World-famous pizza celebrity Tony Gemignani has just opened his newest restaurant in Belmont.
Anyone familiar with the world of pizza, or food in general, has heard of Gemignani. Also known as the No. 1 pizza chef in the world, some of Gemignani’s accolades include 13 world titles in pizza and four Guinness World Records. He is also the only non-Italian to have won the World Pizza Cup in Naples, Italy.
In addition to being a top pizza chef, Gemignani is a restauranteur of more than 30 locations, the newest one being Belmont’s own Slice House.
“It’s a fast, casual, kind of a more grab-and-go restaurant. There’s limited dine-in, more delivery,” Gemignani said.
At Slice House Belmont, you can expect to see a variety of pizzas such as New York, Sicilian, Detroit, and deep-dish. Gemignani himself personally creates each recipe.
“I’ve traveled a lot over the years. I’ve gone all over Italy, Germany to China, Thailand to Canada to Mexico. I’ve kind of been everywhere when it comes to pizza. I’ve seen pizza, and how it’s made all over the world, so we offer a lot of combinations that are very unique,” Gemignani said.
Aside from pizza, Slice House Belmont also offers a diverse range of other foods.
“We do salads, meatball sides, along with desserts such as cookies and ice cream,” employee Ezekiel Gonzalez said.
Gemignani created Slice House as his second pizza chain, of which Belmont is one location. However, with many more restaurants to take care of, Tony Gemignani does not directly manage Slice House Belmont.
“Tony is kind of a silent partner. We have owners that act as partners with Tony. I’m here every day working, but Tony doesn’t take an active role,” Gonzalez said.
According to Gonzalez, he likes working in the environment of Slice House Belmont.
“We’re always having fun about it. There’s never a dull moment between anybody,” Gonzalez said.
The success of the restaurant can explain this environment. Slice House Belmont was immediately popular since its opening day, and the celebration was attended by important community members such as Mayor Julia Mates.
“It was very busy on opening day. It’s always been busy,” Gonzalez said.
The restaurant is located in the Belmont Village, replacing the old Which Wich sandwich shop. As a grab-and-go pizza shop, the restaurant has limited seating but a clean environment.
“It’s clean, first and foremost. That’s the hardest. That’s one of my main things is that it’s clean. There’s a lot of room in here. It’s not cramped like some pizza places are,” customer Jennifer Icasiano said.
Despite the unprecedented success of the restaurant, Slice House Belmont is not without its own set of challenges.
“Having a busy restaurant and being able to find enough people to staff is always tough. But being able to handle the volume, being able to handle deliveries and third parties, that’s always been a challenge because when you open up busy from the start, it’s hard to get that training and to be that good that fast,” Gemignani said.
As a new and popular restaurant, Slice House Belmont also focuses on supporting the local Belmont community.
“A lot of high schoolers come in for lunch after school or on the weekends. If you show your student card, we always give 10% off,” Gemignani said.
