When Gennaro Salzano opened Gennaro’s pizzeria in March 2009, he was confident that he would be successful. Success came so quickly, though, that he couldn’t keep up with demand in what used to be a small location in Hamilton Square.
“The demand for dine-in business, I wasn’t able to meet it because of the minimal amount of tables I had,” Salzano said.
Almost three years after opening, an opportunity presented itself for Gennaro’s to take the next step and expand. The space behind his pizzeria became available to lease, and he jumped at the chance to grab an additional 1,800 square feet for his restaurant.
Construction for the expansion started in January and ended in late February. Salzano said he has seen a significant difference in business since then.
He said there has been an increase in parties and catering business, as well as larger groups coming to the restaurant to dine. Gennaro’s regularly takes requests for 40 to 50 people parties.
It’s a transformation for the pizzeria that once was only able to seat a maximum of 22 patrons. Now on Friday and Saturday evenings, the restaurant is almost always seated to capacity.
Salzano loves all the possibilities that can be realized in the large dining area. The restaurant hosts holiday parties, baptisms, communions and confirmations and more.
Salzano describes the new dining room as modern and clean, with a causal but with a upscale metropolitan feel to it.
Salzano quickly added, “But still casual enough where families can come.”
Gennaro’s also has regular musical guests to entertain patrons. On Aug. 4, Neapolitan opera singer Rosario Monetti serenaded guests with his renditions of popular songs such as “That’s Amore.” The powerful and charismatic singer complimented the atmosphere while guests enjoyed traditional Italian foods, such as gnocchi.
Salzano is especially proud of the freshness of his products, and said pretty much everything is made from scratch. That includes many of the unique dishes that Gennaro’s offers, like stuffed artichokes, tripe and zucchini flowers.
The signature dish, and by far the most popular one, has to be Gennaro’s thin-crust tomato pies. The thin-crust-style pizza became popular in the Chambersburg section of Trenton, where Salzano worked as a teenager and also developed his passion for the food industry.
In addition to the tomato pies the BYOB establishment also has a wide range of specialty pies available such as clam, buffalo, florentine and margarita style pizzas.
“(It’s) a lot of old world stuff that you’re not going to find in many other places in the area,” Salzano said.
Gennaro’s is located at 4613 Nottingham Way in Hamilton Square and is open 7 days a week 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. for lunch and dinner. Gennaro’s is also online at gennarospizzeria.com and offers delivery, take out and catering services by phone at (609) 587-4992.
Customers enjoy a meal in Gennaro’s expanded dining room. The expansion opened in February
