By William Jacko
Special to The Laker/Lutz News
When he was 18, Rosario Lubrano left his hometown of Naples, Italy, and moved to Piscataway, New Jersey, to seek the kind of opportunity available only in the United States.
“The future brought me here to look for work and start a new life,” Lubrano said. “I had a friend whose family had a pizza place in New Jersey, went to work for them as a dishwasher, and stayed there from 1996 to 2005. I had never spoken English in my life, but by listening to customers, I started picking up the language, working with customers and making the pizzas, until I was running the store. That’s where I got my passion for food and pizzerias.
Lubrano moved to Florida when he had an opportunity to open his own pizzeria in Brandon. He called his restaurant Pomodoro Pizza, which means tomato in Italian.
His pizzeria was a success, and after a few years sold his business to be closer to his home in Wesley Chapel.
Lubrano recently reopened a new Italian restaurant in Wesley Chapel, also called Pomodoro Pizza, and was soon at work again creating his own personal Jersey/Italian style of food.
“I make the dough Sicilian style from scratch every day for pizzas, calzones and pretty much everything else,” Lubrano said. “All the sauces are made at the moment. We don’t have anything ready to go. When I make the sauce, I just keep it simple. I don’t really add too many spices. I just try to keep it tomato flavored, so when you eat the pizza, you don’t taste bunches of different spices. You actually taste the flavor of the tomato.”
Local residents from the northeast, as well as former customers in Brandon, love Pomodoro Pizza for its familiar New Jersey-style pizza that is hard to find in Florida.
“Every day we get customers who say they haven’t tasted pizza like this since they left New York or New Jersey,” said Lubrano.
Pizza may reign supreme at Pomodoro Pizza, but its menu also includes hot and cold subs, chicken and seafood dishes, and desserts. Stromboli, mozzarella Caprice, lasagna, fettuccine Alfredo, eggplant parmigiana, shrimp scampi, and many other Italian standards can be found at Pomodoro Pizza, all made according to Lubrano’s own recipes.
“We’re known for pizza, but we also have excellent pasta dishes, and appetizers and fresh salads,” said Lubrano.
Lubrano enjoys living in the Wesley Chapel area, close to his restaurant in Seven Oaks Plaza on State Road 56.
“We love Wesley Chapel because wherever you go, everything is kept up well, the community is growing and the people are so nice,” said Lubrano, who adds that he helps to support his community by sponsoring local soccer teams. “People are really happy with our new pizzeria in Wesley Chapel — so much, they keep coming back until they’re friends.”
So grab a slice at Pomodoro Pizza, close your eyes, and transport yourself to the Garden State—if only for a meal.
(813) 328-8063
27607 State Road 56
Wesley Chapel, FL 33544
www.pomodoropizzafl.com
Published 1/16/19
