New York City pizza icon Patsy Grimaldi, who founded the legendary Grimaldi’s Pizzeria and went on to launch Juliana’s Pizza, passed away recently at the age of 93.
Grimaldi was a storied figure in the pizza community, and his name will forever be associated with several of the Big Apple’s most beloved eateries.
Grimaldi got his start at 10 years old working as a bus boy in his uncle Pasquale “Patsy” Lancieri’s famous coal-fired pizza shop, Patsy’s Pizzeria, in East Harlem. He opened his own Patsy’s location in 1990, commissioning the first coal-fired oven built in New York in more than half a century. After his namesake uncle died and his aunt sold the Patsy’s name, he renamed that pizzeria after himself—Grimaldi’s.
In 1999, he sold Grimaldi’s to Frank Ciolli, who took the brand to various states across the U.S., and retired to spend more time with his developmentally disabled son and travel with his wife, Carol.
In 2012, the Grimaldis came out of retirement to open Julianna’s with partner Matt Grogan in the original Grimaldi’s location under the Brooklyn Bridge. They named it after Grimaldi’s mother, Juliana Lancieri Grimaldi.
“He was a visionary who maintained a lifelong passion—maybe obsession—for making and sharing great pizza,” Grogan told The New York Post. “He will go down in history for his generosity and for simultaneously launching a renaissance of artisan pizza-making in New York City—and for pioneering a path to making Brooklyn cool.”
Well into old age, Grimaldi was known for dropping by Juliana’s every night and posing for pictures with his guests.
In a February 15 post on social media, the Juliana’s team paid homage to the pizza patriarch.
“It will be hard to fully honor his legacy, but starting tonight, we will keep his table empty to begin to honor his incredible legacy,” the post read. “We will also close the restaurant in his memory this coming Wednesday, February 19th. While we realize that our many friends and neighbors will regret not having been able to say ‘goodbye’ in person, the memories of his nightly appearances and interactions with all of you were the highlight of his days. He will, of course, be missed by all of us at Juliana’s, as well as the many, many guests he touched over the years. The good news is that he is now at peace and finally reunited with his late wife (and our other co-founder) Carol, who he missed so much.”
The post continued: “Patsy changed the New York City pizza landscape forever when he opened his eponymous pizza emporium in 1990 and made it ‘cool’ to come to Brooklyn! Although he is no longer a ‘living’ legend, he will forever hold his rightful place in the pantheon of pizza icons.”
Grimaldi died of natural causes on Thursday, February 13. He is survived by his daughter, Victoria Strickland, grandson David Strickland, and a younger sister.
