After seven decades of serving up mouth-watering pizza slices and thick, deli sandwiches, Lenny’s Pizza closed its doors for good on February 19, 2023.
The Bensonhurst institution, located at 1969 86th St., was made famous by the 1977 movie “Saturday Night Fever.” The pizzeria was featured in the opening scene in which John Travolta’s character Tony Manero orders a “double-decker,” (two slices of pizza stacked on top of each other) and proceeds to munch on it while strutting down 86th street. In 2018, Travolta returned to Lenny’s Pizza to celebrate the movie that immortalized the both of them.
Lenny’s Pizza was run by the father-daughter duo Frank and Josephine Giordano. The eatery was bought in 1988 by 77-year-old Frank, who recently decided it was time to hang up his hat and retire. Josephine made the announcement from the pizzeria’s Facebook account on February 17.
“It’s bittersweet to inform you guys that we are closing our doors after so many years. My dad is finally retiring at 77 years old. We thankfully have done very well and felt it was best to close once my dad was ready,” wrote Josephine in her Facebook post. “It’s time for him and I to enjoy our families. We want to thank everyone who has given us the opportunity to serve them.”
The result was an immediate outpouring of support and love, with many reminiscing on the times they spent visiting the pizzeria.
One Facebook user wrote: “Wishing your Dad and family the very best on his well deserved retirement. Thank you for serving the public all these years. I’ll always have the segments on Saturday Night Fever as a wonderful memory!”
Another wrote: “Congratulations on your retirement . Definitely will be missed. I remember going for pizza with my friends when we were teenagers. Then when I had kids bringing my kids, then bringing my grandkids. So you guys will certainly be missed. Again, Congratulations and Enjoy your retirement.”
The restaurant served its last slices on February 19. Throughout the weekend, lines stretched across the block and patrons blasted the Saturday Night Live theme music from their phones as they waited for pizza. “It’s been a great run,” Josephine said to amNY. “It’s the ending of an era, but most importantly, I can take this opportunity to thank all my customers, and it’s definitely been a fantastic time. I’ve gotten to meet so many people on a friendly level which is great.”
Asia London Palomba
Asia London Palomba is a trilingual freelance journalist from Rome, Italy. In the past, her work on culture, travel, and history has been published in The Boston Globe, Atlas Obscura,The Christian Science Monitor and Grub Street, New York Magazine's food section. In her free time, Asia enjoys traveling home to Italy to spend time with family and friends, drinking Hugo Spritzes, and making her nonna's homemade cavatelli.