After 100 Years of Pizza, the Future of Totonno’s Is in Question

One family has owned the beloved Coney Island pizzeria through fire, flood and a pandemic. Now the business is up for sale.

Since it was founded in 1924 by a baker from Naples, Italy, named Antonio Pero, very little has changed at Totonno’s Pizzeria Napolitana. The restaurant has operated in the same one-story building in Coney Island, burned coal in the same brick oven and followed the same recipe to make pizza that is widely held to be among New York City’s finest.

In all that time, Totonno’s has been continuously owned and operated by one family. Now it is on the brink of what could be the most consequential change in its history: The family is looking for an investor or buyer to take over. On Wednesday night, a note was added to Totonno’s website asking interested parties to send an email.

Explaining the decision, Louise Ciminieri, who owns the pizzeria with her sister, Antoinette Balzano, and their brother, Frank Balzano, said, “We’re coming up in age and we don’t have the manpower to continue.”

The family is adamant that the ideal buyer will be excited about carrying on their century-old way of making pizza. The business methods are almost as old. Totonno’s accepted only cash until two years ago, when after a long pandemic pause it began taking credit cards.

Prospective buyers “can’t go by numbers,” said Ms. Ciminieri, known to everyone as Cookie. “They have to understand the potential, and they have to understand my blood, sweat and tears in that place for 45 years.”