New pizza restaurant and bar in Estero wins fans with creative pies, cool cocktails

When Antonio Longobardo opened Pezzo Pizza + Bar in Estero on June 10, he wasn’t sure what to expect.

“It’s a new concept so I didn’t know what the reception would be,” said Longobardo who also owns Luigi’s Pizza É Pasta in Miromar Outlets. “I’ve been so surprised and humbled by how busy we are. We’ve had a waitlist on the weekends in the middle of summer. The area needed something like this I think.”

Pezzo took over the Zino Bar & Pizzeria space, right next door to Zino Italian Ristorante on U.S. 41 in the Estero Plaza with Rusty’s Raw Bar.

“I’ve had this concept on the back burner for a while,” Longobardo said. “It’s a long process, finding a property, negotiating, opening. I was looking for another Luigi’s when I came upon this location. I couldn’t have thought of a better spot for this. I moved forward quickly. I wanted to get my bearings set in the summer before season begins.”

Longobardo describes Pezzo as a gourmet Italian kitchen and craft cocktail bar.

“We call it a pizza and bar because that’s the focus, but we cater to people who want pasta too,” he said. “We have a great Italian kitchen. Everything is homemade — the dough, the pasta, the sauce. Everything.”

Signature pizzas are the stars

That dough is made with Caputo flour which Longobardo says is made for hotter oven temperatures and is a personal preference.

“It has a cleaner taste which places an emphasis on the toppings,” he said. “There’s such a fantastic crispiness it’s unbelievable. We need that for our style of pizza.

And that pizza is the early star at Pezzo.

“We have the usual pizzas but we also have fun and interesting flavors,” said Longobardo. “We brought back the ideas for flavors that are combined in street food from Naples, Italy.”

The dozen specialty pizzas range from relatively simple Gardener (tomato, olives, peppers, onion and mozzarella) to Longobardo’s favorite, the Potate with crème fraiche, caramelized onion, bacon and potato.

“I eat at least five pizzas a week,” he said. “I’m probably at a pizza a day now. I get a 10-inch with a salad and it’s a perfect meal.”

Spicy Baby is a best seller 'by far'

The most popular pie so far is the pepperoni, ricotta and red pepper-infused honey creation known as the Spicy Baby.

“It’s fantastic,” Longobardo said. “It’s the No. 1 seller by far.”

Pizzas come in a 10-inch ($11-$14) personal size or a 16-inch large ($24-$30).

Antipasto (think beef or octopus carpaccio, fried calamari and shrimp with zucchini, Italian charcuterie and more), salads and entrees — Parmaseans, penne, rigatoni and more — fill out the menu.

“It’s still 70 percent pizza but the other stuff is moving too,” Longobardo said. “Pastas are selling. We are growing by about 15 percent every week. And a lot of it is word of mouth. Eighty percent of customers say, ‘A friend told me about it and they loved it.’”

Specialty cocktails are a big draw too

Social media has been full of Pezzo’s flawlessly Instagramable cocktails.

“We have a tremendous amount of special cocktails,” Longobardo said. “We’ve created a fun cocktail menu.”

Two of the bestsellers are the Glitter Mafia — with spicy tequila, blackberries, lemon, simple syrup and gold flakes that “glisten and glow in the glass when the light from the bar shines up through it” and the tiramisu old fashioned that “tastes just like the dessert.”

Another drink gaining in popularity is the Tell Me When to Stop, an espresso martini topped with fresh grated Parmesan romano.

“That’s my favorite,” Longobardi said. “It’s so different. The Parmesan is a fantastic blend of sweetness with saltiness. You tell the server when to stop adding more.”

For the summer, happy hour is available from 3-6 p.m. daily and includes $10 specialty drinks, $6 house wines, $4 beer, $10 personal pizzas (margherita, pepperoni, Spicy Baby or La Bianca) and more.

Pezzo is out to amplify your appetite

Longobardo’s attention to detail goes beyond his food and drink menu.

You can see it everywhere you look in Pezzo.

“People want an experience when they dine out,” he said. “Our motto is amplify your appetite. To do that we’ve catered to all the senses. Everything here is super appealing.”

It starts with the eye-catching, 32-seat translucent quartzite natural stone bar with color-changing LED lights making it appear otherworldly.

Whitewashed brick, a neon sign and row after row of liquor bottles complement that bar. The rest of the dining room has a clean, cool, crisp look.

“It was rather bland in here before,” Longobardo said. “It took 3½ to four months to redo.”

Add in a state-of-the-art sound system and the fragrances wafting from the kitchen and you’re all in.

“When you walk in, you’ll have an experience you can’t get anywhere else,” Longobardo said. “I’m really excited to bring this to the community.”

Pezzo Pizza + Bar, 20041 S. Tamiami Trail, Estero; it’s open 3-10 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 3 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday and 3-9 p.m. Sunday; pezzopizzabar.com; (239) 908-9197; follow along on Facebook and Instagram

Robyn George is a food and dining writer for The Fort Myers News-Press. Send news to rhgeorge@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Pezzo Pizza + Bar is quickly earning a following in Estero