Popular Gainesville pizzeria expands with stone fired pies for Tallahassee students

Kyla A Sanford, Tallahassee Democrat
Updated ·2 min read
The new Piesano Tallahassee location on 101 North Blair Stone Road.
The new Piesano Tallahassee location on 101 North Blair Stone Road.

What originally started as "Italian Gator Pizza by the Slice" in 2000, catered specifically to the hungry gators at the University of Florida, will now cater to Florida State, Florida A&M and Tallahassee Community College students.

Piesano Stone Fired Pizza Oven, headquartered in Gainesville, is slated to open their 13th location in the capital city, Piesanos In Tallahassee.

The pizzeria will take over the former Panera Bread location in Governors Crossing II, 101 N. Blair Stone Road.

Co-owner and Staten Island, New York native, Joel Mills, his wife, Rebecca, and collective of entrepreneurs, are using their “team-effort” mantra to continue their expansion.

The other 12 Piesano locations are established in Ocala, The Villages, Clermont, Windermere, Lake City, St. Augustine and Orlando.

Corporate representatives did not immediately respond for comments, but their presence is now known with a banner on the window of the former Panera location that is anchored by a Publix.

With 27 stone-fired specialty pizzas on the menu, pizza lovers are invited to try a combination of fresh ingredients from spicy peppers to pineapples in sizes ranging from personal to medium, to large, and the 20-inch pizza “giant.”

One of their specialty pizzas includes their no-sauce, “Margherita Pizza” made with mozzarella, Roma tomatoes, fresh garlic, basil and olive oil.

Another is their “Mediterranean” style pizza, made with spinach, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, Kalamata olives, crumbled feta and mozzarella.

The pizzeria also offers a variety of appetizers, soups, salads, calzones, entrees, subs, desserts and daily lunch specials.

Pizza prices start at $7.99, while other entrees start at $11.99.

The new Piesano Tallahassee location on 101 North Blair Stone Road.
The new Piesano Tallahassee location on 101 North Blair Stone Road.

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The team is continuing to develop the new location with job postings to hire a general manager.

One person shared in the Tallahassee Foodies chat, “I'm excited for the Piesano's opening in town. Hope they're as good as the Gainesville locations. Tallahassee pizza can't compare.”

Many of the other foodies shared the same impressions of Piesanos in the comments stating that they were excited to try it again without having to drive an extra two hours to get it.

Democrat writer Kyla Sanford can be reached at ksanford@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Piesano Stone Fired Pizza Oven coming to Tallahassee