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The Pizzeria is bringing its pies to Islip this spring.
The slice shop, founded by Long Island brothers Paul Saccoccio and Dan Saccoccio and close friend Cliff Weinstein, opened its first location in the Smith Haven Mall in October 2020 and its Bayport location at 606 Montauk Highway in December 2020.
Now the owners are taking over 591 Main Street in the former Pizza Parm location right next to Teller’s.
“Islip’s Main Street has a lot of great bars and restaurants,” Weinstein said. “It’s a bustling downtown.”
“Islip needs great pizza,” Paul adds.
Weinstein, 39, who now lives in Brightwaters, is originally from East Islip and says he has a lot of friends and family in the area who are excited for a ‘fresh take on pizza’ coming to town.
The Islip location will be an exact replica of the Bayport spot, Weinstein says, with an extended menu of fresh pasta dishes, heroes, salads, and specialty slices.
The Pizzeria in Islip will be three times bigger than the Bayport space.
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“The most important thing for us is immersing ourselves in the community and becoming a part of that family,” Paul said.
Paul, 38, has been in the pizza game for about 20 years and gained his experience while working for his family’s business Gino’s Pizzeria of Ronkonkoma.
The Holtsville native says the best part about all of this is the people he gets to meet along the way.
“I mean how cool is that?” Paul said. “To open up these businesses and see these people on a daily basis and learn about their children’s soccer games and their husband’s birthday party. We really start to become part of these families, and to be able to keep doing that in all these towns, what’s better than that?”
“We’re usually behind the counter, but those times when I’m at home doing work, I just want to be here,” Weinstein adds.
David and Jacob Zwaik of Bayport’s DJT Development are also part of the ownership team, as well as Carlos Delgado, an owner of Noble Savage Barbershop in Bay Shore.
The Pizzeria co-founders plan to expand even more across the South Shore, and they’ve already signed a lease for what will be their fourth location — but those details are top secret for now.
“We love the South Shore,” Paul said. “It’s a great place to be, it’s fun, it’s up and coming, and it just makes so much sense for us to be there.”
The Pizzeria in Islip does not have a set opening date yet, but Paul and Weinstein say they are aiming to open the doors in early May.
“We want to feed people really good food and we want them to look forward to coming here,” Weinstein said.
Follow GreaterLongIsland.com to keep up to date with The Pizzeria’s grand opening and future expansion.
Read our prior coverage below.
Top: Exterior of The Pizzeria’s new Islip location.
