Newly Opened Long Island Eatery Quickly Creating Buzz Among Pizza Lovers

With multiple pizza styles on the menu - including New York, Roman, and Neapolitan - Mozzafiato opened in late December 2020 on Middle Country Road in Centereach.

In Italian, "mozzafiato" means breathtaking, awesome, or amazing.

Local foodies on Yelp, Instagram, and the Foodies of Long Island Facebook group, have praised Mozzafiato for its unique specialty pies - like pizza with Buratta, short rib, and truffle oil - as well as the restaurant’s use of fresh, quality ingredients.

And Mozzafiato is attracting all this love without even having pulled out the big guns. 

Mozzafiato hasn't fired-up its brick oven, yet. The pizzeria has multiple pizza ovens in service and brick-oven pies are coming soon, according to Mozzafiato.

In the meantime, many customers appear to be enjoying the menu.

“This place is gonna be such a zoo when the word gets out,” said Frank L. from Ronkonkoma, NY, in a Yelp review. “Thin crust and a taste reminiscent of the way I remember pizza tasting when I was a kid. Making my mouth water just thinking about it. By far the best regular pie in the area. The different styles of pizza behind the counter all looked fresh and delicious.”

The eatery is owned by Joe Strada. The kitchen is helmed by head chef and manager John Ioannou, according to Greater Port Jeff. In November, Strada told the publication that he plans on using the most local, in-season foods available, as well as imports from Italy, in Mozzafiato’s kitchen.

One of the pizzerias specialties is “pizza al taglio” a variety of pizza with a light, airy crust made from a super-hydrated, cold-fermented dough and sold by the slice.

Mozzafiato’s menu has familiar items, elevated.

Among the pasta, salads, panini, heroes, and pizza are homemade meatballs in stracciatella cream, primavera pizza topped with sauteed vegetables, eggplant ricotta Parmigiana pizza, sausage rabe pizza, capellini cakes (fried angel hair pasta), and the Gamberi panini, which is grilled shrimp with avocado, arugula, tomato, sriracha ranch, and pickled red onions.

Other menu standouts include the garlic knots, mozzarella Carrozza, chicken roll, and calzone.

Mozzafiato Pizzeria is open Tuesday-Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and closed, temporarily, on Mondays until more staff can be hired, according to the pizzeria’s website. Mozzafiato is located at 1950 Middle Country Road in Centereach, (631) 467-1111, mozzafiatopizzeria.com.

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