A ‘SLICE’ OF QUEENS Pizza Classica, Glendale Queens

from 'This is Queensborough' May 2023 Edition

by BQE Media - Queens Ledger Brooklyn Star Newspaper Group

The Role of AI in Education

By Robert Intelisano

Pizza Classica is located at 89-89 Union Turnpike Glendale, Queens! The Italian restaurant is connected to the Stop & Shop mini mall. The Stop & Shop mall sits 2 blocks east of Woodhaven Boulevard and consists of a double-decker parking garage and several other stores such as Starbucks, Dress Barn, Retro Fitness and Citizens Bank just to name a few.

This mall lights up (see photo) and is beautiful at night! It was not always bustling and easy on the eyes. In fact, it was an abandoned and dilapidated area for years as it was left vacant after Coca-Cola shut down its distribution site on the property in 2000. The area was brought back to life in late 2004 when Stop & Shop opened a superstore to revitalize and anchor the planned mini mall.

When you think of Glendale, Queens, excellent pizza, and Italian food are not the first things that come to mind. Many readers associate Glendale with standout German food such as Zum Stammtisch (my favorite Schnitzel place) and Manor Oktoberfest, as well as Glendale Bagels.

Glendale was built on a swampy area called “Fresh Pond.” Fresh Pond was named after two freshwater ponds that the land stood on, before they were filled in during the early 1900’s. Before Fresh Pond, the area was part of a 74,000-acre collective area called Newtown, which had been chartered by the Dutch West India Company in 1642. In 1860, developer George C. Schott was given a vast amount of land in Fresh Pond as repayment of a debt. Schott named Fresh Pond after his native Glendale, Ohio. Nine years later, John C. Schooley, a real estate agent, bought the substantial amount of property and kept the Glendale name. The area became a thriving German farming community in the 19th century.

After World War I, the area’s economic base shifted from farming to textiles and breweries. The Atlas Terminal (an industrial park consisting of 16 factories) was the largest employer in the area. Because of the concentration of skilled workers in the area, Glendale played a critical role during World War II, especially in “The Manhattan Project,” which produced the first atomic bombs.

At the beginning of the 21st century, many of Glendale’s industrial buildings were redeveloped into stores and residential buildings. Atlas Terminal was demolished in 2004 and replaced by a shopping center called “The Shops at Atlas Park,” which opened in April of 2006. In other parts of Glendale, national companies such as Trader Joes and Chili’s took over industrial buildings.

It was during this time of Glendale’s transformation that the dreams of Rocco Zummo and his childhood friend and business partner, Edwin Espinosa, became a reality. Having worked and studied under pizza legends Erasmo Troia (RIP)and son Sal Troia of “Rosa Pizza” fame, Rocco and Edwin envisioned having a place they can call their own.

Pizza Classica (known to many as PC) was established in 2003 in a small location in Bayside on Francis Lewis Boulevard. They quickly became known for fine home-style Italian cooking and catering. In 2007, they opened their 2,000 square foot flagship location in Glendale. PC quickly grew their business due to their concentration on quality food and service.

With the support of the community and loyal customers, PC expanded their current location to 4,000 square feet in

2013 by fully renovating the entire building from the kitchen to the patio.

It was through community involvement that led to me meeting Rocco and Edwin. Rocco and I have plenty in common with our passion for giving back to the community, Sicilian ancestry, and of course Love for food! We are both members of the Queensboro Chapter of UNICO, a Service Organization of Italian Americans established in 1922 to “engage in charitable works, support higher education and perform patriotic deeds.” Our Queensboro Unico Chapter is made up of mostly successful and like-minded Queens-based business owners who take pride and joy in giving back to the community!

Our Queensboro UNICO chapter is one of the most active in the country. Recent projects include awarding multiple college scholarships to Italian American high school students, renovating church bathrooms and gifting a fully equipped handicapped van to a disabled war veteran. UNICO, (the largest Italian American Service Organization in the USA) gives generous ongoing donations of money and food to organizations such as Our Lady of Hope and the Sacred Heart food pantry (see photo).

Rocco and Edwin go above and beyond and can often be found donating pies and Italian food to other worthy organizations in the local community. They also provide catering for the Board of Education. This is what I love about writing this column, uncovering the backstories of friends from immigrant families coming to America (from Sicily and Colombia, respectively) and finding the American Dream, becoming successful and then giving back to the community!

In addition to excellent Italian food, in the pizza world, Pizza Classica is known for their brick-oven grandma slice and their upside-down slice, meaning the cheese goes on top of the dough with the sauce on top instead of the traditional cheese on top. I also enjoy their white pie and they have gluten free and low carb slices on the menu.

I recently invited 6 friends and family to PC for dinner. These gents were hand-picked as they know and appreciate good food. I would consider 5 of the 6 as foodies. For appetizers, we started with their white pie which consists of 3 cheeses, fresh mozzarella, ricotta and romano cheese in addition to baked clams, fried zucchini and the “Classica salad” paired with a bottle of reasonable priced Malbec red wine. Their white slice was a big hit!

Something happened which, after hosting many dinners over the years, I cannot recall happening before. The next day I heard from all 6 guests, 1 phone call, 2 emails and 3 texts about what a great time with great food they had. These are picky eaters and Pizza Classica has an extensive menu to satisfy the most discerning palate.

The main courses earning rave reviews included Rigatoni Carbonara, (rigatoni with bacon, onions, & peas in a cream sauce), Chicken Scarpariello, (sausage sweet peppers, garlic, lemon, butter, touch of brown gravy), Shrimp Scampi (jumbo shrimp sauteed in butter & wine sauce), and Grilled Veal Spiedini (milk-fed veal stuffed with ham & provolone cheese, lightly breaded and grilled).

We ordered 4 desserts for the table. My friend Dan noted he had never seen a “vertical tartufo!” The 4 desserts were fresh filled cannoli, raspberry cheesecake, tartufo and chocolate mousse cake. Not a crumb was left on the table.

Pizza Classica has a take-out section, fast order and sit down area. There is fine dining by reservation in the back and a large Covid-friendly tented area for catered events and large dinner parties. It is perfect for group meetings as we have our monthly Unico meetings with 40-50 members from MarchOctober under the PC tent.

My rankings will be released in my final edition in January of 2024. If you are interested in joining Unico (you don’t have to be 100% Italian) or want to tell me your favorite slice and why, there is still time to reach out to me at Rob@InsuranceDoctor.us.