Jacksonville Beach-based Wild Pie’s almost three-year venture into perfecting and serving plant-based pizza, salads, appetizers, soft serve ice cream and more has closed its second and last North Florida restaurant.
Wild Pie closed its Gainesville location near the University of Florida campus as of April 3, less than five months after its soft opening Nov. 30, 2024 and less than three months after its Jan. 17-19 grand opening.
Wild Pie opened at 309 NW 13th St. Suite 10, in The Hub on Campus Gainesville 3rd Ave. It is a few blocks from the campus.
That opening came as Wild Pie closed its Jacksonville restaurant in Hodges Pointe Plaza as of Jan. 22, about 14 months after it debuted its brick-and-mortar concept in November 2023.
To announce the Gainesville closing, The Wild Pie Team posted April 3 on Instagram “To Our Wild Pie Community”:
“After exhausting all efforts, we’ve made the difficult decision to close our Gainesville location and bring Wild Pie to an official close,” it said.
“Our mission was simple: serve incredible food that just happened to be plant-based – and thanks to you, we brought that vision to life,” it said.
“While we close this chapter with heavy hearts, we do so with immense pride and gratitude. To every guest, team member, and partner who believed in us and supported Wild Pie, thank you.”
Rooted in plants
The Wild Pie LLC name was registered with the state May 12, 2022. The concept rolled out as a food truck late that year.
The restaurant concept was at least a $2 million investment, OSO Culinary Ventures LLC President Bart Ortiz said in January 2023, and that later was considered an outdated estimate.
Ortiz explained to the Daily Record in 2023 that the target audience was not only those who follow vegan or vegetarian diets. The restaurant also wanted to attract flexitarians, who eat meat but choose a plant-based diet some of the time, such as meatless Mondays.
Wild Pie celebrated its Jacksonville grand opening Dec. 1, 2024, preceded by a soft opening the prior November.
It extensively renovated the former Brucci’s Pizza at 13500 Beach Blvd. at southwest Hodges and Beach boulevards.
It seated 38 inside and 24 on the patio.
The menu included 12 plant-based pizzas with vegetables and vegan pepperoni, sausage, meatballs and chicken. Customers could also build custom pizzas. The pizzas came in 11- and 14-inch pies costing $15 to $25.
The restaurant offered counter service with food delivered to the table. Customers could order in person or at kiosks as well as online or by phone.
Customers could dine in or take out, and to-go orders had a pickup station near the front door.
The investment
The restaurant took root with area investor John Eckstein, who took on a plant-based lifestyle more than a decade before.
Eckstein was a founding member of OSO Capital Management LLC, the parent company of Wild Pie LLC.
Ortiz said OSO Capital Management LLC focuses on investing in new ventures.
For Wild Pie, Ortiz said the group worked with The Culinary Edge research, strategy and operations company in San Francisco to develop the menu, brand and design.
OSO Capital Management, The Culinary Edge and the Wild Pie team together created the concept.
“This was a collaboration with our founder and folks at Culinary Edge and our team and the investment team as well, so everyone has had some input,” Ortiz said.
Culinary Edge developed the recipes, followed by tastings and revisions.
The dozen varieties of pizzas included the Veg Out, The Meat(less) Lover and the Taco ‘Bout It.
Along with the salads, there also were “Nibbles” that included Roasted Shishito Peppers, Monkey Bread and Spicy Impossible Meatballs.
Desserts included a cookie, brownie and oat milk soft-serve with a choice of toppings.
Beverages include canned soft drinks, juices and bottled beer.
“The original goal is to unleash the power of plant-based pizza,” Ortiz said.