Popular east Sacramento pizzeria OneSpeed is closing at year’s end, owner says

COVID-19 couldn’t knock OneSpeed down. A wrecking ball will.

The popular east Sacramento pizzeria will close at year’s end, owner Rick Mahan told The Bee. OneSpeed’s landlord told Mahan earlier this week she’ll be knocking down his building at 4818 Folsom Blvd. along with East Sacramento Hardware next door.

“It’s definitely a carpet-being-pulled-out-from-under-me kind of feeling,” said Mahan, who also owns The Waterboy in midtown. “It’s a restaurant demise that was not related to COVID. I wish I would have found out about this a year ago.”

The building is owned by Sheree Johnston, who also owned East Sacramento Hardware for more than 30 years until retiring and closing it last month. Johnston told Inside Sacramento she plans to replace the 91-year-old building with a mixed-use concept that could include a smaller hardware store.

OneSpeed opened in 2009 as The Waterboy’s more casual sister, a weeknight favorite for east Sacramento families distantly related to the date-night bistro. Pizza in a convivial, bike-friendly atmosphere remained the draw, but inventive pasta dishes and salads and some of Sacramento’s best fries helped broaden appeal.

Just earlier this week, Bee food writers named OneSpeed one of the Sacramento region’s Top 50(ish) restaurants.

Mahan will try to find a new location for OneSpeed over the next eight months. If not, he’ll likely start another project to try to recoup some of the lost income, he said.

OneSpeed’s staff found out about the impending closure at a 3 p.m. meeting Friday. For now, OneSpeed remains open for takeout 4-8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.