Popular Charlotte pizza shop closing its doors after more than 30 years in business
More than 30 years after opening, Charlotte’s Wolfman Pizza is closing down its Cotswold Village location — and today is its last day.
After decades of serving up specialty savory and sweet pizzas, operations director Mike Marshall told CharlotteFive the restaurant’s lease wasn’t renewed by the property management company, Stream Realty Partners.
“It sucks … It’s kind of survival of the fittest out here. The center can make more money by getting upgraded,” according to Marshall, who said the team found out a couple of months ago.
“I mean, they’re gonna combine some spaces and do things like that — like a bigger restaurant, I think what their plan is. So I mean, I understand it. It’s just not enjoyable.”
The longtime fan-favorite spot “shook up Charlotte’s pizza scene” with its first California-style restaurant in 1991, former Charlotte Observer reporter Lore Postman wrote in a 1999 article.
The McMullen Creek Market store began as a take-and-bake spot, and back in 1991, Observer reporter Helen Schwab had to tell readers what that meant, including that they needed to take the plastic wrap off of the pie before putting it in the oven. “One server swore people have put it all in the oven,” she wrote.
By 1992, the original restaurant seated 24 (and was entirely nonsmoking) and owners Barry and Chris Wolfman were already looking for a second location, the Observer reported at the time.
It wasn’t long before Wolfman Pizza expanded across the area with multiple locations, including the Cotswold location, which also opened that year.
Yet after this week, only one will be left standing.
“The property managers refused to renew our lease. We wanted to renew our lease, but they refused to,” general manager Kea Hrvatin, who has been with the company for 20 years,” told CharlotteFive. “Our corporate office fought tooth and nail to get us to stay but the axe was thrown, and off we go.”
The remaining Wolfman Pizza
While the team is saying goodbye to its Cotswold spot, you’ll still be able to get a taste of the pizza joint’s pies, pastas, paninis and more at its Quail Corners location on Park Road. Wolfman Pizza will also continue to pop up around town in its food truck — potentially even at Cotswold Village after it closes its storefront, Marshall told us.
“We’ll still be operating those two things and then looking, maybe, in the future opening somewhere else. It’s just, this came about too fast for us to open something to take all of our staff.”
Wolfman Pizza’s last day in business at its Cotswold location is Tuesday, Jan. 21, Marshall told CharlotteFive. The restaurant is one of several longtime Charlotte restaurants that have closed in recent months or will close soon, including Fenwick’s, which will close in March after 41 years, Village Tavern, which closed in October after 35 years, Ricco’s Italian Restaurant, which closed in October after 62 years and Harper’s, which closed in July after 32 years.
“We’ve had a lot of people coming in, telling their stories of coming here when they were younger and growing up eating our pizza and it brings joy to our heart to hear those stories,” Hrvatin said.
Now looking ahead, she added “We are always looking for properties to reopen. Hopefully it’ll be in the Cotswold location. If not, it’ll be somewhere.”
We have reached out to Cotswold Village and Stream Realty Partners for more information.
Wolfman Pizza
Location: 106 S Sharon Amity Rd b, Charlotte, NC 28211 (closes Jan. 21).
Location: 8504 Park Rd, Charlotte, NC 28210
Instagram: @wolfmanpizza
Alex Cason and Melissa Oyler contributed.
This story was originally published January 21, 2025 at 12:37 PM.
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