Chris Bianco didn’t want to close his namesake pizzeria in downtown Tucson, but on Saturday night that’s exactly what he did.

Just over two years after opening a restaurant many viewed could be a game changer for downtown, Bianco pulled out.

Bianco said he is looking for a new Tucson location either in an old building that he can rehab as he did the 2,000-square-foot space at 272 E. Congress St., or build new on a vacant lot. He said he has not determined where he will go, but he wants a space where he can create a complete Pizzeria Bianco experience that would include more accessible parking and patio dining — two things that Bianco said he could not accomplish at the downtown location.

Bianco on Sunday said closing was one of the hardest decisions he has had to make in his 30-plus-year restaurant career that started with his flagship downtown Phoenix restaurant that he opened in 1994. This is the first time he’s ever had to close a restaurant.

“For us, I think that the challenges that were presented were a little bit much to overcome,” Bianco said, citing construction of the downtown AC Hotel by Marriott on East Broadway and South Fifth Avenue, behind the pizzeria. Bianco’s landlord Scott Stiteler is developing the hotel project.