Popular Pizzeria Returns with Grand Opening Sunday

Next door to Rocco's Salon on Eagle Rock Avenue, Rocco Iellimo and his family will open Giulietta & Romeo's Pizzeria Sunday.

If the name sounds familiar, you might remember them from their former location at 7 Ronald Drive in East Hanover. Giulietta & Romeo's opened there on Jan. 25, 1999.

When the lease ended at that location in 2010, they moved to the Livingston Mall and waited two years for the new storefront at 49 Eagle Rock to open.

"Now we've left the mall, and we're here permanently," Sandra Viegas, Iellimo's daughter, said.

The pizzeria section of the new location opened in June, but Iellimo waited until the restaurant section was ready for customers to have the grand opening, which takes place from noon to 2 p.m. Sunday.

"There'll be pizza, food, drinks," Viegas said. "It should be a good time."

Viegas grew up in the restaurant business along with her brothers Joe and Anthony. Her grandparents own Joe's Pizzeria and Victoria's Restaurant in Summit.

"I'd say about 50 percent of my family is in the food business," she said.

At the store on Ronald Drive, the pizzeria only offered take-out. There were a few tables in the mall, but the current location offers dine-in options with a full menu, which includes:

Antipasto such as mozzarella sticks ($5.75), fried calamari ($9.95) and Buffalo wings ($8.25),

• insalatas such as antipasto Italiano for one or two ($8.95 or $12.95), Caesar salad (small $5.25, large $7.50) or the Rocco salad with Romaine, radicchio, goat cheese, walnuts, avocado and raspberry vinaigrette ($9.95),
• soups (bowl $4.95, quart $7.50)
• cold and hot subs (half $5.25 to $8.95, whole $$8 to $10.25)
• and main dishes such as pasta, chicken, veal or fish.

And then, of course, there's the pizza. Pizzas are priced according to size: personal (12 in.) is $8, small (14 in.) is $11.50 and large (16 in.) is $12.50. Toppings are $1 each for the personal size, $2 each for large and small. Sicialian pizzas are $16 with $3 per extra topping.

Specialty pizzas include the Giulietta & Romeo special, which has roasted peppers, sundried tomatoes, marinated mushrooms and chopped arugula ($11.95 personal, $17.50 small, $19.95 large).

The Primavera pizza pizza has sauteed zucchini, onions, peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, ricotta and mozzarella ($11.95 personal, $17.50 small, $19.95 large), and the Fresh from the Garden pizza has fresh tomatoes, basil, olive oil and mozzarella slice ($10.95 personal, $15 small, $16.50 large).

Giulietta & Romeo's also offers catering services anywhere in north Jersey.

The restaurant and pizzeria are open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.