F&F Pizza Coming to Pittsburgh, Badamo's Celebrates 15 Years, Driftwood Oven is Now Open on Tuesdays
Finally some New York City pizza in Pittsburgh. Will they be bringing their water too?
F&F’s pizza is coming to Pittsburgh. They're first expansion outside of New York City. The Franks, Frank Castronovo or Frank Falcinelli, own an Italian restaurant (Frankies Spuntino) and slice shop in Brooklyn (F&F). Their slice window is superb. A number of different round pies, including their famous clam, as well as focaccia and Sicilian slices. It’s a wonderland for pizza enthusiasts.
Why would a beloved Brooklyn pizzeria with international olive oil sales open up a pizza location in Pittsburgh? Well if you’ve absorbed a single headline while doom scrolling through social media the past few months you may have noticed that inflation has been an issue. A dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to go. Rent has been going up. If you own a business in Brooklyn, NY and you have dreams of expansion while growing your net worth, what’s a pizza shop owner to do?
If you’re Frank Castronovo or Frank Falcinelli maybe you think back to simpler times. Times when you didn’t have to worry about margins or where to properly source ingredients. A time where you didn’t have to manage staff or worry about how many clams should dot a pizza. A time when you were in Boy Scouts, not a care in the world. And while you were in the Boy Scouts you visited Pittsburgh fifty years ago. And you never forgot how charming of a city it was decades later. So when you are looking to expand you naturally think of Pittsburgh. A city that has 11% of the population of Brooklyn. Then it strikes you: Pittsburgh is the perfect spot to expand your business.
The Franks are opening up in Mt. Lebanon where Bado’s Pizza Grill and Ale House was located. I talked to another pizza shop owner about this location and they said it’s a great spot but the rent is insane. Insane if you live in Pittsburgh. But if you’re use to paying rent on Court St in Brooklyn this is the deal of a lifetime.
Moving from NYC to Pittsburgh opens up a lot of financial opportunities. This is like Superman leaving Krypton where they are a completely normal person, then arriving on Earth where they are super without having changed a thing. A dollar gets you a lot more here and if you can maintain Brooklyn revenue streams, the venture is easier to fund.
Pittsburgh’s pizza boom in 2008 was in part due to the affordability of the city. Chefs were coming back to Pittsburgh to do their own thing. We got Dinette who churned out some of the first artisan pizzas in the area. Spirit came to be because Tom Barr had a vision after working at Roberta’s in Brooklyn, bought the Elks Lodge and made his dreams reality. When the economy is rough, people look to Pittsburgh.
But those were people who were starting from scratch, not expanding here. The other side of this coin is developers like McCaffery who lure New York City businesses here while using local Pittsburgh shops as leverage. If you want New York City pizza, do we need a place like F&F coming here to do that? We have Badamo’s, Rockaway, Lupo, and others who make stunning pies in the city. While we celebrate the arrival of an out-of-town pizza shop, is that taking the place of a local upstart who wants to take their shot at making an impact on the local pizza tapestry?
I spoke to a pizza shop owner about the news. They had no idea what F&F was. I explained their deal and they sarcastically replied that finally, someone can teach us how to make pizza.
Badamo’s Pizza Celebrates 15 Years
Badamo’s has been crushing the pizza scene for fifteen years, hard to believe. I recently had them during a playdate on the North Side and they’re as good as ever. Never had a bad pie from this place and whenever I crave a classic Ninja Turtles-Type pizza I got to Badamo’s.
Rick Sebak put out a wonderful video about Badamo’s last year. Check it out below!
Driftwood Oven is Now Open Tuesdays
That’s it. Pretty exciting to have access to Driftwood Oven. Enjoy their Tuesday Grand Opening video.
Pittsburgh continues to grow in pizza stature as our shops consistently crush it and attract out of town talent. Big things ahead for pizza fans.
Pizza ya later!
-Dan Tallarico, Pizza Journalist
Dude, your write-up on F&F is fantastic. Especially as a Pittsburgher who moved to Brooklyn 1.5 years ago
What is the hold up? 😩❤️🩹 My partner literally detoured before work yesterday to see the status. This can't be good! How can I help? 🤔