Prince St. Pizza opened in 2012 in New York City’s Nolita neighborhood, and it quickly became a local favorite. The restaurant maintained just one location until 2020. That’s when Lawrence Longo took over as CEO.
Longo realized the power of the brand after hosting a Prince St. Pizza pop-up in Los Angeles in 2019. It drew long lines of eager customers wrapped around the block, and gained significant coverage in the media, and on social media. He saw potential, so he asked the founding family if he could open a brick-and-mortar store in L.A. They said yes, as long as he adhered to certain tenets like using New York water and serving the same family recipes.
Prince St. Pizza is known for its Sicilian-style square pies featuring a thick crust that’s both crisp and fluffy, and thin Neapolitan pies. Most are available as whole pizzas or by the slice.
Favorites include the Spicy Spring, made with fra diavolo sauce, pepperoni, fresh mozzarella, and pecorino Romano cheese, and the Naughty Pie, which features spicy vodka sauce, pepperoni, fresh mozzarella, ricotta, and hot honey.
The menu also includes an Italian chopped salad, a Caesar salad, mozzarella sticks, and desserts like New York cheesecake, flourless chocolate cake, and tiramisu.
More locations followed within California, and then outside the state in markets like Chicago and Toronto.
The concept is known for its Sicilian-style slices and pepperoni cups. | Price St. Pizza
The newest store opens Oct. 24 in Dallas on Henderson Avenue, a buzzy strip full of restaurants and bars. It’s in the 1,200-square-foot space once occupied by Fireside Pies, one of the original anchors of the neighborhood’s dining scene. It features a walk-up counter inside and a large patio for outdoor seating. There’s not yet a beer and wine license, but Longo expects to add one down the road.
The restaurant opens for lunch at 11 a.m. and serves all day, staying open until 11 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday. Hours are extended until midnight on Thursdays and until 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays to serve the late-night crowd.
Dallas is Prince St. Pizza’s 17th location. There are plans to open shops in Miami later this year, and then Nashville, Charleston, S.C., and Monmouth, N.J., next year.
“It all comes down to product and to telling a story,” said Longo. “We want to stay true to the business, and at the end of the day, we’re here to feed the community a premium product. We’re not coming here like ‘we’re from New York.’ We want to tap into the local community and listen to what they want.”
When evaluating new markets, Longo likes to look for high-density cities with multiple sports teams, locations with foot traffic, and the ability to stay open late.
Looking toward the future, Longo said that his goal is to be the best premium slice shop in America. There’s no specific formula for how to get there, nor is there a target number of total locations. He acknowledges that success might mean having five stores in one market and one in another.
“I want everyone to be able to try the product,” he said, “but we don’t want to oversaturate. I want the product to be special.”
Outside of Prince St. Pizza, Longo is also the CEO of Irv’s Burgers, a California roadside burger stand with roots dating back to 1946. He took it over in 2022 and has since expanded to additional locations within the state and in Las Vegas.
