New Pizzeria Banks on Building Customer Loyalty

Loyalty may be a scarce commodity these days, but Alessandra Porciello, who opened Avellino's, the new pizzeria/restaurant at 59 North Beverwyck Road last March with husband Antonio, bets their food and service will win customers' trust.

We almost missed this newcomer to the Parsippany scene as we continued our months’ long quest to discover Parsippany’s best pizza but we’re glad it was recommended to us. Their restaurant is the fifth or so business to open in this spot in the last 15 years, they were told by the locals.

Avellino’s is not named for the family but for the region where Alessandra’s father, Angelo Marra, was born years ago in Italy. He emigrated to the United States and with his wife, Susan, had been running Avellino’s in East Hanover before his daughter and son-in-law took over the restaurant 10 years ago. Angelo has since passed on but his recipes and way of doing business live on in his family, which now also includes Porciello’s son, Antonio, Jr, 9, and daughter Ava, 8.

The restaurant is situated across from a kebab place and only a short distance away from another pizzeria in town. It’s next to a small municipal parking lot on Minnehaha Boulevard and has a few tables set up outside for al fresco dining if the weather permits. Inside, it’s a pizzeria with a fresh scrubbed look; gray and white tiles line the walls and contrast with the bright red paint that the Porciellos applied above them. It’s worth spending a little time checking out the large black and white photographs that hang from the walls and are so evocative of Italy. They come with explanations of where in Avellino they were taken and are actually the handiwork of Alessandra. It’s a nice, artistic touch that separates this pizzeria from the everyday.

That’s what this couple is trying to do. They are attentive to their customers, inventing such specials as a Greek salad pie and a Nutella pie for dessert (think S'mores, explains Alessandra). The usual pies are there like a very cheesy, thin crust plain for $1.79 and a veggie pie that was absolutely falling apart under the weight of broccoli, green peppers, mushrooms and onions. All the vegetables are fresh and the mozzarella is house-made, so it stretches and pulls to infinity, providing a very toothsome and satisfying meal. They willingly made us fresh slices of veggie pizza as well as sausage when we didn’t see what we were looking for in the case. It’s a touch that didn’t go unnoticed.

A stuffed pepper pizza was an unexpected treat that Porciello said they made up recently after making some stuffed peppers to serve customers as a side dish. At the high end of the spectrum are slices for $2.99, which are certainly filling enough to make a meal. Pizzas are sliced in six, rather than eight, pieces and that makes for a very generous lunch or dinner. By the time we were finished we practically waddled out the door.

The pictures of the children on the wall show Antonio Jr. making one of his first pizzas and Ava enjoying a bowl of pasta in Italy. The family tries to go back to Avellino, where they have many aunts, uncles, cousins and more extended family members on both sides. In fact, Antonio Sr. holds dual citizenship and served in the Italian army in the 1980s when he was a chef for the military. That experience as well as the job working for Angelo Marra seems to have solidified the family in the small restaurant and pizzeria business.

Alessandra says they will continue visiting Italy and traveling about, looking for new places to mine more recipes to bring back to their two restaurants. They are trying to stay ahead of the curve, however, offering free wifi to customers and a whole wheat pizza crust which thus far does not appear to be very common at pizzerias in the area.

Avellino’s Pizza & Grille, 59 North Beverwyck Rd., Lake Hiawatha, (973) 331-9911, www.avellinospizza.com. Open Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday noon to 9 p.m.