Local Restaurant spotlight: Nicolitalia Pizzeria

If you want some delicious pizza reminiscent of Italy, you don’t need to travel across the Atlantic. In fact, you need only take a drive down University Parkway in Provo.

Nicolitalia Pizzeria is a local restaurant that opened in November of 2005. Though having to go through the tough first two years requisite for any restaurant, Nicolitalia Pizzeria now enjoys steady business and a stable spot in the community. The owner, Nick, hails from Boston, where his parents own a pizzeria. Because the restaurant makes gourmet pizza, it certainly has felt the effects of operating in an area replete with stingy, discount-hungry college students. Despite this, Nick is quick to point out that the nice community he now enjoys, as compared with his days in Boston, more than makes up for this.

As far as variety goes, Nicolitalia Pizzeria does just about everything. With more than 16 specialty pizza’s to choose from, every customer is sure to get their pizza palette filled. “We try to make an authentic East Coast style pizza with some of the flair you would find in California. We’ve got everything from spinach chicken mushroom Alfredo to steak Pizzaiola,” Nick said.

The owner, Nick, carries with him a rich pizza heritage that flavors the restaurant’s cooking methods, passed down from his father in Naples, Italy. “My father came to America in 1967 and opened his first pizzeria in 1972 in Boston,” Nick said. “I take what I learned from him about Old World pizza and splash it with some of the New World.”

Splashing New World onto Old World pizza, as Nick puts it, is the way that Nicolitalia Pizzeria can stay with the times while keeping true to the Italian tradition that makes their pizza so tasty. “We make stone-fired pizza, which gives it that unique crispiness and better flavor than other places which have conveyor belt ovens. We also blend it with the West Coast method of putting gourmet cuisine on top of the crust. The result is that the newest and exciting flavors in pizza can be enjoyed along with the zest of traditional Italian pizza,” Nick said.

For authentic pizza that is made in the Italian tradition, stop by some time at Nicolitalia Pizzeria. Though Mt. Timpanogos may have to substitute for Mt. Vesuvius for now, the delectable food is sure to put a smile on your face.

Nicolitalia Pizzeria is located at 2295 N. University Parkway. You can also find out more by visiting their Web site at www.nicolitaliapizzeria.com