Pizza Palace Transitions To New But Familiar Ownership

By John Voket

Whether it is a friendly argument in the kitchen about how much salt to sprinkle in the soup, or just sitting around talking about friends and family ties, a casual observer would be hard pressed to tell between the former and new owners of the Newtown Pizza Palace. But it is the deeply valued lifelong and sometimes daily patrons new co-owner Dila Dushku and former owners Jimmy and John Antonopoulos want to reassure.

"Most important is we want to thank each and every customer for all the years they have visited us here in Newtown," said John Antonopoulos during a late June chat with The Newtown Bee.

"And everybody here wants Newtown to know that while some of the faces are changing, our waitstaff, our pizza, and everything they enjoy about the Pizza Palace will be the same, even down to the salad dressings," Ms Dushku added, as the pair sat together in one of the restaurant's corner booths.

To everyone involved, the transition of ownership was a logical one.

For the Antonopoulos brothers and their wives Effie and Vassi, the concern was to ease into retirement feeling assured that whomever took over their beloved restaurant and legacy would maintain the reputation for quality food, fair prices, and family-style service they established when they arrived in Newtown in 1983.

Happily for the Antonopoulos families, they discovered a group of acquaintances who had worked in food service establishments throughout Connecticut for decades was looking to buy a place they could call their own. And they were open to working side-by-side with Jimmy and John in the kitchen, at the register, and at the tables for as long as it took so the new owners could feel comfortable taking over the operation.

While this may seem unorthodox, and even unique, in a world where many small businesses change hands over the signing of final contracts at lawyers' offices, neither the former or new Pizza Palace owners would have it any other way.

"Because we knew each other, we wanted to help like these were members of our own family," John Antonopoulos said.

"After a month with us all working here together, before the contract was even signed, Jimmy said if I wasn't buying the place, he would have hired me to manage it so he could go part-time," Ms Dushku said. "But everyone knew it was time for Jimmy to slow down and start enjoying life."

Even six weeks after the paperwork was signed, both the Antonopoulos brothers are still on site regularly, whether it is advising the new owners on purchasing, operations, fine points of the recipes for many of their popular specials, or just to visit with some of their most familiar customers.

Ms Dushku, her brothers Alex and Gino, and longtime family friends Elias and Catherine Sofronas are also very happy to be taking over such a well-established local gathering place and a core group of very loyal customers, some who have been enjoying their thin-crust, Greek-style pizza virtually every Friday night since 1983.

"One of the things we did was start typing the specials that we insert into our regular menu," Ms Dushku said. "And don't you know, one of the first customers who opened that menu asked why we changed all the specials — but all we did was type the same ones in the same order that Jimmy and John used to hand write."

This was validation that the new Pizza Palace owners needed to tread very carefully when it came to introducing anything new or different, not that they don't have a few ideas. Ms Dushku said that in time, patrons may see things added, such as new variations of salads or maybe an occasional Tex-Mex appetizer.

"We're eventually thinking about opening for Sunday breakfast, maybe do a family night where we have a strolling magician for the kids going table to table," Ms Dushku said. "Our outside catering will still continue, and we will still continue in Jimmy and John's support for the community — everything from sponsoring a Little League team to delivering free pizzas to the Relay For Life."

The whole relationship among the Pizza Palace owners past and present began when Jim and John Antonopoulos brought Ms Dushku's uncle and aunt George and Cely Hoti to work in Newtown during their early days. Around the same time, Alex Dushku left a job at Sergio's Restaurant in Stamford to work for the original owner of George's Pizza in Dodgingtown.

Alex and Dila's brother Gino knew the Sofronases from working together in Darien at Post Corner Pizza, and all three Dushku siblings were friends with the Antonopoulos family, having been patrons at the Pizza Palace where their uncle and aunt worked for years.

Dila Dushku has been in the restaurant business for 22 years starting as a waitress and working her way up through bartender, supervisor, management, and then being responsible for an entire operation, spending 16 years running Aunt Chilada's Mexican Restaurant on Whitney Avenue in Hamden.

The Pizza Palace menu, except for those pesky typed-up specials, looks almost the same. Appetizers range from the popular fried calamari and potato skins to the spinach pie with feta cheese, tomatoes and olives, stuffed grape leaves and even a crispy bruschetta.

Stuffed three-egg omelettes come with fries and toast all day and evening, and the traditional pizza is now available in thin crust, whole wheat, and gluten-free recipes.

Hot and cold grinders, a variety of pastrami sandwiches, wraps, triple-deckers, and grilled chicken or meat gyros are also popular offerings, along with broiled steaks, pastas, seafood, and their milk-fed veal parmigiana.

Regular dinner specials range from good old American favorites like meatloaf and pot roast to eggplant rollatini, liver with bacon and onions to stuffed brook trout, Chicken Dijon, and beef stroganoff.

Visit the Pizza Palace at 65 Church Hill Road, check the website at newtownpizzapalace.com, call ahead for orders to go at 203-426-6114, or just stop in and say hello to Dila, Alex, Gino, Elias and Catherine. Maybe Jimmy or John will be there, too.

"I think one of my favorite things to see since we've taken over here is Jimmy and John sitting at the table talking and enjoying a meal as customers," Ms Dushku said. "Just a couple of great guys hanging around enjoying their retirement."