"After closing more than a year ago, I’m reporting that Mid-City Pizza is readying to reopen its original Banks Street location under new owner Tony Cortello. The menu focuses on thin-crust, New York–style pies—Cortello even installed a water system that mimics New York City’s pH and mineral content to recreate that Big Apple taste in the dough—and will also include a few Sicilian-style pizzas, Italian sandwiches, salads, starters, plus wine, beer, and classic cocktails. Cortello hopes to open to the public this Friday, March 8. The shop was originally founded by Rand Owens in 2013 and became a laid-back, cozy staple known for thin-crust pizza and old-school arcade games; Owens expanded to a second Uptown location in 2017, died in 2020 at age 33, and the restaurant stayed open for three years before closing in December 2022. Cortello and his partners purchased the business last August." - Justine Jones