UPDATE: Why Did the City Close This Pizza Shop for Four Hours?

UPDATE: This post was updated at 5:50 p.m. to reflect that the pizza shop reopened its doors for business.

Employees from Zappitelli’s on Madison arrived to work Friday morning and found a padlock and a notice from the city forcing the business to close until it resolved building code violations. 

The pizza shop on Madison Avenue — that recently announced it was closing its doors by the end of the year — was required to remove the dining room tables. 

Per city code, the business does not have public restrooms, therefore it cannot allow dining room seating.

“We’re allowed to have tables, but not people dining in,” said Zappitelli's on Madison Avenue owner Adam Carroll. 

Once the tables were taken out, the business reopened at around 4:40 p.m.

“I’ve decided to turn the tables into artwork and sell them,” Carroll said.

Dru Siley, the city’s director of building and housing, said the business was given a notice that it would have to close until the tables were removed.

“This has been going on for year,” he said. “We’re willing to work them if they want to do what needs to be done and add restrooms.”

“We think Zappitelli’s is great,” Siley added. “We’ve been working hard to resolve this, unfortunately they’ve been unwilling to take any action.”

A court case is pending in Lakewood Municipal Court on the issue.

In August, Carroll announced that the business would close is doors by the end of the year, citing a general lack of parking in the area.

A dispute with the neighbors didn’t help the situation.