Pizza Joint Remains Closed

Three Aces Pizza on Mass Ave., a favorite haunt of quadlings and graduate students, remains closed despite a sign that promises a January 16 return of the “original management,” after renovations are completed.

The restaurant, which has been closed since January 11, is located at 1613 Mass. Ave., just beyond the North Yard construction at the Harvard Law School.

The abandoned pizzeria shared the one-story retail building—owned by Harvard Real Estate—with four other businesses: the boutique “Looks,” the manicure shop Fancy Fingers, Crimson Cleaners, and Central Barber Shop. “Looks” recently moved to Harvard Square, while manicure shop Fancy Fingers and Crimson Cleaners are now closed but have not relocated. Only Central Barber Shop remains open.

Mary-Ita O’Connell, who lives next door to the complex, said she has been watching the businesses in the area close one by one over the past two years.

“Three Aces was a friendly place,” she said. “I got a slice of pizza there every few days, and they always had lots of students there as well.”

O’Connell said she was unsure of the reason for the sudden closure of the neighborhood eatery. She also said that Harvard’s North Yard construction projects along Mass Ave. have changed the feel of the neighborhood.

“I see lots of construction, but it’s all for the Law School with their big cranes,” O’Connell said. “There were five small and human businesses in that block, and the behemoth is going to devour them all.”

Since 2003, the university has approved several construction projects in its Northwest campus, including plans for a large academic complex. For instance, the Everett Street Garage and the Wyeth Hall dorms were bulldozed in summer 2007 to accommodate a new academic complex on Mass. Ave.

Associate Vice President for Harvard Real Estate Services James Gray stated that plans for Law School building developments in the North Yard would not affect local businesses, but he was reluctant to discuss Three Aces’ closure.

“We generally don’t make comments about business relations with individual tenants,” he said.

—Staff writer Shan Wang can be reached at wang38@fas.harvard.edu.