The Arthouse, a long-standing Hampden pizzeria and bar, will close later this month after its owners said they couldn’t come to terms on a new lease.

Randy Shayotovich and Priya Rayadurg said Tuesday that the restaurant, which just marked its 11th year in business, will close before its lease expires on Oct. 31. They have a farewell party planned for Oct. 26.

The Arthouse has been on a month-to-month lease as the restaurateurs tried to negotiate a new agreement with the owners of the building at 1115 W. 36th St., on Hampden’s busy dining and retail stretch called The Avenue.

“We were trying to figure out what to do with it long-term. We wanted to have some security, maybe an exit strategy, possibly sell the business,” Shayotovich said. “We couldn’t come to a deal with the landlord.”

The Arthouse will be the latest business to leave the block after its next-door neighbor, global gift shop Caravanserai, closed in September.

The restaurant has been through ups and downs over more than a decade in business, Shayotovich said. The Arthouse’s storefront used to house a contemporary art gallery by the same name. In 2013, Shayotovich and Rayadurg partnered with gallery owner Joan Dolina to add a pizzeria with a wood-fired oven.

A 2013 Sun review praised The Arthouse’s “thoughtful and casual food” and its “cozy, convivial and fun” atmosphere. A second-story lounge offered darts and a pool table.

The COVID-19 pandemic, Shayotovich said, “did a number on us, and the business never really recovered to pre-COVID, just like many other restaurants.”

He said they don’t currently have plans to find a new space for the restaurant, known for creative pizza toppings like pickles, spicy blueberry compote and brie, or a French onion pie with caramelized onions, beef stock and Fontina cheese. The pizzeria’s hand-built oven is too heavy to easily transport somewhere else.

But Shayotovich said the couple would keep an open mind “if something just happens to come along.”

They will continue to run two other businesses on The Avenue: Cloud 9 Clothing and Charm City Hemp, which has other locations in Federal Hill, North Baltimore and Frederick.

“We love Hampden,” Shayotovich said. “We’ve been here forever.”

Contact reporter Amanda Yeager at ayeager@baltsun .com, 443-790-1738 or @amandacyeager on X.