Former University of Arizona football player Mark Fontana grew up around authentic buffalo wings, pizza and calzones coming from the kitchen of his family’s Buffalo, N.Y., Italian restaurant.
“I’ve always told my wife and my kids, ‘We’re going to open a place.’ And they said ‘Nah, nah,’ ” he said.
Three weeks ago, Fontana, a longtime Tucson general contractor, swung open the doors of New York Pizza Department. It’s an homage of sorts to his Buffalo roots — house-made meatballs and red sauce used in the overstuffed Italian bomber subs ($6.50), calzones stuffed thick with mozzarella cheese and tangy sausage ($5.95 and $6.95), fresh dough used to make pizzas by the pie ($11 to $14.50) or slice (jumbo with a soda for $3, two slices and a soda for $5) and gooey molten chocolate cake ($4.50).
His restaurant is tucked in an intimate space at 1521 N. Wilmot Road that was once home to a Fresco Pizzeria & Pastaria. It seats 31 inside and has a table outside; Fontana said he plans to add a second outdoor table.
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“It’s very nice. I gutted and remodeled it all. New York pictures all over, banners, TVs and a bar area,” said the father of two who played football at the UA in 1987-89 under Coach Dick Tomey.
NYPD — which shares its name with a pizza joint in the Phoenix area but is not related to it — is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays. Details: 207-7667.
Read all the latest restaurant news in Thursday's Caliente section of the Arizona Daily Star.
