Our Story
Since moving to the DC area in 1995, Larry and Christine Ponzi sorely missed the great Italian-American food they grew up eating in Upstate NY and by 2006 the couple decided to put their years of restaurant and consulting experience to the test, and began to conceptualize of there very own creation, Cafe PIZZAIOLO, or "Pizza Maker", in italian.
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On January 2nd, 2007, The Ponzi family, with daughters Isabella and Annaliese, launched their plan to bring great Italian comfort foods to the neighborhood. A casual, welcoming atmosphere where everyone feels at home and enjoys great quality food and drink at friendly prices. What has been a vital ingredient to our continued success is our amazing staff that we have been fortunate to retain over the years, keeping great food and priceless smiles!
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Larry and Christine more than understood how rewarding a welcoming a place with good food that is both kid and adult friendly, and quickly set the stage with games for the kids and carefully selected wine and craft beer for the adults, creating a fun and friendly environment for all!
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For the menu, the first order of business was to perfect a dough recipe to produce a thin crust, with the right crispness and chew reminiscent of the pizza they loved to eat in New York. Next, they fine tuned a Neapolitan dough recipe, sauce and classic pasta dishes largely inspired by Larry’s grandmothers cooking and recipes, who grew up just North of Naples. Add Upstate NY inspirations such as Buffalo style wings, subs, salads and other Italian-American favorites and Cafe Pizzaiolo was born!
With a relentless focus on wholesome, high quality ingredients, making food to order and an undying refusal to cut any corners with ingredients or preparation, Cafe Pizzaiolo is here for you!
We look forward to seeing you soon!
The Ponzis and our entire Family