Within days of Barstool Sports pizza guru Dave Portnoy posting a "One Bite" video review of Squared Up Pizza earlier this month, owner Patrick McColley saw lines forming at his Park Place mall pizzeria.

Business doubled and after struggling since opening in February 2022, McColley was finally feeling as if he had a chance to get ahead of the mounting bills and rising labor and product costs that had left him months in arrears on his rent.

But late last week, the mall at 5870 E. Broadway locked McColley out of his 987-square-foot food court space, posting a note on the door that the premises had been retaken for unpaid rent.

The restaurant was closed Thursday and Friday, Jan. 16 and 17, before McColley was able to negotiate with mall management to reopen on Saturday, Jan. 21.

Squared Up Pizza owner Patrick McColley takes a pizza from the oven on Monday, Jan. 23. His Sicilian-style thick-crust pizza was featured on Barstool Sports owner Dave Portnoy’s popular “One Bite” pizza review.

He's now operating day-to-day as talks continue, he said Monday, Jan. 23, in between serving a half-dozen mid-afternoon customers squares of his crispy around the edges Sicilian-style pizza.

"I've put everything that I have into this place," he said, admitting that he prioritized paying his nine part-time employees and his vendors over his rent. "It's just been tough."

Park Place officials could not be reached for comment. 

McColley, who spent more than 20 years working in Tucson restaurants, decided to take the plunge and open in the mall after being inspired by an East Coast trip during the pandemic to document the restaurants the late Anthony Bourdain had showcased on his CNN show "Parts Unknown."

In Manhattan, McColley discovered a pizzeria down the street from his Airbnb that served a pizza like nothing he had ever experienced in Tucson. 

Squared Up Pizza owner Patrick McColley is hoping he can save his Park Place pizzeria, which recently got a major boost from a national review.

When he came home, he decided that Tucson needed to experience that pizza. The Park Place food court space, which had already been home to a pizzeria, opened up and the mall gave him a good deal. The mall also sold him the ovens, a giant Hobart mixer, walk-in refrigerators and all the kitchen equipment left behind by the former tenant. 

McColley saw it as a turnkey opportunity; the only thing he needed was the special water filtration system that recreated water from the Bronx, which he said is one of the keys to the taste and texture of his crust.

But McColley on Monday admitted his biggest mistake in the early days was not having enough money set aside to weather Tucson's notoriously slow summer months and the drop in mall traffic, largely the result of consumers flocking to online shopping during the pandemic.

"At the end of the day, it's on me," McColley said, adding that he is confident that if he's able to negotiate his way out of his financial hole and possibly get investors on board, he can turn the situation around relatively quickly, given the impact Portnoy's video review has already had on his business.

"I finally got to the point where I can do it," he said.

Dave Portnoy stops by Squared Up Pizza in the Park Place Mall in Tucson.

Since the video went up on Jan. 11, it has garnered more than 200,000 views on YouTube, almost 600,000 views on Facebook and almost 300,000 views on Twitter, and McColley said he has had customers visit from around the country who say they came in because of the video. 

That has translated into 50% increases in sales most days, he said, which has helped him sell out of pizza on a couple of those days. (Because of space limitations and McColley's pizza process, allowing the dough to ferment and rise over a three-day period, he is limited in how much pizza he can produce in a day.)

Squared Up Pizza is open during mall hours, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; until 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. McColley said he will extend hours beginning next week to 9 p.m. weekdays, 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and until 8 p.m. Sundays to accommodate people going to the Century Park Place theaters.  

Follow Squared Up Pizza on Instagram (instagram.com/squareduppizzatucson), Facebook (facebook.com/squareduppizza) and Twitter (twitter.com/SquaredUpPizza) for updates and changes to operating hours. 

Cooking at pizza at home can be tricky, but experts have shared a few of their best tips. Buzz60’s Keri Lumm shares a few.

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Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@tucson.com. On Twitter @Starburch