Customers of a longtime family owned Carlsbad pizza restaurant are outraged after learning the popular eatery is shutting down in less than 30 days.
The landlord for Pizza Shuttle and Subs Too on Tamarack Avenue abruptly gave the restaurant a 30-day notice to vacate in order to make way for a major corporation.
As one of the owners, Britt Eubanks has a hand in everything.
"I do it all, from signing the checks to washing dishes, to cutting meats and veggies," he said.
Currently, Eubanks, his son Tanner and their 20 employees dish out hundreds of pizzas and sub sandwiches each day.
However, that ends on Dec. 20, when the restaurant will close after 24 years at that location.
"We've had a little over a week to digest this; we're getting over the shock a little bit," Eubanks said.
Customers continue to come in, but plans are to turn the restaurant into a Subway.
"I would be devastated if it was another Subway. I just said to my son, 'No, please, not another Subway,'" said longtime customer Ellen McCarty.
The news came in a letter from landlord Greg Hinds. Pizza Shuttle has 30 days to leave, and the deadline is Dec. 31.
Now, the restaurant is looking for a new home and trying to find new jobs for its workers.
Hinds said keeping Pizza Shuttle around was too risky, and he told 10News the restaurant's five-year lease ended in 2014 and the restaurant failed to pick up its five-year option.
With a month-to-month lease, Hinds chose to go for a long-term deal with Subway, which did not return a 10News call seeking comment.
"We were never given a chance to match the price that Subway was coming in to pay or anything like that," Eubanks said.
Hinds said he couldn't disclose how much Subway was paying in rent, but Eubanks said he heard they were spending a lot more money for the same location.
