Vito's: A Slice of Grandma With Some Brotherly Love

If success is about being in the right place at the right time, the Inghilterra brothers who opened Vito’s Trattoria and Pizza last year may still be wondering what’s so great about the timing of this new business venture.

The economy was weak in 2010 and its wobbly stance continues into 2011. Still, 41-year-old Joe Inghilterra said his 45-year-old brother, Vito, a Parsippany resident, saw the space available at 305 Parsippany Road and realized they needed to open their latest restaurant, putting them in line with a host of other pizzerias Parsippany Eats is exploring to determine who has Parsippany’s best pies.

The Inghilterras were born in Naples, but came to the states at the ages of 3 and 7, so there’s not even a trace of an accent. Even so, the pizza and other dishes they serve here at this clean, neo-Tuscan establishment are old world, coming straight from their mother’s kitchen.

While they opened the business together, Vito has moved on to another family business and is constructing houses. Younger brother Joe mans the kitchen and the counter for both lunch and dinner and is determined to see this operation succeed much like their other pizzerias in Elmwood Park, Wayne and Montville, which they sold as economic concerns grew.

“It was tough the first year with the economy,” Joe Inghilterra said. “Everybody is feeling it. I have a lot of family in the business and they’re all feeling it. You sacrifice. I can pay my bills, but sometimes I can’t make money for myself.”

Still, he’s not letting the tough business climate get him down. Stop in there for a slice of pie in mid-day and you might want to try a freshly made, square slice of Grandma pie, with its fresh ricotta, tomato sauce, garlic and basil.

“It’s very popular, even for lunch,” Inghilterra said. Whatever slices you choose, they will be heated up on the bottom of the oven so they come to the table piping hot, just the way they should be.

Of course, the hands-down most popular pie is the plain cheese pie although we thought the bruschetta pie, square and with lots of chopped fresh tomatoes, was a winner. A kind of stealth surprise, the white pizza that combined ricotta cheese and mozzarella into a gorgeous golden mixture, was another one to earn thumbs-up from us.

Customers come from nearby Lake Parsippany, Lake Hiawatha and Whippany, but Inghilterra is sanguine about growing a restaurant business when there is no shortage of pizzerias and Italian restaurants in Parsippany.

That challenge doesn’t get him down.

“There are lots of Chinese restaurants, Korean nail salons; there are three delis up the street looking right at each other. First there was Home Depot, then Lowe’s came in,” Inghileterra said.

As he sees it, that’s the nature of business and with New Jersey such a densely populated state, it’s a popular choice for those looking to make their mark in small, entrepreneurial businesses.

The food business poses particular challenges because customers will often set limits on what they feel is acceptable to spend for a meal. That’s the reason many slices are priced around $1.70 to $1.85 for a single slice, although specialty slices like the Grandma and bruschetta may cost as much as $2.50 or $2.75.

Special toppings are an additional 30 cents per slice. And of course, there is no controlling the cost of raw ingredients, which can fluctuate due to the weather and other unforeseen circumstances.

“We don’t buy anything that’s processed,” he explained. "The meatballs, eggplant, chicken, sauce are all homemade from family recipes that are at least 25 years old."

Vito’s Trattoria and Pizza
305 Parsippany Road Parsippany
Phone: 973-581-1400
Fax: 973-581-1411
Hours: Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Credit cards accepted