THE SALVATORE'S PIZZA STORY — PART TWO
The Growing Years

RECAP:

In 1978 a seventeen year old Eastridge High School student, Salvatore "Soccer Sam" Fantauzzo took home economics his senior year for extra credit. The class project was to own a food business. Sam took on pizza as his assignment and soon realized this was his dream. After graduation he rented an empty front across the street from his uncle's meat market located at 1978 East Main Street. Family and friends brought all their talents to help open the first Salvatore's in October of 1978 with a $5,000.00 Budget.

Sam's younger brother Chuck, cousin John Coraggioso and cousin Lisa Arbore were the first hired employees. They all were under the age of 14. Sister Valerie, future Sister-In-Law Diana, future Brother-In-Law Nino Cilino, Aunt Mary and Uncle Sam Arbore, Aunt Mary Sampognaro, Grandma Oliveri, Sam's parents, future wife Linda and several other family and friends including Phil Coraggioso, Enzo Vella and Gary DiGabriele helped Sam open the first Salvatore's location. The guys at Engine 12 Fire Department, next door, were the official taste testers!

1984: Ridge/Clinton

John started off making boxes, moved on to baking pizzas and in no time was running the kitchen at Main Street. John and fourteen year old Chuck Fantauzzo became a great team, John in the kitchen and Chuck up front with his great personality. Five years later, John and Chuck graduated from High School and wanted to open up their own location. Salvatore's #2 was born in the kitchen of a bar called Chadwicks. Within months they outgrew this kitchen and moved to a much larger location in the Ridge/Clinton Plaza.

1984: Lake Ave

Jack Grover, Sam's landlord at the original Main Street location, opened store #3 at 4000 Lake Ave. A few years later Hassan Alsafadi, with his brother Sam, bought this location. Hassan had worked at the original Salvatore's for years. Hassan and his brother Sam eventually purchased the building at 4000 Lake Ave, that was owned by Soccer Sam's late great uncle Sam Arbore.

1986: East Rochester Part One

The original East Rochester location was opened in 1986. Longtime Salvatore's manager, Marco Palazzo, managed this test pizza and wing location. Cousin Mike DelGaizo joined this location in 1988. The village of East Rochester decided to expand the road at the corner of Linden Ave and Washington Street and the building was eventually demolished.

1987: Webster

David Sykut, who was the manager at the East Main Street location for years, opened the Webster location at 2022 Empire Boulevard in a converted garage. Tony Cilino helped Dave open this location. In 1998, Tony Mangione purchased this location and moved it to its current location at 1217 Bay Rd with a pick up window. In 2010, it later became Salvatore's Pizzeria & Pub.

1988: Monroe Ave

Greg Dillingham, who joined the Salvatore Pizza Family years ago, brought his pizza delivery experience to our company. Greg eventually purchased the Monroe Ave location from Tony Cilino with the help of his wife Stephanie. Years later, they moved this location to the Clover Lanes Plaza at 2752 Monroe Ave. The Salvatore's annual staff Christmas party is hosted by Greg and his staff.

1988: The Catering Division

Soccer Sam started Salvatore's Set Up-N-Go Catering in 1988. Cousin John, Cousin Lisa Arbore, Aunt Anna Oliveri, Sam's Dad Silvestro and wife Linda helped launch this division. Today, John at Main Street handles the Eastside Catering and Cousin Mike and Lisa handle the Westside catering jobs. Cindy Wallace was hired in 1989 to handle the accounting department. She had just graduated from Bryant and Stratton and brought her skills to the Salvatore's pizza family. Today Cindy manages the accounting division at Salvatore's. She is now Cindy Kaehler.

1989: Main Street Sold

At the age of 24, John Coraggioso sold 50% of the Ridge/Clinton Salvatore's location to his partner Chuck Fantauzzo and purchased the original location at 1985 East Main Street. Soccer Sam's focus became new locations, the commissary and wholesale division, the school division and catering. John totally renovated this location and continues to be one of the busiest pizzerias in New York state. Nick Semeraro, who started making boxes at the age of 9, is the general manager of this location.

1990: Dewey Ave

Cousin Mike DelGaizo, who married cousin Lisa Arbore, our first female employee, purchased the 537 Dewey Ave location. Mike had joined the company in 1988. He worked part time at the original Salvatore's and then helped open the original East Rochester location. Mike and Lisa helped perfect several recipes and eventually, in 2001, moved this location to the much bigger 1324 Dewey Ave location.

1990: The $5 Pizza

John and Mike brought in new computers to all the locations, the first pizza chain in Monroe County to do so. They helped perfect the pizza dough, fresh baked Italian sub bread and helped introduce our new state of the art Air Deck Pizza Ovens to handle the volume of the famous $5 pizza promotion.

1991: Hotline

The 234-5555 hotline was developed so customers only had to remember one number and then were transferred to their favorite Salvatore's.

1992: Outlets

Salvatore's opened pizza outlets inside The Company Store in Gananda, NY and The Company Store in Cheshire, NY. Salvatore's sold pizza slices at several convenient stores around Monroe County. They also introduced Salvatore's soda pop and distributed three flavors throughout Monroe County (Mola Cola, Orange Sun & Purple Lips). The Coke a Cola company forced us to stop selling this product and Salvatore's switched to Pepsi.

1994: Scottsville

Tony Mangione, John Coraggioso's cousin from Italy, opened the Scottsville location at 1735 Scottsville Rd in 1994. One of Tony's 16 year old employees Nick Pearl convinced his parents, Chris and Clay Pearl to purchase this location in 1997. Tony wanted a location closer to his family in Webster, NY. In 2003, during our 25th year celebration, Nick Pearl was away serving our country at Camp Lagoon. The Pearls continued to operate this location today and have served generations of RIT students.

1996: Marketing

With the help of High School friend and long time car dealer, Tony Gabriele, Salvatore's became the first pizzeria in town to mass market on TV, radio & print. Salvatore's hired Jade Advertising and the Powers sisters, Patty and Penny, to handle the Salvatore's marketing budget. Today, Patty Powers continues to handle all Salvatore's marketing and we have become Rochester's top pizzeria.

1998: 20 Years

With 8 locations, the company celebrated their 20th year in business at the Brasserie. They were the highest volume local pizza chain in the Rochester, NY area and Sam reserved the domain name, salvatores.com.

1999: Soccer Sam's

In 1999, Soccer Sam opened America's first Soccer themed Italian restaurant. The menu included all of Salvatore's favorite items in a new restaurant concept. This restaurant received world recognition during the 2002 World Cup. The restaurant was open almost 24 hours a day during this tournament. Sam sold the restaurant in late 2002 to focus on Salvatore's and help the Rochester Rhinos Pro Soccer Team.

2003: 25 Years

Salvatore's celebrated their 25th year in business with the help of cousin Ray LoRe, sister Rita, Chris, Nick and Clay Pearl, Greg and Stephanie Dillingham, cousin John and Dorothy, sister Enza, Nick Semeraro, brother Chuck Fantauzzo, cousin Mike and Lisa DelGaizo and cousin Tony Mangione, the Alsafadi family, Michael Steger, Tony "Nino" Cilino, Cindy Wallace, Patty Powers and close to 250 employees.

2003: Mt. Read Our Mt. Read Blvd location opened in December of 2003. Cousin Mike DelGaizo, with his long time employee, Vincent Valerie opened this location. Vinny had been with the company for over 14 years. He started making boxes at our Dewey location when he was 12 years old. Vinny and the Valerie family now operate the Mt. Read location.

2004: East Rochester Part Two

Sam and Linda Fantauzzo found the perfect location, and with the help of John Coraggioso, they converted this old apartment into Salvatore's Old Fashioned Pizzeria. Roxanna, Silvio and Salvatore II helped open this location and eventually sold it to long time Pepsi delivery guy Carl Horsford. Carl and his family continue to operate this location today.

2004: New Name

Salvatore's Old Fashioned Pizzeria would be the new name, replacing Salvatore's Pizza & Subs and Salvatore's America's Premier Pizza.

2004: Ontario

Our Ontario, Route 104 location, was originally opened by Doug Lockhart, the head chef at the famous Soccer Sam's Pizza and Pasta Cafe. Doug eventually sold this location in 2005 to 18 year old Silvio Fantauzzo, who had just graduated from Webster Schroeder High School. Silvio had been helping his dad since he was ten years old. This location is managed by Jay Harrison, who has been with the company for over 10 years.

2005: Henrietta Opens

Nick Pearl, who had been with the company since he was 16 years old, opened the Henrietta location inside the Rochester Sports Garden, with the help of his parents Chris and Clay. This location recently expanded and is still located at the Rochester Sports Garden. This location delivers to the Henrietta area.

2007: Fairport Opens

John Coraggioso and Silvio Fantauzzo opened the Fairport location. This location was originally Arrivederci's Pizza and Subs, owned by Sebastian Curatolo. Sebastian was a High School friend of Sams and trained at the original Salvatore's before going on his own. 25 years later, Sebastian retired and sold this Fairport landmark to the Salvatore family. John and Silvio totally renovated the interior of this location and Sebastian, who continued to own the property, totally renovated the exterior of this location. Today, it is one of the most beautiful buildings in the historic village of Fairport

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2007: Victor Opens

John Coraggioso, with the help of Founder Sam Fantauzzo, transformed an empty store front, in the village of Victor, to Salvatore's first "new look" dine in family Pizzeria. John and Sam spent months on this location with the help of their friend and landlord Luis Ribeiro. Luis and Dom Vieira own the east side Dunkin Donuts locations. Today this location is owned and operated by Mike Perrotta and Jon Gehrke, long time Monroe Ave managers.

2007: Southwedge Opens Cousin Mike DelGaizo and Vinny Valerie opened this location in June of 2007. This location was originally owned by cousin Ray LoRe and his family. Cousin Jack LoRe helped convert this building into a Pizzeria many years ago as he did the original Salvatore's. Mike and Lisa DelGaizo currently own this location.

2007: Eastridge Opens

Cousin Ray LoRe spent years dreaming about putting his second location at this corner, home of the original Donut Box. Ray went to school up the street at Eastridge High School and frequently went to the Donut Box. Ray has been operating the Ridge/Clinton location for years and needed to increase his presents in the East Irondequoit area. This location soon became one of our busiest locations.

2008: Greece Opens

Sam Alsafadi had been working with his brother Hassan for over 15 years at the Lake Ave location. Sam was ready to go on his own and capture the west side market. Salvatore's had decided years ago to not go to the west side of Rochester because of several family friends owned Pizzerias and Deli's in that area. By 2008, all have closed down and it was time to explore the west side of Rochester and Sam Alsafadi took the challenge. The Greece location is doing amazing business!

2008: Penfield Opens

John Coraggioso and Silvio Fantauzzo opened this location. Cousin Jack LoRe did all of the remodeling and converted this long time pizzeria into a new look Salvatore's Old Fashioned Pizzeria. Granite table tops and big screen TVs were part of the new look. The plaza recently was recently renovated and Salvatore's is an anchor tenant.

2009: Pizza and Wing Outlet Opens In May of 2009, Doug Miller, Sam's long time soccer friend and the greatest Pro Soccer Player to ever play for the Rochester Rhinos joined the Salvatore pizza family. Salvatore's Pizza and Wing Outlet replaced the snack shop inside the Doug Miller Sports Dome in Spencerport.

2009: Donuts Delite Purchased

In March of 2009, The Salvatore Pizza family purchased this location. Sam had been driving by this historic landmark for the past 5 years that it was closed. He called on realtor Paul Schillaro over a dozen times with ridiculous offers on this Rochester landmark. Finally, Paul agreed to present Sam's offer to the Malley family and the deal was struck. John Coraggioso and the Main Street Salvatore's and cousin Ray LoRe, at the Eastridge Road Salvatore's owned this area and became owners of this landmark donut shop, now serving Salvatore's famous full menu. This location took over 12 months to renovate and finally opened in January 12th, 2010. The Malley family helped with the original donut recipes. Nick Semeraro manages this location.

2009: New Direction

In mid July of 2009, John Coraggioso took over the day-to-day office operations and accounting department of Salvatore's with the help of long time employee Cindy Kaehler. Brenda Sachs joined the team with years of experience in the food industry. Nick Semeraro, long time East Main Street Manager took on more company responsibilities. Patty Powers joined the company full time and handles the marketing division with Lyndsay DiMeo and Mike Moran. Sam continues to focus on new locations and franchising Salvatore's for the future with the help of wife Linda and children Roxanna, Salvatore II and Silvio.

2009: The Big Fire

November 23, 2009, tragedy strikes the Salvatore Pizza family. The Ridge/Clinton location, that has been in operation since 1984, was destroyed in an arson fire. The pizzeria was in the same plaza as the Dollar General. The Dollar General was set on fire by an arsonist and the entire plaza was destroyed. Cousin Ray LoRe was determined to re-open as soon as possible and make sure his employees had a job for the holidays. The entire company helped Ray relocate at the Garage Door Bar around the corner and today this location continues to be a success as a Salvatore's Pizzeria and Pub. Chuck Fantauzzo manages the Pub.

2009: Honeoye Opens

In December of 2009, Mike Perrotta, who had managed Greg Dillingham's Monroe Ave location for over 10 years opened in the beautiful village of Honeoye Falls. Mike totally renovated this former Attorney's office and brought back all the historic character of this building with tin ceilings and old fashioned architecture. Mike's father George and brother Mark helped Mike with all the renovations. Mike's good friend Jon Gehrke helped Mike open this location and today Jon and Mike own the Victor location together.

2010: Walworth Opens

Lil Ray LoRe, who had been managing the Ridge/Clinton Salvatore's, owned by his cousin Ray, for over 15 years. He helped with the move of the Ridge/Clinton location to the Garage Door after the famous Dollar General fire. Lil Ray also helped renovate and open the East Ridge Road Salvatore's with his cousin. Lil Ray converted an old Gas Station in Walworth to a Salvatore's with a 1950s feel to it. This location soon became one of the areas busiest pizzerias.

2010: Webster Remodels

Tony Mangione converted the Bay Road Salvatore's to a Pizza and Pub location. With the success of the Garage Door, and the recent move of Earthtones Coffee House, Tony decided to take the space and convert it to a full service Pizzeria and Pub. Tony's son Giovanni did all the renovations and this location was the first in the company to have an outside patio and live music. The East Main Street location also added an outdoor patio and renovated the exterior of our original Salvatore's.

2011: Webster Village Opens

Silvio Fantauzzo, who has been with the company most of his life, opened the Webster Village location in July 2011. With the help of John Coraggioso, his partner at Fairport and Penfield and several family and friends, they converted the former Guidas/Roccos into a Salvatore's within 24 hours. Craig Houghton was hired from McDonald's and is the General Manager and brother Salvatore II helps operate this location. Silvio continues to own the Ontario location, managed by Jay Harrison. Silvio continues to operates the Penfield and Fairport locations with John Coraggioso.

2012: The Future

The Salvatore Pizza family plans to open several new locations throughout Monroe County and surrounding areas, including Buffalo and Syracuse, NY.

PART THREE COMING SOON...