The Hamden community and Quinnipiac University students have been left wondering why one of their favorite local pizza spots, Falcon Pizza – known as “Falcon’s” – closed. 

Falcon’s, minutes down the road from Quinnipiac, was a reliable and affordable hotspot for a late-night snack or dinner. When it shut down on March 1, students were confused and disappointed. 

“I was like, how could just a random pizza place just get shut down like that?” said Ben Schwab, a sophomore criminal justice and psychology major. 

According to a sign posted on its entry door on March 1, Falcon Pizza did not renew its sales and use tax permit, which prevented it from conducting any business. Sales and use tax permits allow the Connecticut government to collect sales tax from customers on goods and services sold.  

While under ownership of the WorldWide Quality Group Limited Liability Company (LLC), individual owners, Erdal and his brother Serdar Sahin, numerous documents were not filed to the State of Connecticut including: two annual reports (for 2022 and 2023) and a sales and use tax permit in 2023. 

Falcon’s closed, “Because we didn’t make enough money,” owner Serdar Sahin told Q30 News. “And we owe taxes to [the] government. We can’t [couldn’t] keep up with the payments. We have to shut it down.”

The pizzeria opened Sept. 12, 2014, and was a popular location for students to use their QCash, money from students’ university identification cards.

“It was just super convenient, especially late at night, after getting back from being out,” said Kevin Dosin, a sophomore law and sociology major.

Sarah Myiak, a sophomore biology major, said she learned it was closed when she attempted to place an order online and via email received a response.

“I tried to order one day and they [Falcon’s] were like, ‘Yeah, it’s closed,’” she said.

Lillia Stone, a sophomore microbiology and immunology major, had a similar experience.

“The order went through and we got an email that was like Falcon Pizza’s permanently closed,” Stone said. “The order went through, but we got our money back.”

Feb. 4, 2017

Originally named Bobcat Pizza, the name was changed to Falcon Pizza. “The reason we picked Falcon Pizza is because our last name [Sahin] means ‘falcon,’” owner Steve [Erdal] Sahin, told Q30 News in 2017. 

After a few steady years, Falcon’s began seeing some legal conflicts.

March 31, 2020

The pizzeria filed an annual report, which is the most recent one documented. Annual reports provide employees and the public with knowledge regarding the business operators and performance. 

2021 through 2023 

Numerous documents including annual reports from 2021, 2022, 2023 and a sales and use tax permit in 2023 were not filed to the state. 

During COVID-19, Falcon Pizza lost business due to the small student population. “My business wasn’t great because our main customers were college kids, so they weren’t there for two years,” Serdar Sahin said. “We had to borrow money from the government, then we went backwards. So nothing is [was] better after COVID.” 

Sept. 6, 2023

The company received a notice to file an annual report from Connecticut’s Secretary of the State. As a result, an administrative dissolution action would take place if the corporation did not file an article of dissolution– the failure to file the annual report resulted in the closure and dissolution of Falcon Pizza. Following this notice, Falcon’s was given three months from Sept. 6 to submit the annual report. The corporation failed to do so. 

Dec. 7, 2023

The Connecticut Department of Revenue Services dissolved the WorldWide Quality Group LLC. A dissolution from the Connecticut Secretary of State revokes WorldWide Quality Group LLC’s rights, powers and authority. 

Falcon’s continued operations as the business signed health inspections under the individual name of Serdar Sahin, one of the original owners and partners with WorldWide Quality Group LLC.

April 26, 2023

After passing the annual health inspection from the Connecticut Department of Public Health in the Quinnipiack Valley Health District health inspection, under the name of Serdar Sahin, the business received a final notice to file a sales and use tax permit. 

“We couldn’t pay for the government because we weren’t making enough money and I couldn’t hire anyone,” Serdar Sahin said. “Because I don’t want to fire, I wasn’t making enough money to pay all the bills. I was behind everything…. We made some agreements to pay but I couldn’t pay.”

March 1, 2024

After a year of notices, WorldWide Quality Group LLC was suspended by the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services for failing to file the annual sales and use tax permit.

According to Joseph Koris, a former Falcon’s employee of two years, his boss, Serdar Sahin, frequently failed to pay him weeks at a time. 

“Because I wasn’t getting my paycheck all the time… That’s why I fought with my boss [Serdar Sahin],” Koris said. “After that, I will leave the job.” 

Koris insisted Serdar Sahin would still provide him with his health insurance. 

“I couldn’t get my paycheck for three weeks, four weeks,” Koris said. “After that, I decided to quit… he was giving me like, health paycheck [health insurance].” 

“Yeah, it was fine. We had no issues,” said Serdar Sahin when discussing his relationship with his employees. 

While Falcon’s in Hamden is now officially closed, the West Haven location is open and serving under the Sahin Group LLC and individual owners Erdal Sahin and Serdar Sahin, fully compliant with the Connecticut government. 

Vugar Nadiri and Yavuz Sahin, Serdar and Erdal Sahin’s cousin,  have plans to open a new pizzeria at the same location in Hamden called, “Andy’s” according to the manager at Falcon Pizza located in West Haven. The ownership will be under Whitney Pizza Limited Liability Company which is now an active group according to the Connecticut State business records.

Whitney Pizza LLC is in compliance with the Connecticut government laws as an operating company.