‘Works of art’: Customers speak on city’s most exclusive pie, Angelo’s Pizza
Angelo’s Pizza Bar may be the most exclusive eats in Syracuse. Customers race to comment on his Instagram account, vying to be chosen to receive a Detroit-style pizza. Courtesy of Jojo Blain
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Most pizza restaurants boast a wide variety of flavors, with many variations and long topping lists. But this menu only has one flavor: a Detroit-style pie with red sauce, ricotta cheese, pepperoni, honey and basil.
Still, people can’t seem to get enough, and only a few people can get their hands on these pizzas each week.
“It’s exciting to try to fight to be one of those few people that try to get it,” said Anthony Tringale, who runs the food review account @eatlocalnewyork. “I think that lends to success also. Just the uniqueness and its entertaining aspect.”
Angelo’s Pizza Bar has nearly 15,000 followers on Instagram. Run out of the owner’s home in North Syracuse, the homemade pizza business takes orders entirely through Instagram comments.
Aspiring customers comment on posts to get one of a few available pies. The first commenters receive a message from Angelo that they can pick up a pizza from his home. If customers don’t respond to the initial message quick enough, Angelo moves on to the next commenter.
Angelo’s Pizza Bar is a one-man operation. The chef uses no special equipment, just a noncommercial oven in a home kitchen, Tringdale said. Everything is made by hand; pounds of dough are hand mixed and pounds of cheese are hand grated, according to a post from the account.
The care put into the food is what makes it special, Tringale said. The pizzas are works of art — Tringale considers it the best pizza in central New York.
“In terms of somebody who’s incredibly passionate about what they’re doing and the art of it, I would put Angelo’s as the best,” Tringale said.
The Angelo’s Pizza Bar Instagram is relatively plain. The posts are simple — a white screen with black text detailing the time slot and how many pizzas are available. After the slots are filled, the post is removed. Customers often make vlogs and reviews about their experience getting “Syracuse’s most exclusive pizza.”
After some trial and error, Syracuse University junior Annie Knobloch commented quickly enough and successfully received a message telling her she could pick up a pizza pie. The self-described foodie said she couldn’t believe she was able to get her hands on the “most beautiful pizza ever.”
Not all commenters have been so successful.
SU senior Daniel Saligman tried — to no avail — for nearly two months this summer to be one of Angelo’s lucky customers. He turned on notifications for the Instagram page and repeatedly commented, “Please Mr. Pizza Man,” on every post, but was never successful. Like Saligman, The Daily Orange also couldn’t get a hold of Angelo for an interview.
The process is competitive. Comment sections fill instantaneously when the posts go up, Syracuse native Roseanne DePietro said.
DePietro has been following Angelo’s Pizza Bar since the account had less than one thousand followers. She was determined to get a pie, copying the word “Me” so she could immediately paste it and be the first commenter.
Getting a pizza feels like winning the lottery, DePietro said. In that case, she’s won twice.
DePietro said picking up the pizza is a little creepy, but “not in a bad way.” Customers are instructed to pull into the driveway and stay in their car while waiting for the pizza. Angelo comes up to the driver’s window and opens the pizza box to show them before handing it off.
“It feels and sounds like every drug deal you’ve ever heard about,” DePietro said.
The Detroit-style dough is light and fluffy. There’s only one variety available — red sauce with pepperoni, ricotta cheese and basil.Courtesy of Roseanne DePietro
The mystique of the business model makes you work for your food, Saligman said. The exclusivity creates a sort of in-group for those who are successful, making him want the pizza even more, he said. Saligman called Angelo’s “this secret pizza place that only the real ballers know about.”
“It creates a very forbidden fruit type of thing,” Saligman said. “You want to be one of those people in the know who’ve had the pizza. You feel like you are accomplishing something in some way if you were to get the pizza.”
The process really only works because of the quality of the pizza, Tringale said. Anyone could sell a limited amount of food out of their house, but you have to have something people want. Angelo’s Pizza Bar does, he said.
“The pizza is great, very fresh, the dough is airy and light,” DePietro said. “You could eat three pieces and not be full.”
Junior Jojo Blain was a lucky customer on her first try. After finding out about the account over the summer, she turned on post notifications but didn’t comment until a Saturday morning in October. She naturally woke up early and saw the account had just posted. She knew it was her chance.
When Blain got the message that she was one of the winners, she was 30 minutes away in LaFayette. It was a stressful rush to be on time for pickup. She was determined to not be late, something the chef requests customers avoid.
Normally Blain wouldn’t spend $35 on a pizza, but the exclusivity and reputation of Angelo’s made it worth it — at least just this once, she said.
For the high price, the pizzas are quite large. Blain said she spent the week after her pickup reheating leftovers. When DePietro got her pie, she drove around her neighborhood, delivering pieces to friends and family.
Angelo’s Pizza is so popular because no one else is doing it, Knobloch said. It’s weird and fun, which she said draws people in.
“In a city like Syracuse, it’s fun when unpredictable things are going on. If there’s something kind of out of the ordinary, everybody shows up to that,” Knobloch said. “It was a fun little side quest to go on.”
