By Tracy Morin
Nicolosi’s Pizzeria, located in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, is a resolutely low-tech, old-school shop—an approach that has worked just fine for more than 60 years.
An Italian immigrant with a third-grade education, founder Angelo Nicolosi learned dough making by working for free in a bakery at night, after finishing his day job as a longshoreman. But his first attempt at pizzeria ownership, in Brooklyn, New York, didn’t survive.
“Most people might have given up at that point, but my father saved his money and tried again,” says Dominic Nicolosi, Angelo’s son. “He opened another pizzeria, on Jamaica Avenue in Queens, and that one was a gold mine.”
After years of success, when neighborhood crime intensified in the early 1960s, Angelo decided to relocate. He found a spot in a new shopping center—back then, a relatively novel concept—in Phillipsburg, opening Nicolosi’s Pizzeria on September 4, 1964. (And Angelo’s hard-earned lessons in pizza would prove useful, as he helped open 32 additional pizzerias with partners until his passing in 1998, reaching as far west as Missouri and as far south as Georgia.)
Dominic’s first job, at five years old, was putting fliers under cars’ windshield wipers in parking lots, announcing the Phillipsburg grand opening. The initial promotion was simple—get a free drink with your 25-cent slice—and Nicolosi’s remains similarly streamlined today under Dominic’s ownership.
“We keep it very simple,” Dominic says. “No wings, no garlic knots, no pasta, no sandwiches. Just pizza, New York-style and Sicilian, with traditional toppings. Nothing fancy.”
The business also operates without a POS system, credit card transactions or online ordering, though Dominic’s daughter, Selina, set up a basic website and an Instagram page. And the latter is distinctly modern, rich with video content and good humor. (One of our favorites is below.)
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Still, the family affair continues to thrive. “In many cases, we’re serving the third generation of families,” Dominic says. “Kids who came in with their parents now bring their own children. My oldest son, Angelo, works here almost full-time, and my other two sons help out when they’re around. We might even have a fourth generation someday—some of my grandsons might join the business.”
Perhaps a next-gen owner will nudge Nicolosi’s into more modern times, but for now, the old-school approach pays off. “There’s an old saying: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Dominic says. “If something works for you, don’t keep trying to change it. Sometimes, when people try to improve things too much, they actually make them worse.”
