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George Geisel, the owner of Pizza Artista, revealed that he will be closing the doors of his cherished pizzeria on Dec 21 in an announcement posted on Facebook,

Pizza Artista opened its doors in 2021 after Geisel was convinced by his longtime friend to follow his dreams and open his own pizzeria. During its tenure, the restaurant hosted a variety of events for the community such as birthdays, business meetings and even a wedding reception. 

Pizza Artista began in Louisiana owned and operated by Scott and Cynthia McClaskey, and Kirk Miller. Over the years the chain has slowly expanded westward with the first store in Texas opening in Groves. 

Geisel opened a Groves location of Pizza Artista after being convinced by his long-time friend and founder of Pizza Artista.

Geisel used his life savings to open the restaurant and used his position to help the local community and give young people a safe place to hang out.

“You know when we were growing up, we had a place to go, all the young people had a place to go like Burger King, McDonald’s, they all meet somewhere on Fridays and Saturday nights and hang out,” said Geisel. “Basically I created this [restaurant] for the young people to come in.”

Geisel spent his years before opening Pizza Artisan at the local Groves Domino’s Pizza for over 30 years. He spent much of his time not only working but getting in touch with the local community, donating pizza and spending holidays dressed as Santa Claus for kids to take pictures.

 Geisel was also able to convince some of his former coworkers at Dominoes to come work for him at his new restaurant.

“He’s poured his heart into it. We’re still doing fundraisers and stuff like that even to the date we are supposed to close,” said Angela Acord, assistant manager of Pizza Artista and long-time coworker of Geisel.

Geisel and Acord traveled to Lake Charles, Louisiana every day for 6 months to work at that city’s Pizza Artista to learn the business before opening their own location. 

“ I came out of retirement for [George] to help him get this done, since I’ve known him he’s talked about owing his own business. This was his baby and he always talked about opening up in Groves because it’s his hometown.”

Pizza Artista, despite only being around three years, served the local community and received multiple recognitions from local publications including The Port Arthur News. Geisel commitment to the community is evident by the decorations on the walls. 

The restaurant was decorated with paintings and murals of the local high school football teams, with mascot heads sitting above the fridge where people could grab a drink. A TV hangs on the wall with a slideshow of customers from the community posed with Geisel or other notable community members.

“We take pictures of our guests and we stick them on that TV and people will come in and look at that TV and the spot people they know,” said Geisel. “It’s just a different atmosphere.”

Pizza Artista was well known in the community and online with their Facebook page with over 200 people reacting to the post about the restaurant announcing the shutting down. The announcement was made in the hope that those with gift cards or loyalty points to redeem them before the store closes.

It still may be possible for Pizza Artista to remain open with an abundance of customer support.

“For the past three years, this couple has dedicated themselves to giving back to the community through their business. Even before that, he was committed to helping others during his employment,” said Cynthia McClaskey, co-founder of Pizza Artista. “With two decades of service to the community, let’s come together to support George and Debbie. They truly deserve to thrive, and your purchases can help make that happen.”

Despite the love from the community, running a small business proved more challenging than Geisel had anticipated. Rising operational costs and the pressures of an increasingly competitive market weighed heavily on Pizza Artista.

“I got my bucket list taken care of, always wanted to be an owner, I did and I can die knowing I’ve been an owner,” said Geisel. 

Pizza Artista will remain open until Dec. 21 for all those who wish to grab one last bite.