By Myles Ma
If you want to know just how clean Gennaro’s Pizzeria is, check out the bathroom.
Owner Gennaro Salzano places a high value on cleanliness. In his first year of owning his restaurant he has remodeled everything, from the kitchen to the granite tables.
But he saves his largest boast for the lavatory.
“I probably have the nicest bathroom out of all the pizzerias,” he said.
Gennaro’s may look good, but what Salzano said customers really rave about is his food, particularly his tomato pies. He says his customers call them the best around.
But there’s more than pizza. At Gennaro’s, customers can grab a slice and go, but they can also sit and have a real meal.
For now, Gennaro’s seats only 22. But Salzano has plans to expand in the near future.
He has already made additions to his menu over the last month. Seasoned chicken, once a special, and chicken marsala, a popular customer request, are now menu items.
The two items became so popular with customers that Salzano, 27, found himself offering them every day, despite their “special” status. “When you have it every day it really doesn’t become a special anymore,” he said.
Gennaro’s is Salzano’s first restaurant, after working in restaurants in Chambersburg in Hamilton since he was 15.
He does his best to accommodate customers. Even if something doesn’t appear on the menu, Salzano will make it. That was the case with the chicken marsala, which neither a menu item nor a special — Salzano just always had the ingredients on hand.
The location has been a pizzeria for about a decade, and the pies are still the restaurant’s main selling point. The Italiano, made with light mozzerella cheese, goat cheese, figs and prosciutto, baked and topped with arugula, red onions, grape tomatoes and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, is a customer favorite.
“They go nuts for it,” Salzano said.
Some of the recipes are family-inspired. The tripe, a favorite of Salzano’s older customers, is his grandmother’s recipe. Many of the sauces are also family recipes.
Gennaro’s is located at the Shoppes at Hamilton Point, across the street from St. Gregory the Great church, and just west of the Hamilton border with Robbinsville, in between Nottingham Way and Route 33. Salzano estimates that his customer base is split evenly between the two towns. Gennaro’s delivers to all of Robbinsville and most of Hamilton. Salzano has employed technology to maintain that customer base. If customers text “Gennaros” to 4153, they will receive special discount offers periodically.
“You gotta ride the wave,” Salzano said.
Salzano grew up in Chambersburg but later moved to Hamilton, where he currently lives. He graduated from Notre Dame High School in Lawrence in 2000.
Gennaro’s Pizzeria is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. For more information, call (609) 58-PIZZA (74992).
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