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Following a night reserved for friends and family, it’s clear the Mastic Beach community is ready to embrace its newest pizza parlor.
“I know I went through 75 pounds of cheese today,” said Anthony Miller, the 19-year-old owner of Anthony’s Pizza on the night of the pizzeria’s soft opening earlier this week. “I went through two bags of flour, I completely ran out of dough today, I had to make another two batches. I’ll come in tomorrow morning to make another batch or two.”
Miller is no stranger to business or hard work. Soon after graduating William Floyd High School in 2020, he became a partner in Miller Dry Wall, the company his father, Chris Miller, opened about two decades ago.
The young entrepreneur also spent a quarter of his life in the pizza business.
“I started in pizzerias at 14,” Miller said. “Since about 17, I knew I wanted a pizzeria. I worked in them, I liked the business. I wanted one and was waiting for the right opportunity.”
He seized upon the vacant spot at 520 Mastic Road, formerly Aliyana’s Pizzeria, this past June. After a summer of renovating, he unveiled his new menu, which includes a cheese pie he hopes can appeal to all appetites.
“I tried to find a middle ground between sauces, some people don’t like it too sweet, some people like it really sweet,” he said. “Stuff like that I worked on for a couple of years experimenting.
“I worked in a lot of different places and took bits and pieces from everybody.” he continued. “I had a lot of people who helped teach me.”
Pies, entrees and desserts
The Anthony’s Pizza menu features traditional favorites, such as the grandma and the margarita pies, and fully loaded options that include chicken bacon ranch and marsala pies. Behind the counter, customers can pick from pinwheels, chicken rolls and Stromboli. In the kitchen, chefs cook up chicken, eggplant, seafood and pasta entrees. The shop also serves a variety of paninis.
For dessert, the pizzeria currently offers zeppolis, cannoli and cheesecake. Miller said he hopes to offer ice cream and milkshakes soon.
For family nights, Anthony’s offers a series of family combos that involve various combinations of pizzas, wings, heroes, knots, entrees and other choices for everyone to dig in.
Those who come to pick up an order for family night will likely meet members of Miller’s own family working behind the counter. On his first day open to the public, Miller expressed happiness that his new venture brought his family together.
“I love being around family, that’s one of the greatest things about this place,” he said. “[Last night] was the first time in a long time I had all my family together here.
“I had all my aunts, uncles, cousins, everybody stopped by,” he continued. “I like bringing everybody together, bringing the community together.”
Top photo: Anthony Miller holding a cheese pie in his new Anthony’s Pizza in Mastic Beach.
