Buona Sera closes in Smithtown after 16 years

After 16 years in downtown Smithtown, Buona Sera is passing the baton. The popular pizzeria-trattoria closed in July; the space has been taken over by The Pizzeria, a growing Suffolk chain. The owners of Buona Sera declined to comment on the sale.

"We’d had our eye on this space for a while," said Paul Saccoccio, who owns The Pizzeria with his brother, Dan Saccoccio, and childhood friend Cliff Weinstein. "It’s a great location." Sacoccio said the owners "had been looking to get out for a while."

The Pizzeria got its start in 2020 as a 500-square-foot operation at Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove, but successive shops have gotten bigger and bigger: Bayport (800 square feet), Islip, Lindenhurst and Bay Shore (more than double that) and, in April, Babylon, which weighs in at 5,000 square feet.

Like all but the Lake Grove and Bayport locations, Smithtown (3,000 square feet) will be divided into three distinct areas: pizza takeout (with self-serve tables), a contemporary dining room and a bar. Saccoccio said his team was "about to start swinging hammers. We’re gutting the place and the renovation will look like a bigger version of Bay Shore."

"I’m always six months off in my predictions," he continued, "but we hope to be open in January."