Pietro's of East Meadow hits milestone 50 years in business

In today’s economy, a restaurant surviving for 50 years may feel like a small miracle. Pietro’s of East Meadow will celebrate such a milestone with a big bash this week.

The pizzeria on East Meadow Avenue will celebrate half a century Thursday for friends, family and longtime customers of the current owner, Lauren Maslov. The back patio with heated igloos will be open for regular business and customers will get a slice of cake and an oven mitt to celebrate. 

Lauren Maslov is a third-generation owner. Her grandfather Peter Ippolito established the restaurant in 1976. The spot quickly became known for its sesame seed pizza crust. Nearly 85% of customers still get sesame seed crust pizza or pie, Maslov said.

Ippolito got sick and passed a decade after its opening and Lauren Maslov’s father John Arigo took over. Arigo was a CPA before taking over the space, which he then ran for 35 years. Lauren Maslov took over after him, in 2021. 

“When I found out they were selling it, I was absolutely devastated. I felt like a piece of my childhood was gone. I went from working in Manhattan, being gone 11 hours a day to being here probably 12 hours a day," Maslov said. "But I was loving what I was doing, and I felt like every customer I talked to was just building my business and my brand.”

One of the ways Maslov has marked new chapter for the eatery was revamping the menu, which she started doing as soon as she took over. 

“Pizza is more like part of the meal but it’s not the entrée anymore,” she said.

'Evolving with the times'

Aside from adding Roman-style pizza such as the vodka roni mini roman personal pie ($20) and the upside down burrata mini roman ($19), the menu also includes dinner platters such as skirt steak ($42) served with Chimichurri, mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus. A spicy pork chop (starts $27) the bone in pork chop is breaded and deep fried, served in a spicy garlic and oil sauce with cherry peppers.

Maslov has also added events such as the popular psychic night and trivia night, as well as live music dates. But the improvements went past the menu, Maslov renovated the back patio for year-round outdoor dining. The outdoor space is decked out with red and white umbrellas, a wink to the iconic red and white canopy logo for six months of the year and it’s has heated and air-conditioned igloos for the colder months.

“Now it’s like I don’t want to just go out to eat, I want to go out to be entertained,” Maslov said. “They need a place where they can take lots of photos in and they need a place where there’s something more than just the food.”

Maslov has also focused on growing the restaurants social media channel, posting content to raise awareness about Pietro’s and their offerings with fun skits that she and her husband Andy and staff put together.

“Evolving with the times and not holding on to things just for nostalgia, but at the same time, you want to pay homage to the past as well so it’s a real fine line," she said. "Keeping certain things that were super important and then making changes to others, but you don’t want to go too far off because then you’re not where you came from.”

Pietro's of East Meadow, 476 E. Meadow Ave., East Meadow, 516-794-8820, pietros-pizza.com 4 to 9:30 p.m., Monday to Thursday, 3 to 10 p.m. Friday, noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 9:30 p.m, Sunday.