Forget the meatballs, salads and calzones.
At Tori T’s Pizzeria in Malverne, the menu is now all about the pizza.
“We are a pizza shop — that’s what most people come here for,” owner Victoria Tiso told Greater Long Island. “So why not put all our energy into that?”
Tiso said it wasn’t a tough call to close the kitchen.
Since she took over the shop 19 months ago, kitchen orders have steadily dropped. By trimming the menu, she explained, the team has more room to focus on the food that actually sells. Plans are in the works to add tavern-style and gluten-free pies.
“We needed to evolve — or we would become extinct like dinosaurs,” she joked.
Tiso is no stranger to change.
She grew up in the family business at Louie & Ernie’s Pizza in The Bronx, owned by her father, John Tiso.
Last year, she told GLI she scouted locations across the Island before zeroing in on the longtime Angelo’s Pizza spot, which had been serving Malverne for about 30 years.
“By getting rid of the kitchen orders, I’m going back to my roots,” she said. “Juggling dinners and dough was very hard.”
Tori T’s is best known for its Detroit-style pies, which is growing in popularity on Long Island, though the shop also serves New York-style, grandma and Sicilian.
“You always worry about losing a few customers when you change things up,” Tiso said. “But I think this will bring in even more. Our customers trust us, and that makes me happy.”
Tori T’s is open seven days a week at 360 Hempstead Ave. in Malverne.
Victoria Tiso at her Tori T’s Pizzeria in Malverne, where the kitchen is closed but the slices are flying out of the case. (Credit: Tori T’s Pizza courtesy photo)
