Aegean Pizza to merge with Carlo's Pizza Oven of Holbrook

Can pizzerias have nine lives?  Just a few weeks after Aegean Pizza closed at the Sun Vet Mall, capping a 48-year-run with long lines, woeful laments and visits from faraway fans, their pies will reappear a few miles away.

Aegean co-owner Harry Rossis plans to resurrect the pizzeria’s most iconic dishes at Carlo’s Pizza Oven of Holbrook, partnering up with Carlo’s co-owner and longtime friend Billy Lee Jr. to serve Aegean’s pizza, gyros and other staples alongside Carlo's own oeuvre (as well as alongside wine and cocktails; while Carlo's has a bar, Aegean never did).

“We’re going to join forces and run with this,” said Rossis, who had worked at Carlo’s off and on for years until becoming a partner at Aegean back in 2013. “We’ve been talking about it for a while." 

After decades in the Sun Vet Mall — now almost entirely empty and slated for redevelopment — Aegean closed on Aug. 6, running out of pizza on at least one occasion as devoted customers queued patiently for takeout and sit-down suppers during its last few weeks. 

Carlo's also has a locally illustrious history: Founded in Queens in 1957, the Holbrook location has been serving pizza since 1990, as well as a lengthy roster of calzone, pasta, heroes, seafood and chops.

Though the collab doesn’t launch until Sept. 1, Rossis has already been at Carlo’s learning the ropes. “I’m old school, so I need to learn the computer end of it,” he said. What he doesn't need to relearn are the Aegean recipes he knows up, down and sideways: For 16-inch cheese pies, gyros, souvlaki and Greek salads, all of which are among the definites at Carlo's, said Rossis, who had just pulled a garlic-knot pie from the oven. “Fifty years — it was incredible. I didn’t want it to end.”

Carlo’s Pizza Oven of Holbrook is at 480 Patchogue-Holbrook Rd., Holbrook; 631-284-4602, carlospizzaoven.com