For the love of pizza
By ELISA NAVARRO, Student Writer
Imagine a pizza fresh out of the oven. Sizzling hot. Melted cheese over a fresh, homemade sauce. The scent filling the air is enough to make your mouth water. This is what pizza is like at Tower District’s family-owned and operated Mama Mia Pizzeria.
Mama Mia’s recently opened its second location in the Tower District. It is run by Michael Anthony DiNuzzo (2013), who is also the co-owner. The tradition of fresh-made ingredients dates back to when his grandparents moved to Fresno from Italy and opened “Mike’s Pizzeria”. The pizzeria was passed on to his father, who thenopened the first Mama Mia’s 30 years ago and the tradition hasn’t stopped.
DiNuzzo was born into the business, recalling childhood memories of standing on sauce cans and pizza boxes and looking over the counter as a small child. He moved to Los Angeles soon after graduating to pursue an acting career, but came back to further his family’s business and traditions.
“I came back in 2015. As soon as I moved back into town I realized that I was going to give my all to Mama Mia’s and I knew opening a second place was a dream for my family. So once I promised them that they had my full attention, then we went for it and we started looking for places and the Tower District just ended up being the best fit for us.”
DiNuzzo runs Mama Mia alongside his brother Lorenzo and sister Giana manage. The pizzeria shares their space with Lucy’s Lounge, and the family could not be more excited.
“It’s super inviting, people can sit where they want, the lounge is super classy we have people doing live music on Friday and Saturday nights so the weekends are pretty busy for us. It’s a perfect marriage between us and Lucy’s Lounge,” said DiNuzzo.
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