Bellucci Is Back: Infamous Pizza Chef Opens Another Astoria Spot

ASTORIA, QUEENS — Infamous pizza chef Andrew Bellucci is opening a pizzeria in Astoria down the street from another slice joint that he helped open, and then walked out of, last year.

Bellucci’s Pizzeria will start taking orders out of 37-08 30th Avenue in the next couple of weeks, Bellucci told Patch on Jan. 18. (Eater was the first to report this story.)

This new venture is about eight blocks away from Bellucci's Pizza, which the eponymous chef helped open at the start of 2021 and then left in October after a falling out with his business partner, Leo Dakmak.

Dakmak, however, told Patch at the time that the business (which is still open) was unaffected by Bellucci's leaving, save from losing "one of our many employees."He didn't immediately respond to Patch's request about Bellucci's newest venture.

Bellucci, however, is not new to the city's pizza scene, or its scandals. In the '90s he rose to fame as the face behind Soho's acclaimed pizza joint, Lombardi's, before getting jailed for fraud. Last year he got embroiled in drama again after a gun-related Instagram post, Patch reported.

He hopes that his newest Astoria spot will be a full realization of his greatest pizza dream once and for all: Handcrafted pies produced to the highest of standards, sans drama or production expectations.

"Pizza is very personal. The goal is to give Astoria the best of me; quality over quantity," he said, explaining that, when it opens, Bellucci’s Pizzeria will operate with a limited schedule, since the chef himself plans to make every round pie himself.

While round, Sicilian, and grandma pizzas, sold by the slice or pie (with gluten free and vegan options), will be the pizzerias primary focus at first, the menu will also include an array of Italian-American fare, like calzones, zeppole, mozzarella sticks, and meatballs, Bellucci said.

Barring some specialty items (like a fresh-shucked clam pie), the menu will be made to-go, but the pizzeria will have room to seat 20 people indoors (with a BYOB policy), and plans to open an outdoor garden that can seat 50 people in the late spring, he added.

And, to avoid confusion with the other pizzeria bearing his name on 30th Avenue, Bellucci has a helpful tip: "If you walk in the door and I'm making the pizza, then you're in the right Bellucci's," he said.

Related Article: Chef Leaving Bellucci's Pizza Over Business Dispute, He Says