A staple in Guilford, Anthony’s Pizza Bar & Grille has a new owner and a new name, Frankie’s Pizzeria.
The former owner of the popular Portofino Pizzeria in Madison, Frank Bevilacqua, recently opened his restaurant in the spot that was home to the classic Italian restaurant for more than 42 years.
Bevilacqua said he is planning a grand opening soon and is looking to hire experienced pizza makers “to take some of the load off of me so I don’t have to be there 100 hours a week,” he joked. He also plans to open the dining room which will seat about 70 patrons.
Bevilacqua recently took over the restaurant after long-time owner Pete Ciocca, who owned the eatery at 2392 Boston Post Road since 1996, retired. Before Ciocca, the spot was owned by the Delmonaco family, of Anthony’s Ocean View in New Haven, who opened the Guilford spot in 1978.
Bevilacqua aims to bring it back to its roots as a family restaurant with less emphasis on the tavern portion of the business, he said. He put half walls in the dining area to separate it from the bar.
“You could absolutely bring your family and I want to see kids in there,” he said.
Bevilacqua, who took over Portofino in 2003 when he was 24 years old, said he had started making pizzas when he was 15, working at his father’s pizzeria down in Florida. He continued in the pizza business, Bevilacqua said, because “it’s second nature.”
While Frankie’s makes New Haven-style pizza with a thin, crispy crust, he does not char the bottom unless customers request it.
“We’re in a family town, so you’ve got to watch that because kids don’t like to eat burnt pizza. You’ve got to find that happy medium,” he said.
He makes his sauce from scratch using Mutti San Marzano tomatoes, which he said are the best on the market.
So far, popular pizzas include the Guilford Harbor, which has shrimp, scallops and clams in a lemony sauce with parsley. Popular entrees to-go include Frankie’s rigatoni with spicy vodka sauce infused with Calabrian chili and chicken cutlet.
Portofino’s is still open at 497 Old Toll Road in the North Madison Shopping Center.
