Upscale pizza place closes in Kansas City's Crossroads

Is Pizzabella a casualty of a Crossroads pizza war?

In late 2017, the owners of the upscale pizza restaurant said they were targeted when a new pizza restaurant a block away put up a billboard ad right by their building. The ad for the new Papa Keno’s Pizzeria pointed the way to the restaurant at 1815 Wyandotte St. with a "Big slices this way."

Now after more than a decade of operations, Pizzabella has closed at 1810 Baltimore Ave.

Pizzabella opened in the Crossroads in late 2007. Quillan Glynn, one of its original chefs, later purchased the restaurant with his wife, Hilary, and her parents, Tom and Shari Boles.

In 2013 they expanded with a location in Mission Farms West in Overland Park. It closed in mid-2017.

Shari Boles declined to comment on the closing of the Crossroads location. The owner of the Crossroads Papa Keno's also declined to comment.

Pizzabella featured wood-fired pizzas such as prosciutto with marinara sauce, chorizo with basil pesto, white anchovy with capers and leek with pancetta and roasted onion.

Travel + Leisure gave it a shout-out in its "America's Best Cities for Pizza" feature, putting Kansas City as No. 10 for Pizzabella and Minsky's Pizza Cafe & Bar.

Pizzabella and The Art of Pizza had peacefully co-existed across the street from each other for a decade. But the Crossroads has continued to add more pizza places including Papa John's and Homeslice Pizza & Pints, joining Crossroads pizza pioneer Grinders, which opened in 2004.

This story was originally published March 28, 2018 at 1:25 PM with the headline "Upscale pizza place closes in Kansas City's Crossroads."