The Rise & Fall And Resurgence Of Sbarro

Sbarro is more than just a quick and easy bite at the mall — it's a thoroughly American story of success, downfall, and redemption in one extra large pizza slice.

#Sbarro #Pizza #FastFood

Brooklyn origins | 0:00
The First Mall Sbarro | 1:10
Going public | 2:18
Buying it back | 3:17
Selling the company again | 4:40
Massive debt | 5:32
Inflation driving up costs | 6:32
Rebranding | 7:40
Off-mall sites and delivery | 8:58
Sweet collab | 9:57
Expanding again | 10:51

Voiceover By: Kat Callaghan

Official Mashed Website

[krisfrederick]

When we were kids in the 90's, getting a foot long slice of Sbarro in the Mall and going to the arcade with a couple bucks from our Mom. Is was the best thing ever. Everybody knows the rules 🍕

[gamerdragon]

One of favorite pizzas growing up in the 90s and then going to the arcade with my friends. Memories

[HulktySSJ]

Thought it went out of business years ago, then I JUST seen this place open in my mall last week out of nowhere! LOL

[sanguine-moon]

"subway today, sbarro tomorrow"

- a very wise gnome

[HolyDiverDio]

I remember hanging out at the mall and loving this pizza. I haven’t been in a mall since the early 2000s.

[AT-sdqq]

I had no idea that the Sbarro in Kings Plaza, Brooklyn was the first mall version. I use to love going there in the mid 80's.

[dianebristow]

Loved Sbarros 20-30 years ago. Had a slice at the mall last year with deep disappointment.

[jayweb]

There's still one at my local mall and they are still great! One of my favorite pizzas

[jer]

Maybe I'm lucky but I went back to Sbarro a few times the past few years and I still love their pizza. Not as good as Mom & Pop places obviously but way better than Pizza Hut, Domino's, & Papa John's.

[richardjamesgallardojr.]

Final meal requests😂 mushroom and Swiss bacon cheeseburger with extra grilled onions😂 large order of battery depth red onion rings😂 mint chocolate chip milkshake

[GrnArrow]

We had a Sbarro open up shop in my area when our local mall expanded in 1998. I heard of Sbarro in years past, so I decided to give their pizza a try and I wasn't disappointed in their product. I thought it was pretty good and it was a nice place to grab a quick meal. Unfortunately as the years went on, the local mall would see less and less foot traffic and the Sbarro that was at the mall closed some 15 or so years later. I think the company filing for bankruptcy had something to do with it.

[markhellman-pnhn]

most of their stores were in a mall food court ... what few people know, is that they are binded by CONTRACTS !! ... they can make a bazillion a day, & the mall owners didn't care ... once the "contract" expired, they HAD to leave .... and that was the beginning of the end

[MikeRadioNY]

I’m from Brooklyn. I know where the original Sbarro Salumeria was. When I was a kid I worked in Kings Plaza, and had lunch at tomorrow just about every day. There is some issues with this video. The store that is shown that says first Sbarro in the mall is incorrect. Also saying the original one in the mall is still there is also incorrect. The mall location moved to a much bigger spot many years ago that used to be a place where knishes were sold. The old Sabara spot was much smaller and it was down a little bit from where the Sbarro is now. Just wanted to clear this up because it is incorrect. And the Sbarro family did used to come out from the kitchen with the hot dishes. It was really something back then because it wasn’t this huge chain. It was a local store that opened up in the mall, boy I miss those days.

[jsmooth]

Their pizza was always over priced to me growing up as a kid...

[jackwonder]

I was in the food court at Oglethorpe Mall in Savannah, GA today (12-4-24) and the Sbarro was doing good business. Sbarro has been in this mall for over 30 years.

Update: So I went back to the food court a few days later and got a slice of meat trio pizza, salad and drink for $10.50 including tax. I don't know why people are dissing Sbarro. It was a tasty lunch for less $ than a lot of fast food joints.

[kraigbailey]

Ah. Mediocre Mall Pizza. It was fine when it was cheap and they knew their place, but now they have the audacity to consider themselves to be "real" pizza. Um, no. It's like Olive Garden thinking it's an actual Italian restaurant-when it's the McDonalds of Italian restaurants!

[BlckJack]

Why not just have a real person narrating the video?

[JohnAranita]

I fucken love spaghetti with meatballs. With, crushed red pepper. Now, I know how to pronounce Sbarro! Sbarro went away from Ala Moana Shopping Center. Recently, I see them there again!

[Technotranceism]

Used to eat here decades ago. Nowadays, a few brick and mortar stores, along with placement in airports and possibly a few strip malls, would be ideal.

[yooootoooober]

I went a few months ago and it was actually really good. Stark contrast to the flavorless stuff they sold in the early 2000s.