South Brooklyn's still hungry for a pizza the past

BY MATTHEW LYSIAK

Tuesday, November 13th 2007, 4:00 AM

Mom-and-pop pizzerias may be giving way to pizza franchises in the Midwest, but in Tony Manero's old stomping grounds in South Brooklyn, customers still hunger for a slice of nostalgia.

"I just don't understand how people can eat Domino's or those other pizza chains," said Filippo Giuffrie, who next month is opening up his own brick oven pizzeria on Third Ave. "I know that in Bay Ridge people appreciate a quality pie as much as in any other place in the country."

Giuffrie's pizzeria - which will be named Zio Toto, after Giuffrie's uncle Salvatore - replaces a usually successful franchise outlet, Cheesesteak Factory, which closed its doors at the 84th St. location last August after only a few months of business.

Giuffrie said his new pizzeria will succeed where the franchise failed because it will be a family affair.

"My mom is even going to be in the kitchen making the gnocchi fresh," said Giuffrie, who came to the U.S. from Italy and lives in Bensonhurst.

Southern Brooklyn's apparent insulation from the national trend of franchise pizza joints squeezing out mom-and-pops may in part be due to the downright hostility many locals feel toward their corporate counterparts.

John Miniaci Jr. of Johnny's Pizza in Sunset Park, whose father, John Sr., founded the neighborhood pizzeria in 1968, even started a petition drive in hope of blocking the opening of a Papa John's franchise outlet from moving to his block.

His anti-Papa John's petition went to the pizza titan's corporate office in Kentucky with 2,200 signatures. Papa John's didn't respond to the petition and opened as expected last month, but Miniaci insisted there was no noticeable drop-off in his business.

"It actually really burns my customers up that they tried to piggyback off the little guy, but my business hasn't missed a beat," said Miniaci. "This part of Brooklyn is very family-oriented and they expect fresh, not frozen, ingredients."

Food critic Adam Kuban, who runs the pizza-centric Web site sliceny.com, said the secret to southern Brooklyn's invulnerability to chains is all about familiarity.

"Most of Third and Fifth Aves. are lined with true mom-and-pop restaurants and businesses, and the owners and customers have real relationships with each other," said Kuban. "Bay Ridge also seems to have a fairly strong Italian presence, too - and they're not going to take a shine to chain places."

That's a slice of wisdom Miniaci takes to heart.

"I know you are supposed to try the competition, but I am just not ready to put that bitter taste in my mouth," he said.