New Downers Grove pizzeria aims for 'neighborhood favorite' status

A pizza shop that recently launched in Downers Grove aims to be the new “neighborhood favorite.”

Pizzeria 32 took over a space next to Family Video, formerly occupied by Marco's Pizza, when it opened two months ago at 5600 Belmont Road. Since then, it has welcomed diners with its slogan of “eat pizza, my friends.”

The carryout, delivery and catering shop gets its name from 1932, the year the grandfather of the Syreggelas family, known as Papou Stavros, came to the U.S. from Europe.

Owner Steve Syreggelas and his partners are looking to grow the concept with a Naperville location coming later this year, and also with three more sites in the Northern suburbs and Chicago.

“It's your neighborhood pizzeria — but taken up a couple notches,” said Sam Syreggelas, Steve's brother, who developed the concept. “There's a lot of little steps we take to separate ourselves from the competition.”

The pizzeria makes its own dough and uses it as the bread for oven-baked sandwiches. Dough is mixed one day, then cold fermented for 24 to 48 hours before becoming the base of two types of thin-crust pizza. The Pizzeria 32 classic is a variation on a New York style — beveled crust, big foldable slices. And the tavern style is a Chicago staple — cracker-crispy crust, square-cut into small pieces.

“It's not just ‘Spin it in the morning and serve it at 12,'” Sam said about the dough. Letting the dough ferment over time imparts a stronger flavor, he said.

Pizzeria 32 also offers appetizers and desserts, with some options the brothers call “fresh and light,” such as housemade fire-roasted veggies.

“This starts here, finishes here,” Sam said, holding a tray of seasoned veggies that was in the works Wednesday afternoon.

Salads make up roughly 40% of the restaurant's sales.

“All salads here are teamed up with a protein, so they're a meal in themselves,” Sam said.

The Syreggelas brothers grew up in the restaurant business, with their father, Tom, running Cartons restaurant in Chicago until he retired eight or nine years ago.

Steve said they know how to focus on a restaurant's details from the bottom up. They put thought into the look of their space and even into all sides of the pizza box, which Steve said is important because it's what customers see at home as they're eating.

“Either your box is empty,” the cardboard container reads on the bottom, “or you've got an upside-down pizza on your hands.”