Franco's Pizza will be opening on Court Street Thursday.
Franco's pizza recipe has traveled from Italy to New York to Parkersburg — and now, to Athens.
Franco’s Pizza is set to open Thursday, at 42 S. Court Street, Kiser's Barbeque's former location.
According to co-owner Marty Parsons, the New York-style pizza restaurant is named after Franco Scotto, the proprietor of the pizza restaurant Parsons originally worked at.
“Franco Scotto, he owns two pizza places in Parkersburg, and this is his original recipe from Italy,” Parsons said. “He’s been in Parkersburg since 1975. We decided to name the restaurant after him because he let us use his recipe.”
Parsons said he’s been making pizza for most of his life and has been floating around the idea of opening a pizza parlor in Athens for a while.
“I’ve been cooking this pizza since I was 15, now I’m 43,” Parsons said. “We were looking to come here about 10 years ago. We were just up here recently snoopin’ around one day, figured it was a busy town, a college town, that’s half an hour away from home.”
Parsons said Franco’s Pizza is the real deal, and there’s no other establishment like it in Athens.
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="32140612-db3e-11e5-a548-0f7a2b47e329"}}
“Everything’s made fresh daily,” he said. “We grind our own tomatoes, grate our own cheese, slice our own pepperoni. It’s real, authentic, New York Italian pizza. It’s the only authentic New York pizza around here. No one’s ever tasted anything like this.”
Parsons said the starting hours for the restaurant will be 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. A slice of cheese pizza will cost $2.50, and pepperoni will cost $2.75. Aside from the pizza, Franco’s also serves subs, calzones and salads.
Some OU students are excited about having another restaurant to frequent. Danny Denmark, a junior studying urban planning, welcomes another uptown pizza place.
“I think it’s awesome,” he said, “I don’t think we have enough to begin with. We really only have Goodfella’s and Courtside, so the more culture, the better.”
Morgan Hale, a junior studying psychology pre-med, is a self-proclaimed pizza fanatic and is happy to hear that another parlor is opening.
“If I actually had my wallet on me, I’d be eating pizza right now,” she said. “I’m really excited, I thoroughly enjoy pizza.”
Hale also thinks the uniqueness of Franco’s will bring a different sort of taste to Athens.
“Places have their own way of doing things,” Hale said. “They’re all different in their own way. Sometimes I’ll crave Pizza Hut, sometimes I’ll crave Avalanche.”
@Jonny_Palermo
jp351014@ohio.edu
