Tuesday, 23 August, 2011 7:38
by Chris Jay
"Pizza Blanca" with spinach, mushrooms, tomato, and garlic alfredo sauce from Pietro's at the Louisiana Boardwalk.
When it comes to restaurants, you really can't judge a book by its cover. Because it's surrounded by nationally-known chains like Joe's Crab Shack and Fuddrucker's, I'd assumed that Pietro's, a relatively new pizzeria and restaurant located in the Louisiana Boardwalk, was a chain restaurant. But then I started hearing about their pizza. I'm a sucker for a really outstanding slice of pizza, so I stopped in.
This place is about as far from a chain restaurant as you can get. Family owned and operated, Pietro's in the Louisiana Boardwalk is owned by Pietro Filippazzo and managed by his son, Stefano. Pietro himself still cooks the family's secret-recipe meat sauce, which Stefano (who goes by Steven) told me is a process that takes four hours at the stovetop. Pietro is the only one who can prepare the sauce because he's the only person who knows the recipe - he hasn't even shared it with his sons. In addition to pizza, calzones, and a variety of pasta offerings, Pietro's also features a gelato bar and an Illy espresso bar, which I will now be making my first stop on any trip to the Boardwalk.
At Steven's encouragement, I had the meatball calzone covered in Pietro's meat sauce, which is very interesting; it's a rich, spicy brown sauce that is really nothing like your average tomato sauce. I plan on heading back for a slice sometime soon, but I had to taste that sauce. Each week they offer specialty pizzas (like the "Pizza Blanca" pictured above). Click here to visit their facebook page, where they regularly post about weekly specials and more.