The Real Ledo’s is Coming
August 6th, 2009 | by Clay Gump | Published in Businesses, Downtown | 22 Comments
Future home of Ledo Restaurant
At the opening ceromony yesterday for the new downtown parking garage amid the usual pomp and circumstance a big announcement was made regarding the 5800 square feet of ground floor retail.
The original Ledo’s will be moving from their long time location in Adelphi to downtown College Park. This is the mothership of all Ledo’s pizza places. The franchise location you see all over were born from this one location. I do not know the full history but I do know there was a split and the Ledo Franchise is NOT the same thing as the original Tommy Marcos resaurant. All I know is those awesome square boxes of joy are coming to downtown college park. This is just the kind of local business we are dying to have. And did I mention there will be plenty of places to park?
August 6th, 2009 at 9:44 am (#)
Awesome! I’m glad we’ll be getting a local business with great food rather than a slew of chain sandwich shops, cell phone stores, and day spas.
The only downside is that the old Ledo’s had free parking – does anybody know if the city will have a program to offer some kind of discounted parking or the ability for Ledo’s (and other nearby establishments) to validate? Not sure how that would work with the new meter/payment system I’ve heard is in the new garage. In any event, I think it would be a great way to encourage folks to patronize local businesses.
Like or Dislike:
2 
0
August 6th, 2009 at 12:28 pm (#)
FABULOUS!
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
August 6th, 2009 at 1:40 pm (#)
Expect short-term (10-15 minute) free parking for pick-up. The merchants are talking about having a program to allow free customer parking. It could be accomodated with the pay stations that are here/coming.
Parking garage rates should remain at 75 cents per hour for the forseeable future, even if outside surface parking rates are increased.
Like or Dislike:
0 
1
August 6th, 2009 at 5:17 pm (#)
I don’t quite get it. The one in Adelphi is the original Tommy Marcos restaurant. So you’re saying the original Ledo pizza, which is the Tommy Marcos restaurant, is moving to downtown College Park?
From Wikipedia (Ledo Pizza):
“The original location in Adelphi, Maryland at the Adelphi Shopping Center was established in 1955. The name on its website is “Tommy Marcos’ Ledo Restaurant”. The original location is not listed in the restaurant finder maintained by The Ledo Pizza System website. The omission from the chain’s website may be related to a legal dispute between the Ledo chain and the Marcos family.[1]“
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
August 6th, 2009 at 5:33 pm (#)
Shawn, you are correct. The Tommy Marcos restaurant IS moving to College Park. No franchise. This is the real deal.
P.S. And wikipedia has a entry for Ledo’s? Wow.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
August 7th, 2009 at 11:02 am (#)
Not bad. Now, can someone tell them that they need to add a VT helmet to their collection? :-)
Like or Dislike:
0 
1
August 7th, 2009 at 11:43 am (#)
Finally this is Awesome! Just what downtown College Park needs the original Tommy Marco Ledo restaurant. What a great location for Univesity student’s and staff. I don’t think parking will be a problem, I think they will do great with all the walk in traffic. New downtown happy hour with pizza & BEER
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
August 7th, 2009 at 8:45 pm (#)
Oprah loves it too!
http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/food/oprahshow1_ss_20061101/2
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
August 11th, 2009 at 10:23 pm (#)
This is cool, but I think it’s unfortunate that the old location is closing. (Am I understanding this correctly? They are not simply opening a second location, are they?) The old Ledo’s has a lot of character, and I wonder if it will lose a lot of that character in becoming just another one of downtown CP’s many eateries.
Also, I bet Ratsie’s is not pleased by this news, but maybe a little competition will force them to clean the bathroom more than monthly, and/or take less than 20 minutes to give you a single slice of pizza.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
August 14th, 2009 at 10:54 am (#)
My concern is will they be able to rebuild the brick (or is it stone?) oven that they use ONLY at the original Ledos….that is the key to their great pizza, The Beals franchise restaurants all use the conveyer belt system which makes the crust different and doesn’t taste the same as the original by Tommy Marcos….
Like or Dislike:
0 
1
August 17th, 2009 at 11:50 am (#)
I think it’s good they are moving. Then perhaps they can redevelop Adelphi Plaza. It still has that 70s look. It’s run down. I mean that area is ripe. It’s on a major thoroughfare; a perfect location. That whole mile is old and rundown. I hope the purple line causes some of the redevelopment that is needed in that area.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
August 19th, 2009 at 11:34 am (#)
I went to the Tommy Marcos Ledo Restaurant for the first time after reading this post. Yum! It was quite a lot of food for the price. I talked to the hostess and she said they are looking forward to moving so that their customers can walk to the restaurant rather than only being able to access it by driving.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
August 22nd, 2009 at 2:02 pm (#)
On one hand, I like it. The new College Park is going to be great, and what better place to be there than the Tommy Marcos Ledo. On the other hand, it’s like my parents have just told me we’re moving out of our original house and into a bigger and better house, and then can’t understand why I’m not as thrilled about it as they are. I loved the old house.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
August 24th, 2009 at 8:53 pm (#)
Are you sure this is final? According to Diamondback story on the same ribbon-cutting ceremony (sorry, all I could find was pdf of the page, but scroll down to “City welcomes parking garage” at http://print.umdbk.com/2009-08-06/0), it was announced that Ledo’s and the city were in negotiations and close to a deal, but that it wasn’t done yet. Is there news since then (Aug. 6)? I’m hoping for the best, but always fear the worst when it comes to development promises.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
August 25th, 2009 at 5:26 pm (#)
I am operating from the premise that a contract is close to being signed, as the most important contract terms have been successfully negotiated.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
August 28th, 2009 at 2:12 am (#)
This is great news as long as they bring their same old oven with them. Three Brother’s from anywhere other than Greenbelt just doesn’t taste the same, I have to assume the same of Ledo’s. I know the chain shops just aren’t right. Not terrible, but nowhere near as good.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:13 am (#)
The City’s proposed lease with Ledo’s is now public (15 years, with two five-year options. It was discussed at last evening’s City Copuncil worksession and is slated for a vote at next Tuesday’s meeting. The lease would allow up to a maximum of nine months (May 2010) until opening.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
September 4th, 2009 at 2:31 am (#)
Mr. Catlin, how will the city be fighting to keep the property value around these businesses under long-term contract on the rise?
JBG Rosenfeld Retail has not been the best neighbor when it comes to making sure it’s property is up-kept and thriving.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
September 5th, 2009 at 8:30 pm (#)
http://www.gazette.net/stories/09032009/collnew184807_32522.shtml
“It’ll be exactly the same,” Marcos said. “We’re taking the pizza ovens and everything.”
Awesome.
Like or Dislike:
2 
0
September 6th, 2009 at 8:11 am (#)
The property owners (rarely the businesses who lease the property) won’t generally do more than they have to. Competition from East Campus would get their attention. Perhaps with the parking garage taking some of the downtown’s parking pressure off of Rosenfeld’s shopping center parking lot, the company may focus more attention on the property.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
September 6th, 2009 at 7:34 pm (#)
That Rosenfeld property needs a complete reboot.
Like or Dislike:
2 
1
July 12th, 2010 at 12:32 pm (#)
my mom has a coffe franchise near seattle and she earns a lot from it;~,
Like or Dislike:
0 
1