Dino Iuliano had been wanting to buy a pizzeria in Cape Coral, Florida, for a while. He got luckier than he ever could have expected when he found Gino’s Pizza.
After all, Gino just happened to be the name of Iuliano’s late father, who also just happened to be a New Jersey restaurateur himself and, moreover, just happened to leave his son some money to get into the business.
Talk about serendipity. “I was looking all over,” Iuliano told the News-Press. “I heard the name of this place, and that was it….I just had to do it. I had to buy Gino’s.”
Iuliano took over Gino’s Pizza this fall from pizza industry veterans Susan and Brad Kemp, who opened the restaurant in October 2023. A native of Morris County, New Jersey, Iuliano worked in his father’s eatery for years, but Gino’s is the first restaurant he has owned himself.
The Kemps moved south from Akron, Ohio, and brought along recipes for Ohio-style pizza from the original Gino’s Pizza, which they owned for six years (after working there for more than two decades) and sold in late 2023. Now, Iuliano plans to beef up the menu with New Jersey boardwalk-style pies while keeping the Ohio-centric pizza, too. “There are a fair share of Ohioans here,” Iuliano told the News-Press. “I never knew that. But New Jersey has just as many [transplants to Florida].”
Boardwalk-style pizza is legendary in New Jersey. It’s generally described as a thin-crust pie with a sweet sauce and generous portions of mozzarella—and sometimes cheddar—cheese. It’s tailormade for on-the-go customers enjoying vacations on the beach and strolls along the boardwalks of the Jersey Shore.
“Jersey (style) goes on the stone and has more of a stretching process,” Iuliano explained in the News-Press interview. “It’s thinner and cooks faster. It’s crispier, no flop. New York style is greasier and floppier.”
On his new restaurant’s Instagram page, Iuliano has been posting a lunch special touting two Jersey-style slices and a soda for $8. He said he has also tweaked the Kemps’ sauce recipe and “upgraded” the cheese for his pizzas. “I use Bacio now. It’s cheese gold. The way it spreads and acts on a pizza makes a huge difference.”
