From Spider-Man’s alter ego as the restaurant’s delivery boy to Carrie Bradshaw’s sneaky indulgence in its famous pies, Joe’s Pi-zza has been hailed by many New Yorkers over its 37-year existence as a West Village institution.
Nearly four decades after its 1975 opening, Joe’s Pizza expanded to include a Union Square branch that opened on March 4 in a joint venture between owner Joe Pozzuoli Sr. and his grandson Sal Vitale.
The project was simply a family affair, aimed at carrying the pizzeria’s legacy forward.
“Our family is big, and we reckoned that we had a few extra hands who could get involved in the business,” Vitale said.
Though the team retained their old staff, the expansion allowed for new additions.
Located on 14th Street on the corner of Third Avenue, the new venue replicates the original at 7 Carmine St. — a perfect duplication of1 its cozy brick walls, glass soda bottle exhibition and framed photos of celebrities. The pizzeria, which replaces former tenant Naked Pizza, also serves its original pies, including the famous mozzarella and spinach, at only $2 a slice.
“We believe in putting out four of the best pies from our original recipes and selling fresh pizza on a daily basis,” Vitale said. “It’s the real authentic deal, and we don’t want to change that with new pie formulations.”
Because Union Square’s myriad eateries are competitive, Joe’s prospects in the neighborhood initially seemed questionable.
“We had a bit of a soft opening between March 4 and 10,” said Joe Pozzuoli Jr., a member of the family business.
Nevertheless, the new branch, which is less than a month old, has markedly proved its potential since beginning full servi-ces and delivery options, which started on March 21.
“When Joe’s started out in the 1970s, we made about $150 in the first month,” Vitale said. “Now the new venue has about a few hundred [dollars] coming in and out on a daily basis.”
A large part of this could be attributed to the venue’s locations near NYU and New School dorms, in addition to student-friendly prices.
“The prices are not marked up, making this attractive to us,” said CAS freshman Anu Raghuram. “One gets tired of the generic stuffed crust pizzas at commercial joints, and Joe’s is probably fresher and more guilt-free than most.”
Even though it carries the pizzeria’s authentic legacy, the expansion may threaten to commercialize Joe’s. However, Vitale begs to differ.
“We still rotate the same family recipes, staff, even the same delivery boy,” he said. “What makes Joe’s different is that we keep the business in the family, nurturing and valuing the efforts that make it run. We will always promise the original Joe’s that the Village saw in 1975.”
Joe’s Pizza is located at 150 E. 14th St.
A version of this article appeared in the Wednesday, Mar. 27 print edition. Utpala Menon is a contributing writer. Email her at [email protected].
