournalist and filmmaker

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Grace Smith is a fourth-year student at the University of Iowa double majoring in Journalism and Cinematic Arts. In her four years at The Daily Iowan, she has held the roles of photo editor, managing summer editor, and visual storyteller. Outside of The Daily Iowan, Grace has held an internship at The Denver Post and pursued freelance assignments for the Cedar Rapids Gazette and the Des Moines Register.