(KRON) -- An iconic American pizza chain is set to make its comeback to San Francisco. Sbarro will open at the Stonestown Galleria mall, likely in the first quarter of 2027, a mall representative confirmed to KRON4.
Sbarro will take over the space previously occupied by Bay Area-based Blondie’s Pizza on the mall's upper level in the food court. According to Stonestown, Sbarro occupied the same storefront four years ago.
Blondie's reportedly moved out due to unpaid rent. The Brooklyn-founded Sbarro, which is now headquartered in Ohio, is adding an operation to a familiar space: a mall.
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WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 10: The empty booth of the Reagan Building location of pizza restaurant chain Sbarro, which was affected by a grease fire at a neighboring restaurant in the same food court and has not been operating for about three years, is seen March 10, 2014 in Washington, DC. Sbarro filed for bankruptcy protection today, the company's second since filing in 2011. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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Sbarro will join Blaze as the indoor mall's other pizzeria. Recent openings at Stonestown include Raising Cane's, which opened earlier this month, and HEYTEA.
Also opening in Stonestown is Chagee, one of China's largest boba tea chains. Chagee is expected to open in the first quarter of 2027.
There are only a few Bay Area Sbarro locations today. They include San Rafael, Santa Rosa, San Jose and Livermore, according to Sbarro's website.
Sbarro filed for its second bankruptcy in 2014 after suffering from declining foot traffic at shopping malls. But it is now working on a comeback.
After a low of 566 in 2020, the chain founded in 1956 has rebounded to currently more than 850 locations worldwide across 35 countries.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
