Is Vincent's Pizza Planning a Comeback on Route 30?

From the outside, it would appear that the building might be a phoenix rising from the ashes that used to line the hot ovens at the former Vincent's Pizza Park on Ardmore Boulevard.

There is apparent remodeling under way. Dave Andrews, code enforcement officer for North Braddock Borough, said he is working with a contractor hired to fix up the place to make sure the changes meet the borough's building code. He has also reviewed plans that might signal a comeback of the beloved pizza place.

Andrews said the borough is waiting for a building permit to be finalized and hopes that the owner moves forward with plans.

North Braddock Borough manager Douglas Margureit referred Patch's questions about plans for the building to Mark Flaherty, attorney for Toni Zoller, the owner. She is the daughter of the late Vincent Chianese, who opened the pizza shop and bar in 1950.

A spokesperson for Flaherty's office said Zollner and Flaherty decline to comment at this time.

the North Braddock restaurant closed at the request of Zollner. The Post-Gazette reported then that the occupants, B&C Pizza Inc., had leased the building since 2003 and were required to operate as a licensed Vincent's Pizza Park, according to the complaint Zollner had filed in court.

One of the licensees, Vincent Chianese's business partner John Bellissimo, stopped paying the necessary royalties almost immediately after Mr. Chianese died in March 2010, said Zollner's lawyer, Frank Rapp. Other Vincent's Pizza locations had operated under a business agreement with Chianese.

Owed $42,000 in unpaid royalties, Zollner terminated the license agreement in October 2011, but B&C Pizza continued operating, according to the Post-Gazette, until the court ordered the restaurant closed.

At that time, Zollner's then-attorney Frank Rapp did not rule out the possibility that Vinnie Pies could return to the ovens on Ardmore Boulevard.

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