A year after the planned opening, the much-anticipated D’Allesandro’s Pizza at 17 Mohawk Drive in the newly developed NorthPointe Standard strip center officially opened April 23.
This second location of the beloved Charleston pizza joint was announced in December 2016 as the first tenant in the former Shinola art and antiques store being developed by Rallis Holdings. Greenville residents John Petrich, who lives in the nearby North Main neighborhood, and his stepson Chad Matheny have partnered with brothers Nick and Ben D’Allesandro to bring their favorite pizza to the Upstate.
“I hate pizza, really,” Matheny says. “But I love their pizza.”
Nick D’Allesandro, who is in town overseeing the opening to make sure everything is just so, says the Greenville location isn’t officially a franchise but is operating under separate ownership with Petrich and Matheny using D’Al’s recipes and overall concept.
The roughly 2,000-square-foot space is designed for families, with seating for 67 inside and as many as the outdoor patio can hold, and interaction with the staff, all of whom are fully visible thanks to a completely open kitchen. Delivery will be available within a 3-to-5-mile radius, at this point.
“Definitely don’t want to be losing out on any business,” D’Allesandro says while discussing the proposed delivery area with the general manager, Miguel Rodriguez.
The menu is exactly the same as the original location — catering to omnivores, vegetarians, and vegans alike — with pies like their most popular Get Gnarly (olive oil, garlic, spinach, balsamic chicken, mozzarella, blue cheese crumbles), the Beetnick (olive oil and garlic base, mozzarella, goat cheese, bacon, golden beets, rosemary), Buffalo Chicken (olive oil, garlic, mozzarella, buffalo chicken, blue cheese crumbles), and the Chauncinator (a Margherita plus double pepperoni, minus tomatoes).
“Our pizza’s not the fanciest pizza in the world; it’s just good, simple pizza, but we use good ingredients, and we care about making a good pizza,” D’Allesandro says. “I think that’s what people like the most. It’s good, but it’s not super pretentious, and not super fancy, but it’s a neighborhood spot. That’s what we liked about this location was the neighborhood feel. Community Tap’s a good hangout spot, and it’s going to have that same atmosphere.”
Deliberately remaining open an hour after The Community Tap closes to capture those customers, hours are Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. They will also deliver pizza directly to The Tap, as locals call it.
