Casa Nino's Pizza Bar's Grandma pie. (Courtesy of Anthony Macri)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Casa Nino’s Pizza Bar opened its doors at 1281 Arthur Kill Rd.in the first week of June. While the new digs are cause for conversation in Arden Heights, hot pies and Italian entrees coming from the kitchen are a familiar brand of deliciousness on the South Shore. Owners of this new venture have blended together their two former parlor concepts — Casa Nino’s and Pizza House.

The dining room at Casa Nino's Pizza Bar, formerly Andella's, with jumbo flatscreens. (Courtesy of Anthony Macri)

Peter and Anthony Macri with long-time business partner, Joe Parisi, moved into the fine dining spot known, before the pandemic, as Andella’s. In this windowed space, the entrepreneurs now feature a singular, cohesive, sit-down experience offered with beer and wine. Customers still can buy pizza by the slice, hot tickets at Pizza House (established originally in 1997) and Casa Nino (founded in 2008.) Both of those now former eateries were also on Arthur Kill Road.

“We started to realize around 2018 that slice shops — the pick-up and delivery slice shops — were starting to decline because of concepts such as full service, cool, trendy atmospheric places that serve pizza,” said Anthony.

Shrimp Oreganata (Courtesy of Anthony Macri)

His observations on what resonated with Staten Islanders were lunches and dinners accompanied by flatscreens and a family-friendly vibe. So, he and his partners created a space appealing to a broad range of uses for neighbors — for a repass, graduation, anniversary party or a gathering over the World Series or playoffs.

EXPANDED DINING AND EXPLORING PIZZA’S FUTURE

“It propelled our conversation even further because pizza became so popular during COVID,” said Anthony. He recognized, as pizza travelled so well in a pickup- and delivery-only scenario, as it was, that other restaurateurs jumped into the pie-crafting game.

Penne ala vodka at Casa Nino's Pizza Bar (Courtesy of Anthony Macri)

“The competition became that much more fierce — so that just made our decision to move out of a smaller space to one with more seating. Now we have 60 seats and five jumbo screen TVs to watch your favorite games,” said Anthony, adding that parking is much-improved in this new location.

A post shared by Casa Ninos Pizza Bar est1997 (@casa_ninos_pizza_bar)

Ultimately, the goal of Casa Nino’s Pizza Bar is to remain true to its collective history — as consistent and reasonably priced.

“This December will be the beginning of our 26th year. And the truth is that we never skimped on the quality or quantity of the meals. We try to stay as empathetic as we can when it comes to the pricing based on what’s going on in the economy. I think everybody is well-aware of what’s happening with food costs and the cost of fuel which drives up cost of everything — plus the labor,” said Anthony.

On that topic, he pointed out that his staff has remained loyal over the past two decades — and the owners loyal to them in return. It’s a matter that bodes well with regulars and has established stable livelihoods for a core crew of 12.

Fried calamari (Courtesy of Anthony Macri)

Anthony Macri doesn’t think pizza will ever go out of style. In fact, his research of frozen pizza lines and national franchise establishments shows that its an area of great growth in food. Could this ready-to-eat product lines challenge the mom-and-pop parlor down the road?

He said, “It’s not something that anyone should be surprised about — frozen pizza is a product that’s gotten much better over the years. When I was a kid my mother bought Ellio’s. Today you won’t get any supermarket where there’s less than nine or 10 freezer doors for Neapolitan pizza, New York traditional, broccoli and chicken, Alfredo, Buffalo chicken....but there’s nothing like a good hot slice from the local pizzeria.”

Linguini with garlic and oil aka "Aglio e Olio" (Courtesy of Anthony Macri)

The partners look forward to reaching new audiences and welcoming former customers to the fresh “Casa” concept.

Anthony added, “When you support an independent business — a true independent business — you’re supporting a dream.”

Casa Nino’s Pizza Bar can be found at 1281 Arthur Kill Rd., 718-317-8400; Casaninosi.com.

Pamela Silvestri is Advance Food Editor. She can be reached at silvestri@siadvance.com.

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