CLINTONVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) — Wizard of Za, a Clintonville pizzeria whose Sicilian-style pies garnered a month-long wait during the COVID-19 pandemic, has closed.

The shop, which shared space with sushi chain Fusian at 4214 N. High St., welcomed pizza enthusiasts for the last time on Jan. 20, the brand announced on social media. Wizard of Za was conceived by Youngstown native Spencer Saylor, who began selling pizza through his Instagram in 2020 and later moved into Fusian’s store to create a “speakeasy” pizza concept. Watch a previous NBC4 report on Wizard of Za in the video player above.

“We built a little pizza shop with a big red oven in the middle of a sushi restaurant, we couldn’t believe it,” Wizard of Za’s post said. “It has been an incredible journey serving Columbus and embracing the wickedly fun world of pizza.”

While the eatery’s closure marked the end of “Wizard of Za as you have come to know it,” the social media post teased “exciting news coming soon about the future of the pizza shop inside Fusian.” The brand said “we will be getting back to our roots to launch the next generation of pizzapreneurs.”

Wizard of Za launched during the pandemic after Saylor began marketing and operating the concept out of Instagram. Customers would place an order through DM, then wait 4-6 weeks for a message from Saylor that said their pizza would be ready that evening.

“No one can have the restaurant experience during COVID,” Saylor said to NBC4 in 2021. “My brain was trying to create an experience that was fun through crappy times. For me, that was creating a word-of-mouth experience.”

Saylor then collaborated with Paceline Restaurants, the owner of Fusian, to open inside the Clintonville location in late 2020. Paceline acquired the Wizard of Za brand in 2022 and then expanded with a second location in Dayton that closed last year.

The pizza concept’s waitlist once topped 4,500 people and served former Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer and the Columbus Blue Jackets. Making 80 to 90 pizzas a day, Saylor told NBC4 at the time that “it was like buying tickets to a highly anticipated show.”

“I finally have that moment of feeling like I’m not working,” Saylor said in 2021. “Like I’m not going to work. This is where I’m supposed to be. It’s a dream come true.”