The Daily News notes that southern Brooklyn is bucking the nationwide trend toward chain restaurants and focuses on the opening of Zio Toto, an upcoming brick-oven joint in Bay Ridge. Here's the News:
Southern Brooklyn's apparent insulation from the national trend of franchise pizza joints squeezing out mom-and-pops may in part be due to the downright hostility many locals feel toward their corporate counterparts.
John Miniaci Jr. of Johnny's Pizza in Sunset Park, whose father, John Sr., founded the neighborhood pizzeria in 1968, even started a petition drive in hope of blocking the opening of a Papa John's franchise outlet from moving to his block.
His anti-Papa John's petition went to the pizza titan's corporate office in Kentucky with 2,200 signatures. Papa John's didn't respond to the petition and opened as expected last month, but Miniaci insisted there was no noticeable drop-off in his business.
Zio Toto, the pizzeria that inspired reporter Matthew Lysiak to write the piece, will open in Bay Ridge at 84th Street and Third Avenue, replacing a Cheesesteak Factory, which closed in August.
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