A pizzeria is a restaurant focusing on pizza. As well as pizza, dishes at pizzerias can include kebab, salads and pasta.
Many pizzerias offer take-away, where the customer orders their food either in advance or at the restaurant and then takes the prepared food with them in pizza boxes to eat at another place. Some pizzerias even deliver food to the customer's home, where a courier transports the ordered food to the customer's outer door or to another agreed site, provided that the delivery address is within a suitable distance from the pizzeria. Pizzas can be transported by car, but in many countries pizza couriers deliver by bicycle or moped. The food can be ordered at the restaurant, by telephone, and in current times often also by Internet.
In Italy, pizza was traditionally food for the poor and thus contained few and cheap ingredients. As pizza became popular in the United States after World War II it became mostly a practical dish that was quick and easy to prepare, not so much food for the poor any more. Pizza was not especially expensive, but the number of ingredients increased and pizza was no longer made simply from cheap ingredients. Pizza became even more accessible when frozen pizzas and pizza delivery were invented. [1]
Popular pizzeria chains include Pizza Hut, Papa John's, Domino's Pizza, PizzaExpress, Kotipizza and Rosso.
Probably the oldest pizzeria in the world to still operate to this day is Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba in Naples, Italy. The restaurant was founded in 1738 as a catering place for merchants, and was converted into a restaurant with tables, chairs and an upper floor in 1830. [2]
One of the world's first pizzerias was founded in Naples by Raffaele Esposito in 1830. The restaurant, which continues to operate to this day, is nowadays named Pizzeria Brandi. The first pizza Margherita was baked in 1889 with the colours of the flag of Italy in honour of queen Margherita of Savoy who visited the restaurant. [3]
In the United States, sales of pizza started in 1905, when Gennaro Lombardi installed a pizza oven in his shop-café and started selling pizza slices. [3]
The first pizzeria in Finland was restaurant Giovanni, founded in Hamina in 1961 by Giovanni Tedeschi, which stayed in business until the early 1980s. [4] [5] The next pizzeria founded in Finland was restaurant Adriano Bar, founded by Adriano Vinciguerra in Lappeenranta in 1964. [5]
In the late 20th century the concept of fast food caused changes in the pizza sales. Food stands offering pizza al taglio (Italian for "pizza by the slice") started appearing in Italy, baking large rectangular pizza sold in small slices. These slices are seldom topped with more than two ingredients, not counting tomato and cheese.
In many European countries, such as Sweden, significantly many owners and employees of pizzerias come from an immigrant background. This high number of immigrants working in the restaurant business is not limited to Sweden, but is found in most of the OECD countries. [1]
In Sweden many pizzerias are owned by immigrants and operate as independent small-scale businesses. This business model started as soon as pizza was introduced to Sweden in the 1970s. [1]
The sociologist Henrik Hultman has shown a number of reasons why immigrants from outside Europe end up or choose to work in the pizzeria business. Compared to other businesses, starting a small-scale pizzeria is relatively cheap and does not require special training. Immigrants with inadequate education and work experience background because of war or a difficult immigration process can choose the pizzeria business as a viable alternative, but also educated people can face long studies in order to get to practice their former profession in Sweden. Operating a pizzeria is a viable way to support oneself and one's family compared to the long-term investments necessary for studies. Many pizzeria owners come from a social background where entrepreneurship is highly valued and it is common for their parents to also have owned or worked at small-scale family businesses, for example as farmers or craftsmen. Linguistic difficulties can also have an effect and contact in the restaurant business through friends or countrymen allows for an easy start in the business. Manual jobs not requiring special training are not very common, so there are few alternatives. [1]
Pizza is a traditional Italian dish typically consisting of a flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high temperature, traditionally in a wood-fired oven.
Raffaele Esposito was an Italian chef and owner of a tavern in Naples called Pizzeria di Pietro e basta così in the 19th century that had been founded in 1780 by Pietro Colicchio. Esposito is considered by some to be the father of modern pizza.
New York–style pizza is a pizza made with a characteristically large hand-tossed thin crust, often sold in wide slices to go. The crust is thick and crisp only along its edge, yet soft, thin, and pliable enough beneath its toppings to be folded to eat. Traditional toppings are simply tomato sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese. This was a popular meal among poor Italians due to the ratio of product from the limited produce.
Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, commonly known as Frank Pepe's or simply Pepe's, is a popular pizza restaurant in the Wooster Square neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut, at 163 Wooster Street. Opened in 1925, it is one of the oldest and best known pizzerias in the United States.
Grimaldi's Pizzeria is an American pizzeria chain from the New York City area with over 40 restaurants throughout the United States. Its most famous restaurant is under the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn at 1 Front Street, next door to its original location. Zagat Survey rated Grimaldi's the No. 1 Pizzeria in New York in 2007. With a carry-out and delivery service model in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2022 it had 43 restaurants in operation overall. It does not sell slices, only whole pies, which are cooked by coal-fired brick ovens. It also sells wines and appetizers, as well as calzones. Among desserts are cannoli and tiramisu, as well as New York–style cheesecake.
The history of pizza begins in antiquity, as various ancient cultures produced flatbreads with several toppings.
Di Fara Pizza is a pizzeria located at 1424 Avenue J in the Midwood section of Brooklyn, New York City. Situated between East 14th and East 15th Streets, the restaurant was owned and operated by Domenico DeMarco (1936–2022) since 1965.
Uruguayan cuisine is a fusion of cuisines from several European countries, especially of Mediterranean foods from Spain, Italy, Portugal and France. Other influences on the cuisine resulted from immigration from countries such as Germany and Scotland. Uruguayan gastronomy is a result of immigration, rather than local Amerindian cuisine, because of late-19th and early 20th century immigration waves of, mostly, Italians. Spanish influences are abundant: desserts like churros, flan, ensaimadas yoo (Catalan sweet bread), and alfajores were all brought from Spain. There are also various kinds of stews known as guisos or estofados, arroces, and fabada. All of the guisos and traditional pucheros (stews) are also of Spanish origin. Uruguayan preparations of fish, such as dried salt cod (bacalao), calamari, and octopus, originate from the Basque and Galician regions, and also Portugal. Due to its strong Italian tradition, all of the famous Italian pasta dishes are present in Uruguay including ravioli, lasagne, tortellini, fettuccine, and the traditional gnocchi. Although the pasta can be served with many sauces, there is one special sauce that was created by Uruguayans. Caruso sauce is a pasta sauce made from double cream, meat, onions, ham and mushrooms. It is very popular with sorrentinos and agnolotti. Additionally, there is Germanic influence in Uruguayan cuisine as well, particularly in sweet dishes. The pastries known as bizcochos are Germanic in origin: croissants, known as medialunas, are the most popular of these, and can be found in two varieties: butter- and lard-based. Also German in origin are the Berlinese known as bolas de fraile, and the rolls called piononos. The facturas were re-christened with local names given the difficult German phonology, and usually Uruguayanized by the addition of a dulce de leche filling. Even dishes like chucrut (sauerkraut) have also made it into mainstream Uruguayan dishes.
Lou Malnati's Pizzeria is an American Chicago-style pizza restaurant chain headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois. It was founded by the son of Rudy Malnati, who was instrumental in developing the recipe for Chicago-style pizza, and it has become one of the Chicago area's best-known local lines of pizza restaurants. Lou Malnati's operates a division of its company called Lou Malnati's Presents Tastes of Chicago, a partnership with Portillo's Restaurants and Eli's Cheesecake, which ships Chicago-style cuisine nationally.
Neapolitan cuisine has ancient historical roots that date back to the Greco-Roman period, which was enriched over the centuries by the influence of the different cultures that controlled Naples and its kingdoms, such as that of Aragon and France.
Patsy's Pizzeria is a historic coal-oven pizzeria in New York City. Opened in Italian Harlem in 1933, it was regarded as one of New York's original pizzerias for its use of traditional New York style thin crust pizza.
Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba is a pizzeria in Naples, Italy, which is widely believed to be the world's first pizzeria.
Seafood pizza is a pizza prepared with seafood as a primary ingredient. Many types of seafood ingredients in fresh, frozen or canned forms may be used on seafood pizza. Some retail pizza chains, as well as smaller restaurants, offer seafood pizzas to consumers.
Juliana's is a pizzeria located in Brooklyn, New York. Founded in 2012 by Pasquale "Patsy" Grimaldi and named after his mother, in 2015 it was rated the best pizzeria in the United States on TripAdvisor. Along with cannoli and egg cream seltzer drinks, the restaurant is known for its "classic margherita" pizza with San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil.
Pizza Celentano is a Ukrainian franchise quick-service pizza restaurant chain. It was founded in 1997 in Lviv. There are over 150 restaurants in Ukraine as of 2018.
Slice is an online food ordering platform for independent pizzerias. It allows pizzeria owners to offer their products to their customers using a mobile-optimized website and their customers can place orders through the Slice app and social media channels. The company claims their platform is used by 9,000 pizzerias in 2,500 towns and cities in the US. It also claims to have processed more than $100 million worth of deliveries in 2017 and to have filled a total of over 12 million orders since 2010.
Roman Candle Baking Co., or simply Roman Candle, was a bakery and pizzeria–restaurant in the Richmond neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. Duane Sorenson opened Roman Candle in 2013, with a menu offering wood-fired pizza and other Italian cuisine, including sandwiches, breads, green salads, pastries, and baked potatoes. Dan Griffin and Joshua McFadden served as the baker and chef, respectively. The bakery started supplying select menu items to Sorenson's Stumptown Coffee Roasters locations in late 2015. Roman Candle received a generally positive reception, with the pizzas and kouign-amann receiving the most praise. The restaurant closed in April 2018 for renovations, ahead of a rebrand as a gluten-free and vegan cafe called Holiday, which Sorenson launched one month later.
Scottie's Pizza Parlor is a pizzeria with two locations in Portland, Oregon. Scott Rivera and Amy Coplen opened the original location in southeast Portland's Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood in 2015. The second location opened in northwest Portland's Northwest District in late 2022.
Kebab pizza is a Swedish style of pizza topped with kebab meat and other ingredients, the precise topping often varying between restaurants. A combination of Italian and Middle Eastern cuisines, the kebab pizza was created by Middle Eastern immigrants in the 1980s. Since its creation, the kebab pizza has increased in popularity and is today one of Sweden's most popular pizzas, and one of the most popular fast food dishes overall. Due to its popularity the dish has reached a position of cultural prominence in Sweden as well as all over Scandinavia, sometimes being invoked in popular culture and politics.