- April 24, 2024
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Giovanni’s Pizza & Pasta, at 218 Moody Blvd., in Flagler Beach, opened Oct. 25.
When it comes to the pizza game, Giovanni’s Pizza & Pasta owners Giovanni Chiofalo and Ricky McMahan are no amateurs.
“I grew up in a pizzeria,” Chiofalo said, explaining that his family owned “one of those railroad homes” in Brooklyn, N.Y.: The bottom floor was a pizza place; his grandparents lived on the floor above it; his aunt and uncle above them; and he and his family lived on top.
Every day after school, he’d come back to the shop, where his dad would have a slice waiting for him. He’d hang out, eat an Icee and watch everybody work. When he got bored, he’d run upstairs for a bit, then maybe come down later to play on the stoop.
At 12 years old, he went to work in the kitchen, and by 16, was a full cook. Later, he owned pizzerias of his own, one for as long as 15 years.
McMahan comes from the same neighborhood, but eventually moved to Virginia, where he too owned a couple Italian restaurants.
The two have known each other more than 25 years.
“There weren’t a lot of cooks around that could touch me,” Chiofalo said. “I never went to school for it; I just watched my dad and uncle. … I was always around the kitchen.”
After moving to Flagler about eight months ago, he found Giovanni’s current location, at 218 Moody Blvd., in Flagler Beach, and convinced McMahan to move down and partner.
They opened their doors Oct. 25, using a menu of all Chiofalo’s father’s recipes from “back home,” in Brooklyn.
The restaurant’s atmosphere, which Chiofalo describes as “more like little-pizza take-out, a beach pizza place,” has a traditional small-town vibe. A painting covers the entire back wall: a quaint street corner with flowers laid out in vases and bicycles leaning against storefront windows. There are specials written on black chalkboards, which the two plan to change often to keep the menu fresh.
There are wooden beams and paneling, “Goodfellas” posters and shelves with jumbo cans of tomato sauce and olive oil displayed near the ceiling.
It’s the “home of the $7.99 16-inch pizza,” Chiofalo says, explaining that he doesn’t worry so much about being surrounded by several other pizzerias around town, near the pier.
“Growing up in Brooklyn, there’s pizza places all over the place, on every corner,” he said. “They do their thing; I do my own thing. There’s enough pizza out there for everybody.”
For more, call 693-4815.
