It\u2019s a cold slice of reality.<\/p>\n
The third-generation owners of Totonno\u2019s, a century-old Brooklyn pizzeria that credits itself with being among the first to bring pizza to the US, say they\u2019re ready to put the place up for sale since there\u2019s no one left to run the family business.<\/p>\n
The historic Coney Island shop is one of the oldest family-owned pizzerias in the country, drawing tourists from \u201call over the world\u201d \u2014 and the likes of Michael Bloomberg, Cyndi Lauper and Rob Reiner, co-owner Antoinette Balzano told The Post.<\/p>\n
Totonno\u2019s, a 101-year-old Brooklyn pizzeria that credits itself with being among the first to bring pizza to the US, is looking to sell to a new family for the first time. Michael Nigro for NY Post<\/p>\n
But the James Beard Award-winning institution can only move forward with a new owner, since Balzano and her sister, co-owner Louise \u201cCookie\u201d Ciminieri, don\u2019t have any younger relatives to inherit it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt our age and our health, we can\u2019t do this ourselves,\u201d Balzano, 74, the shop\u2019s bookkeeper and a retired public school teacher, told The Post.<\/p>\n
The decision was made this summer, Ciminieri, 81, said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m old, very old. How much more can you do?,\u201d said the shopkeeper, whose 85-year-old brother, Frank Balzano, also co-owns the pizzeria.<\/p>\n
The owners\u2019 grandfather, Anthony \u201cTotonno\u201d Pero, immigrated from Naples to Manhattan at the turn of the century to work in what became America\u2019s first licensed pizzeria at Lombardi\u2019s in Little Italy.<\/p>\n
An older framed photo of \u201cCookie\u201d Ciminieri and her husband is displayed on the wall of Totonno\u2019s. Michael Nigro for NY Post<\/p>\n
\u201cHe brought pizza to America: without him, there would be no pizza,\u201d Balzano said, adding that it was his idea to start serving pizzas at Lombardi\u2019s, which began as a grocery store. <\/p>\n
Pero opened his own store, Totonno\u2019s, on Neptune Avenue in 1924.<\/p>\n
Ciminieri\u2019s son Lawrence, 59, was set to run the business, Balzano recounted. But he tragically fell ill in 2018 and later became confined to a wheelchair.<\/p>\n
Since assuming caretaking duties and subsequently reducing staff, the business has since been delivery and pickup-only and just open on weekends.<\/p>\n
\u201c<\/strong>That was never a thought, to close [the store],\u201d a tearful Balzano said. \u201cI think this is going to be the year \u2013 it has to be, whether it be a sale or partnership \u2013 something has to be done.<\/p>\n \u201cTotonno\u2019s was always my child, it was my baby. It\u2019s very hard to let go.\u201d<\/p>\n An employee makes a pizza in the century-old kitchen of the Coney Island pizzeria. Michael Nigro for NY Post<\/p>\n An older framed photo of the Totonno\u2019s family is displayed on the wall of the shop. Michael Nigro for NY Post<\/p>\n The Staten Island resident said she\u2019s received more than 200 inquiries from interested investors, at least one of which is a promising lead for the future of the pizzeria.<\/p>\n \u201cI have somebody that I really would love,\u201d she said, noting the anonymous investor recently opened up a restaurant venture in Manhattan.\u00a0<\/p>\n A customer carries pizzas out of Totonno\u2019s Sunday afternoon. Michael Nigro for NY Post<\/p>\n The longtime bookkeeper, above all else, wants the new owners \u201cto understand the blood, sweat, tears that went into the business.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSomeone who has a passion for history, and would want to keep everything as close as possible to the meaning of Totonno\u2019s,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n \u201cOur life was those nine tables in that store.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a cold slice of reality. The third-generation owners of Totonno\u2019s, a century-old Brooklyn pizzeria that credits itself…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":479357,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,1121,6292,5248,405,403,7619,5226,5225,5228,5227,16564,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-479356","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-brooklyn","10":"tag-coney-island","11":"tag-metro","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-new-york-city-life","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkcity","17":"tag-ny","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-pizza","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-us-news","26":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115806921400491566","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}