Taglio of Mineola opening new pizzeria in Massapequa Park
Roman-style pizza slices at Taglio in Mineola. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
Since 2018, Rob Cervoni has been serving some of Long Island’s best pizza out of one of Long Island’s most obscure locations.
Taglio, a partnership with Mimmo Tomoleo, is around the corner from the Mineola LIRR station and hidden from view by the Mineola Boulevard overpass. It introduced Roman-style pizza to the local scene and has been a fixture on Newsday’s top pizza list.
For his next act, Cervoni is setting himself an easier task: He has just signed a lease at 115 Front St. in Massapequa Park, a location that comes with foot traffic and, drumroll, please: a huge parking lot in the back. “It’s even got front and rear entrances,” he noted.
The storefront was, most recently, the short-lived Grand Cafe but, before that, it was Sumi Sushi. Cervoni said that the sushi bar is still there and that he will be doing “a complete gut” of the interior. “I want it to be a Willy Wonka factory of pizza,” Cervoni said.
The new pizzeria will have 30 to 40 indoor seats and an outdoor dining area. It won’t be too much bigger than the Mineola shop, but “it will be a little more elevated, serving beer and wine,” he said. As in Mineola, there will be fried appetizers and salads but, Cervoni added, “it’s still a slice shop at heart.”
While you can get round pies (and wedge-shaped slices) at Taglio, the signature pies are rectangular, the slices square. Roman-style pizzas are baked in large sheet pans and cut with scissors into slices. (“Taglio” is Italian for “slice.”) What distinguishes pizza al taglio from Sicilian is that it relies on a high-hydration (i.e. wet) dough that gets a long, slow rise. The resultant crust is full-flavored, light and full of air bubbles. Toppings range from simple tomato sauce and cheese to shingled potatoes and ricotta, spinach and artichokes, or mushrooms, pancetta caramelized onions, stracciatella and truffle oil.
Cervoni is a decorated pizzaiolo, winning a “Chopped” championship on Food Network in 2023. While he is the co-owner of Taglio in Mineola, Massapequa Park will be a solo venture. Cervoni is aiming for a late-fall opening.
Now open: 85 Mineola Blvd., Mineola, 516-741-0379, taglioromanpizza.com. Open daily 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.