DiPaulos has a long history in the Kenmore – Town of Tonawanda area. The first store was opened on Sheridan Drive near the Sheridan Golf Course in 1967 by two friends, Dick and Paul - combine their names, added an O and you have DiPaulo's.
Soon, two more locations opened, one on Englewood Avenue and our current location opened in 1968 at 571 Brighton Road, across from the airplane at Kenny Field. This was strictly a take-out pizzeria, while the others were sit-down restaurants. Within four years, a dining room was added to the Brighton Road restaurant.
In the early days, Dick’s mother would make all the soups, chili, cookies, and pastries – and we still use those recipes today! It became a true family business when Dick’s brother joined the crew, bringing with him breakfast serving experience. This began an extremely popular element of DiPaulos’ reputation. Hundreds (perhaps thousands!) of customers enjoyed not only eating breakfast at DiPaulos, but also meeting with friends and colleagues to discuss the latest news (and even gossip). While our breakfast menu was discontinued in 2002, the relationships built over those years remain forever.
Current owner, Mike Grieco, joined the DiPaulos’ staff in 1972, while a high school student. He rose to become manager until 1983 – it was at that time that the original owners approached Mike about purchasing the Brighton Road location – that was April 18, 1983. In the past 25 years, the Grieco family has continued serving the local community with top quality food in a spirit of the family tradition begun by two good friends.
Mike’s wife Patty and children, Adam and Ryan all worked in the restaurant, as together, they sought to continue and strengthen the business. While the children were little, they would help assemble pizza boxes, and as they grew, they could take on more responsibilities as high school and college students. Now, as adults with different careers, you can still see them making pizza on occasion.
During the past 25 years, the Griecos have employed hundreds of people, especially high school students – giving many their ‘first job’. Many have come and gone, but one staff member has seen it all and stayed with it all: Dona. Dona has been a part of the DiPaulos tradition since Mike Grieco became the owner in 1983. She knows most ‘regulars’ by name, and if she doesn’t know you, she soon will through her welcoming smile. Dona epitomizes what DiPaulos is all about: friendly customer service! Mike's brother Richard joined the business years ago and serves as General Manager. He is a very integral part of the business and a big reason for our success.
In addition, we strive to serve only the best food – using only the best ingredients in our pizzas, subs, and wings. Margherita pepperoni, Sorrento cheese and our own special recipe sauce and dough create a taste that cannot be duplicated. We don’t compromise quality – ever!
We have many long-time customers, and long-distance customers! People who have moved away will return to our restaurant when visiting the area – just for a taste of what they cannot get elsewhere! Our pizza has been brought to nearly every state in the union and our number of Southern Ontario customers grows each day!
It has only been through hard-work, commitment to high quality food standards, and top-notch customer service that we have been able to grow from a mere 7-8 employees to over 20 – and some of our current staff are the children of former staff members! Recently we completed an expansion project to increase the size of the kitchen, add pizza ovens and upgrade our computer system. We were able to make use of the space vacated by our long-time neighbor, Larry the Barber, who retired. Truly keeping our business ‘in the family.’
DiPaulos Restaurant began as a business between friends and that friendship evolved into a family tradition spanning nearly four decades. We remain proud to be of service to the Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda community, and beyond!
