MOD Pizza’s location at Norris University Center will close Saturday as Northwestern prepares to roll out a new, unspecified pizza restaurant.
Mary Belovich, district marketing manager for Compass Group at NU, confirmed the planned closure in an email to The Daily. MOD’s contract with Compass, the University’s food service provider, expired, according to Belovich.
Belovich did not provide additional details on the “upcoming pizza concept,” which she said is not yet finalized — nor did she answer a question about plans for MOD’s current employees.
Spokespeople for the University and UNITE HERE Local 1, the union that represents campus dining workers, did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.
The pizza place opened in October 2018 as part of a renovation to Norris’ ground floor. MOD continued serving up custom-made pizzas and salads even as surrounding establishments dimmed their lights.
After MOD closes, only Wildcat Deli will remain among the initial restaurants from Norris’ ground floor renovation.
Norris’ other dining options opened more recently: 847 Burger and Buen Día launched in winter 2023, while Shake Smart and Chicken & Boba set up shop that fall.
Shake Smart and Lisa’s Cafe outranked MOD in a winter poll about students’ favorite campus dining spots, but only 3% of respondents listed the pizza place as their least favorite meal exchange option.
MOD continued accepting meal exchanges for pizzas and salads through the 2024-25 academic year. However, amid national price increases, the restaurant limited pizzas ordered through meal exchanges to one topping in its final year at NU.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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Bluesky: @edwardsimoncruz.bsky.social
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