Valentino's: A Slice of Pizza With a Side of Chicken

The search for Parsippany’s best pizza moves along with a trip to owned by John and Sema Yasar.

And as we learned this week, pizza and pizza-making has a far reaching, global background as evidenced by the Yasars who hail from southern Turkey. Valentino’s has been a fixture on North Beverwyck Road in Lake Hiawatha since the Yasars first opened up across the street in the Foodtown Shopping Center about 16 years ago.

About five years ago, another, larger space became available and that’s where Yasar and his staff have been making pizza and Italian lunches and dinners ever since. The space is a bright one with a neo-Tuscan décor; the 2,500-square-foot restaurant seats 60 with 15 tables.

Business is split between making pizza and other Italian specialties, including an odd twist that includes Cluck-U chicken wings and tenders that are made on the spot in Yasar’s kitchen. Wings or tenders can be served on plates or in jumbo buckets for as much as $42.99. Larger orders should be placed ahead of time.

“The owner of Cluck-U came to me 10 years ago” and suggested they get the chicken and accompanying sauces to serve as another option at Valentino’s, Yasar explained. He then developed a special Cluck-U Chicken Pizza for $14.95 or $16.95; customers can get their pizza with wings or tenders on top, complete with Cluck-U sauces that come in varieties like mild, atomic, smoky and nuclear.

It’s a deviation from what many other pizzerias make and Yasar says his customers, “the big eaters,” are happy to try.

Getting back to the business of serious pizza-making, however, Yasar says the most popular pie is the thin-crust cheese pie; slices go for $1.70, a whole pie for $10.95 and they are his biggest seller each week. Customers are local from all over Parsippany and Lake Hiawatha. He even draws some from Pine Brook, Boonton and Fairfield.

Speaking of Boonton, it was Yasar’s original hometown when he first came to the states from Turkey. He got his first experience at Eduardo’s in Boonton. He then moved on to Baldwin Pizzeria and Villa in South Plainfield. Like many other would-be pizza men, he tried to follow the example and recipes that he learned at those restaurants. Nonetheless, he went on to tweak what he was making, coming up, for example, with a vodka penne pizza that he says he fiddled with for a while to get the right flavorings.

“You have to do the right amount of shallots, onions, cream; too much cream and that’s all you taste,” he said, smiling.

He won’t talk about the typical red sauce that starts off on the top of most crusts. “Let’s just keep that a secret,” he said.

Even so, there are lots of other special choices; we liked the rich sausage-topped pie the best. Other variations are the veggie pie and the vodka-penne topped pizza, which is strictly for big eaters.

The 49-year-old Yasar is soft-spoken with a gentle demeanor. He is determined to accommodate his customers as best he can. While the standard pie includes 24 ounces of dough, if they want a thinner crust, “then I use 18 ounces of dough.” 

Yasar’s daughter, Reyda, is learning the serving part of the business already. His wife works with him along with eight other employees. And while the thought of having his young son come into the business to give him a hand might be tempting, Yasar said he actually doesn’t want that to happen.

“That’s no life to live,” he said. “When I think of my youth, I think of standing in front of a hot oven.”

Since his children are 16, 14 and 12, however, he has no plans of retiring in the near future. The economy has cut into business to the point that customers who once came in three times a week now come in only once; some have switched to stopping by only every other week.

“Everybody’s business is off,” he said, shaking his head.

Yasar once thought of becoming a mechanic but never got very far in that endeavor since he needed to start making a living in the United States. Now, that’s what he’s sticking to. “I love making pizza,” he said.

498 N. Beverwyck Road, Lake Hiawatha
Phone: 973-263-2022
Website: www.ValentinosNJ.com
Hours: Daily 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Major credit cards accepted