After Four Decades, Brooklyn Park’s Godfather’s Pizza Closes Its Doors, Marking the End of a Community Institution

Brooklyn Park, MN

On Brooklyn Boulevard, where routines have quietly shaped the rhythm of daily life for generations, a familiar constant is preparing to disappear.

On Sunday, March 22, the Godfather’s Pizza in Brooklyn Park will serve its final slice, closing after more than four decades of continuous operation under the stewardship of owner Roger Backstrom. The decision brings to a close not simply a business, but a deeply rooted community institution whose influence extended far beyond its kitchen.

For Backstrom, now nearing 70, the moment arrives with reflection rather than finality.

“It’s been just such a wonderful experience to get a feeling that some of the things that I’ve done have had a positive effect on other people,” he said during the restaurant’s final week. “It isn’t just about pizza. It’s about the people. It’s about interacting with the community. That’s where the magic of this whole thing is.”

A Life That Grew Alongside a City

Backstrom’s story is inseparable from the growth of Brooklyn Park itself.

He first became involved with the restaurant at age 26, entering a business that depended on local ownership and long-term presence. In 2008, he became the franchisee, later purchasing the building, a transition that mirrored both his personal investment and the maturation of the surrounding community.

Over time, the restaurant evolved into more than a place to eat. It became a neighborhood anchor, a steady presence in a city that has undergone significant demographic and economic transformation over the past four decades.

His trajectory from employee to owner to landlord reflects a broader American small business arc that is becoming increasingly rare.

A Legacy Built on People, Not Just Product

While Godfather’s Pizza was known for its menu, its true identity was shaped by the people who passed through its doors.

For 44 years, the restaurant functioned as a first workplace for local high school students. Under Backstrom’s guidance, young employees learned not only how to prepare food, but how to engage with customers, manage responsibility, and carry themselves in professional environments.

That emphasis on mentorship created a quiet but lasting ripple effect across the community. Former employees, now adults, have returned during the restaurant’s final days, many bringing families of their own, drawn back by memory as much as by taste.

Backstrom’s civic footprint extended well beyond employment.

As an active member of the Brooklyn Park Lions Club, he contributed to charitable initiatives that supported local needs, reinforcing a model of business ownership that saw civic engagement as inseparable from commercial success.

The restaurant also served as a consistent supporter of youth athletics, sponsoring teams and providing a gathering space for families after games. In doing so, it became part of the social infrastructure that binds communities together in ways that are rarely captured in economic reports.

A Final Week Defined by Return

In its final days, the restaurant has transformed into something closer to a reunion hall.

Former staff, longtime customers, friends, and family members have streamed through its doors, many stopping not just for a final meal, but to mark the closing of a shared chapter. Signature items like the “Humble Pie” and Taco Pizza have taken on the quality of ritual, familiar tastes anchoring moments of goodbye.

A surprise visit from family members earlier this week, including a cousin who embraced Backstrom inside the restaurant, captured the emotional weight of the moment. What has unfolded is not a simple closure, but a collective acknowledgment of what the space has meant.

Transition and Continuity

The building itself will enter a new chapter.

Backstrom confirmed that the property has been sold to a new owner who plans to convert the site into a sports bar. While the concept will shift to meet contemporary dining and entertainment trends, pizza will remain part of the menu, offering a thread of continuity between past and future.

The transition reflects a broader shift in the American dining landscape, where legacy establishments increasingly give way to hybrid spaces designed to capture evolving consumer habits.

Key Details of the Closure

A City’s Recognition

On Monday, March 23, the Brooklyn Park City Council will formally recognize Backstrom’s contributions, offering an official acknowledgment of a career defined not by scale, but by consistency and care.

Such recognition speaks to a broader truth. The value of a business like Godfather’s Pizza cannot be measured solely in revenue or longevity. Its worth is embedded in the lives it touched, the opportunities it created, and the relationships it sustained over time.

Retirement Without Departure

Backstrom’s retirement signals a shift in role, not in presence.

He plans to travel and spend more time with his children and grandchildren, embracing a pace of life long deferred by the demands of restaurant ownership. Yet he will remain active in the Brooklyn Park Lions Club, continuing a tradition of service that has defined his work for decades.

In this sense, his departure from the restaurant is not an exit from the community, but a reentry into it on different terms.

The Meaning of an Ending

The closing of Godfather’s Pizza in Brooklyn Park is, on its surface, a local business story. But at its core, it reflects something larger.

It is about the quiet institutions that hold communities together. The places where first jobs begin, where teams gather, where relationships form in ordinary moments that, over time, become anything but ordinary.

On Sunday, the ovens will cool.

But the imprint of what was built there, patiently, consistently, and with intention, will remain long after the lights go out.

MinneapoliMedia
Community. Culture. Civic Life.