Desano Pizza Bakery is targeting an early March grand opening in Midtown. You’ve likely driven by their good looking brick building and brick column patio on 3rd Street.
This will be their sixth location and flagship locations in Los Angeles and Nashville have Yelp ratings of 4.6 and 4.4 respectively – so this isn’t your typical pizza joint.
Desano Pizza Bakery’s formula for success is fairly simple: Use the best ingredients to make top quality Neapolitan style pizzas and people will keep coming back. “On Tuesday nights, ingredients are flown over from the Naples region and then distributed quickly to our restaurants,” owner Scott Desano told me over the phone.
Scott also told me not to expect a the limitless options that you see on a Cheesecake Factory-style menu.
No pasta. Few build your own pizza options. No gimmicks. Menu options include 11 thin crust pizzas, meatball and Italian prime rib sandwiches, 3 calzones, 3 salads and a few desserts (Gelato, Nutella Dessert Pizza and Cannoli).
Small pizzas range from $10 – $15 and large pizzas are $15 – $22.75. Pizzas are thin crust and cook for 80-90 seconds in their authentic Italian ovens.
via Facebook
The Desano Pizza Bakery space is huge.
The inside will be 5,000 square feet with communal style seating and a bar. With a space this large, they’re clearly expecting to be a high volume business, not a niche pizza spot. Scott told me, “The restaurant is meant to be comfortable and family oriented.” His restaurants in Nashville and Los Angeles typically have a multi-generational family vibe in the evenings and then turn more adult as the night progresses (as you’d imagine they would).
The interior is designed to be comfortable/minimal, not flashy like Ink N Ivy.
The outside brick patio patio is another 1,100 square feet and half will be covered. The patio will managed so that it can be utilized year round.
Patio at Desano Pizza Bakery on 3rd in Midtown Charlotte
Simple interior decor at Desano Pizza Bakery in Nashville. via Facebook
Oh, one last thing – Tom Brady is a Desano Pizza lover (I confirmed with the owner that this photo is real and not photoshopped). I probably should have led with this…
I wish Tom would invite me on his private plan to eat pizza with him. via Facebook
Cover photo via Facebook
