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A 'For Rent' sign has appeared on the left side of a window at Cosmos Pizza & Grill on Marshall Street in Syracuse. The small white sign in the center of door at right, meanwhile, says the diner is closed for maintenance and will reopen in July.

(Don Cazentre)

Syracuse, NY -- The future of a landmark pizza shop and diner near Syracuse University looks uncertain.

A "For Rent" sign has gone up in a window at Cosmos Pizza & Grill, which has served students and others at 143 Marshall Street since 1963.

The sign joins one that has been in an adjoining window since mid-May. That sign still says the restaurant is closed for "maintenance and improvements" and will reopen in July.

A call to the diner's regular number yields a message from phone service provider Verizon saying no one is available. Calls to that number in May were answered with a message saying the shop would reopen in July.

The number on the "For Rent" sign goes to the office of Syracuse lawyer Hugh C. Gregg II. A message left at that number this afternoon has not been returned.

Cosmos was founded in 1963 by Demo Stathis Sr, and George Cannellos. Cannellos, for many years the "face" of Cosmos, died in January 2013.

After George Cannellos' death, his son Stephan recalled in a syracuse.com interview how popular the place had been with Syracuse University students for nearly 50 years.

"People were not just going there to eat. It was a social place, " Stephan Cannellos told syracuse.com then. "Besides his (George's) family, that was his life."

Calls to Demo Stathis Jr., a member of the family that has owned Cosmos, have not been returned.

It is not unusual for Marshall Street area businesses to close for renovations during

the summer break. Cosmos closed for summer renovations back in 1994, when it expanded its store to include the adjacent space at 145 Marshall.

Cosmos is known for more than pizza. It also offers wings, pasta, burgers, subs, breakfast and milk shakes -- all in a classic retro diner setting, include old-school booths and mini jukeboxes on the tables..

During the 2013 NCAA basketball tournament, the Food Network chose Cosmos as the Syracuse representative in a bracket challenge featuring college food joints. Cosmos' entry was a Toasted Honey Bun Sundae, comprised of vanilla ice cream with hot fudge over from-the-box toasted honey buns.