A popular Ellsworth pizza shop has temporarily closed its doors while its owner searches for a buyer for the business.
DragonFire Pizza opened in Ellsworth in 2018 after a previous owner had left his job working across town for Finnelli’s Pizza. The two pizza shops — along with Zeppa’s Pizza, which opened on Water Street in 2022 — are among several locally owned and operated eateries in the city that have opened in the past decade as the city’s population has grown.
DragonFire, located on State Street at the Mill Mall — which also is for sale — had staff out due to illness and reduced its hours this past month, resulting in some speculation that they were winding down for good. But the pizzeria owners have gone to social media to dispel those rumors.
“YES, we are TEMPORARILY closed. NO, we are NOT out of business,” they posted on Facebook. “We will re-open but the date is currently in the air. We have Dragonfire up for sale and have been working with a potential buyer.”
Jessica Butler, who owns the business with her husband Bill, said she met with a prospective buyer on Thursday and is hoping the transaction will happen soon. She said doesn’t want DragonFire to lose any of its loyal customers in the interim.
“I know he wants to make this happen as fast as possible so that he would be ready for the summer,” she said of the potential buyer, whom she did not identify. “Should he change his mind and back out then I will be forced to open for the summer myself so either way, Dragonfire will open back up for the summer for sure.”
Butler said she did not have a more specific timeline for when DragonFire might reopen, either under existing or new ownership.
“I wish we had a more firm date, but this is literally everything I know at the moment,” she said.
