Uncle D’s praised for convenience, taste

At its Kirkwood Avenue location, Uncle D’s New York Pizza has brought its authentic brand of New York-style pizza by the slice to Bloomington and IU students for a little more than two years.

Now, the small franchise, which also has restaurants at the University of Michigan campus and 3 other Michigan locations, is reaping the benefits for its hard work.
Bloomington location co-owner and manager Andre D’Angelo said Uncle D’s New York Pizza is revered as “The Best Take Out Pizza” by Bloom magazine food critics and, as a byproduct of its success in town, is now being inducted into the “Would I Buy It Again? Hall of Fame.”

The award came as a letter from the producers of a blog of the same name, which claims to “answer one simple question for Indy food consumers.”

D’Angelo said Uncle D’s began in 1997 in New York when he and his cousin, Uncle D’s CEO and company namesake, Dominico Tellemaco, collaborated on a way to provide an answer to the popularity of growing New York pizza shops.

“New York doesn’t need another pizza shop, so we decided to take that flavor elsewhere,” he said.

At the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, D’Angelo and Tellemaco cemented their commitment to high-quality pizza by the slice by utilizing family recipes from Italy.  

D’Angelo said Uncle D’s even has its own way to stretch the dough. Tellemaco’s mother put the menu together, which has original specialty pizzas such as Philly cheesesteak and baked ziti.  

“We knew what he had was good enough to share,” he said. “There were all these New Yorkers in town, but there was nothing really representing New York-style pizza until we came along.”

The decision to bring the business to Bloomington came from a suggestion of longtime friend and business partner Brian Evans, an IU alumnus and former NBA player for the Orlando Magic.

D’Angelo said he realized this move would make sense because of IU’s connection as one of the Big Ten schools and the large customer base that connection attracts.

IU employee and Uncle D’s patron Melody Amato has been eating at Uncle D’s since it opened. She is from Florida, where she said there were “lots of Little Caesar’s chains.”

“It’s refreshing to have pizza that is more authentic-tasting,” she said. “I could expect to find the same things on a New York street corner.”

Recent graduate Jessica Pirucci has worked at Uncle D’s since January. She is from Michigan and said she never tried New York-style pizza until she began working there.
Pirucci said she most enjoys the variety of options. Her favorite pizza is also Uncle D’s most popular, the mild buffalo chicken pizza.

“It has bleu cheese on it,” she said. “I hate bleu cheese, but I love the pizza.”

Graduate student Kevin Foster came to the store Tuesday and purchased a slice of spinach pizza. He ordered it to go and said he would eat and walk.

For students on the go like himself, Foster said Uncle D’s is quite convenient.  

“And it’s a nice portion of food for only three bucks,” he said. “For Bloomington, that’s pretty good.”