Good News You May Have Missed
Sal’s Pizzeria, a Local Favorite, Returns to Oneonta’s Main Street
By FLORECITA SILVERIO
SUNY Institute for Local News
ONEONTA
When you walk into Sal’s Pizzeria on Oneonta’s Main Street, the smell of fresh dough and tomato sauce hits you first. It’s an aroma of tradition. Behind the counter is Johnny Grigoli, a man whose life has been intertwined with pizza since he was 9 years old.
Johnny’s back. He sold the place a few years ago, but it became available again and, in August, he restarted.
“People would stop me on the street and say, ‘Please take it back,’” he recalled.
The business has been in the family since October 19, 1977—48 years ago.
Said Grigoli with a smile about the opening, “It was my birthday, too.”
Sal’s Pizzeria began as a family dream rooted in Brooklyn and built with hard work in upstate New York.
“We had a restaurant in Brooklyn, but my dad loved farming,” Grigoli explained. “We bought a property in Stamford, had a farm there, and my older brother opened a pizzeria. Eventually, we expanded and opened this place.”
Since then, the pizzeria has become a cornerstone of the Oneonta community. Grigoli’s father named the restaurant after his son, Salvatore, but the business quickly became a family affair.
“There were four of us brothers,” he said. “I was the youngest. We all worked together—summers in Cooperstown, after school here in Oneonta. We grew up in this place.”
Now, almost five decades later, Grigoli runs the pizzeria with his brother, Joe, and a small, dedicated team.
“It’s hard to find help these days,” Grigoli said. But he is “so thankful for the few who do show up. We run seven days a week, and we make it happen.”
Returning in August brought new joy to the effort.
“When I reopened this August, the support was overwhelming. It reminded me that I must have done something right,” Grigoli said.
For Grigoli, Sal’s is not just a restaurant. It is part of who he is.
“This place gave me everything,” he said. “It helped me go to college, it provided for my family, and it has been my life. Sure, it is hard work, opening and closing every day, but it is worth it.”
Grigoli’s goal now is to keep Sal’s thriving and to reach the 50-year milestone.
“Once I hit that, I can finally say I did it,” he said. “Fifty years, from a 9-year-old kid in the kitchen to now. That is something special.”
As the smell of pizza fills the air and college students and community members file in for a slice, Grigoli smiles, still taking every order personally and eager to do right by the community.
“If something is wrong, tell me. I will make it right. That is how we have lasted this long: good food, hard work and caring about people,” Grigoli said.
This story was created by student reporters through the OnNY Community Media Service, a program of SUNY Oneonta and the SUNY Institute for Local News.
