Joe D’Amore says that people who have tasted his pizza
always come back for more.
“It feels like love at first bite,” said Dave Abbot,
a first-time D’Amore’s Pizza Connection customer.
But D’Amore says few have had that first bite since he
opened the pizza restaurant in Westwood, so he is trying to adapt
to his environment, opening up a second restaurant a block away
from his existing store to increase the pizza’s exposure.
The new storefront, tentatively named D’Amore Express, is
opening its doors on Westwood Boulevard in early February as
D’Amore’s ninth location. Chosen for its placement near
the busy Westwood Boulevard and Kinross Avenue intersection, the
new restaurant is intended to attract the many drivers and
pedestrians passing by to taste the pizza which has been rated as
the best in the nation by Citysearch.
D’Amore said he hopes to gain more customers like Abbot
through having them experience their first taste at his more
visible Westwood Boulevard location.
“I bought the other store to attract more people and act
as a conduit for sending the overflow here,” D’Amore
said.
The new store is meant to serve just his pizzas, and those that
want other side items will be redirected to the Broxton Avenue
store.
Part of what helps attract people to his store may be his two
miniature Yorkshire terriers named Cocopuff and Buttercup, whom he
calls the “guard dogs” of the pizzeria, but he conceded
that adorable canines aren’t enough by themselves.
D’Amore says with better publicity, he could greatly
increase the number of pizzas sold. Those who typically eat at his
store are loyal clientele who go out of their way to visit.
“Everyone that comes has this as their destination,”
D’Amore said.
The new D’Amore Express would be the solution for the slow
traffic on Broxton Avenue by exposing the D’Amore name to
more of the Westwood population, he said.
Bryan Wong, former owner of the American Steakhouse Grill that
occupied D’Amore’s current location, now works for the
pizzeria and is able to relate to the difficulties of running a
store on a quiet street.
He said the people who came to eat at the grill could not wait
for the long preparation time required for steak.
“Most people coming into the place were businessmen with
only half an hour during their break, and cooking the steak took 20
minutes just by itself,” Wong said.
Wong believes that pizza’s shorter preparation time is
part of the store’s better success over his grill. The time
it takes to bake a D’Amore pizza is about 10 minutes, and the
restaurant also does catering for businesspeople, something the
American Steakhouse Grill did not.
Wong also said his product did not suit what he considered to be
an increasing consciousness of healthy foods among Westwood
residents.
“I bought the best meat and used the freshest ingredients,
but this area didn’t appreciate it since they’re into
healthier foods,” Wong said.
D’Amore’s keeps its pizzas healthier than the
competition’s through the use of olive oil instead of the
typical lard used by other pizzerias.
D’Amore said that while it would be economically sensible
to use lard that cost $4 a container in the place of olive oil
which cost $84 for the same amount, he considers his business a
“labor of love.”
“Invest in Pizza Hut, but eat here,” he said.
The dedication and care he puts into each of his stores comes
from “keeping my grandma alive” through the memory of
the stores.
Using recipes passed down from his grandmother, D’Amore
only uses water imported from Boston because its naturally present
minerals help maintain the crust’s crispness and distinct
taste.
The sauce is made from July-picked tomatoes at the height of
their sweetness, and he tops his pizza with Wisconsin Grande
cheese.
His grandparents had opened but then later sold Pizza Regina in
Boston, which is also one of the top 10 pizzerias in the Citysearch
national ratings.
Taking into consideration the nearby college population,
D’Amore has added a second floor dining area to the current
location so large groups such as fraternities are able to come in
and dine.
“Kids are creatures of habit. They come back when they
find something they like,” he said.
Shimon Pagovich and Jimmy Lembo, staff members at the L.A.
Tanning Salon two buildings down from the new D’Amore
Express, eat at the current location often and say they are glad to
have their new neighbor.
“We’re glad to have D’Amore’s move in
next to us. It’s good pizza,” Pagovich said.
Some were concerned that business at the new storefront could be
limited by people’s inability to find a place to park their
cars.
“I don’t see them being able to attract that much
more business since there’s never enough parking,” said
Veronica Zimmerman, a fourth-year international development studies
student.
Others said D’Amore could increase his store’s
popularity through working on the pizzeria’s
attractiveness.
“With their new location and a better aesthetic
environment, I’d be willing to try out their food,”
said Nico Smedley, a third-year history student.