Social media posts say Salvatore’s Old Fashioned Pizzeria’s grand-opening will be Feb. 13 and Keke’s Breakfast Cafe will open Feb. 19.
Salvatore’s Old Fashioned Pizza says its grand opening will be 3 p.m. Feb. 13, after a ribbon-cutting at 2 p.m.
The restaurant is at 4820 Deer Lake Drive W. in Tapestry Park in South Jacksonville.
It is the first franchise outside of New York.
Dr. Ferdinand Formoso is the master franchisee. He and his spouse, Elisa, will head up expansion in Florida, says salvatores.com.
The location will have an emphasis on Salvatore’s Famous Rochester, NY style pizza, the website says.
It also will offer calzones, wings, salads and desserts.
It provides dine-in, takeout, delivery and online ordering at salvatores.com.
The Jacksonville location is the first to be fully branded “PINK” to raise awareness for breast cancer.
“After 45 years and 30+ locations, this is a dream come true for our Salvatore’s Pizza Family,” said founder Salvatore “SoccerSam” Fantauzzo on the website.
“I never thought that my high school home economics project would result in such a great lifetime achievement.”
Fantauzzo credits a lot of the company’s success to his dream team from Rochester, the site says, naming his wife, Linda Fantauzzo; President Kayla Kent-Moreira; Ashley Solomianko; and Silvio Fantauzzo.
Salvatore’s Pizza started as a high school home economics project in 1978.
Today, there are 30 locations in the Rochester area and expansion into Jacksonville.
The city issued a permit Oct. 3, 2023, for Salvatore’s Old Fashioned Pizzeria to build-out at 4820 Deer Lake Drive W., No. D-11.
Summit Construction Management Group LLC of Orlando was the contractor for the $200,000 project to build-out 1,109 square feet of space. Surage & Associates LLC of Ponte Vedra was the architect.
The site is in a multitenant center in front of the Aloft Hotel.
The menu includes pizza, calzones, subs and wraps, wings and chicken, burgers, fish, dinners, salads and appetizers.
Salvatores.com says all of its locations are locally owned. The corporate headquarters are in Webster, New York, near Rochester.
In 1978, Fantauzzo, a 17-year-old Eastridge High School student, opened the first Salvatore’s Pizza at 1985 E. Main St. in Rochester.
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported Feb. 2, 2023, that Salvatore’s Old Fashioned Pizzeria would expand south, opening its first restaurant in Jacksonville.
The new location will be run by Formoso, a Fairport native and a physician, who was chosen from multiple candidates because of his credentials, the news site, democratandchronicle.com, said.
It reported that Fantauzzo, CEO of the pizzeria, said Formoso “is a perfectionist and that he knows the brand is in good hands.”
The news site said the connection between Salvatore’s and the Formoso family runs deep. Formoso’s aunt and uncle have been friends with Fantauzzo for many years.
Fantauzzo said on the restaurant’s Facebook page July 14, 2023, that there were delays with permits with the Jacksonville restaurant but now he’s “ready to go” and hoped to open before Veterans Day.
Ferdinand and Elisa Formoso, who have a Jacksonville home, filed Salvatores Tapestry Park LLC with the state Sept. 29, 2022.
Keke’s Breakfast Cafe says on the Keke’s Jacksonville - Atlantic Blvd Facebook page that it will open Feb. 19 at 12959 Atlantic Blvd., east of Girvin Road in East Arlington.
The breakfast-lunch-brunch cafe is opening where two other restaurants had operated.
The city issued a permit Oct. 27, 2023, for Quantum Facilities Services LLC of Sarasota to convert the former Sugarfire Smokehouse for Keke’s at a project cost of $654,000.
The 4,875-square-foot space has a 650-square-foot patio.
Panera Bread, the first tenant in the multitenant building, moved to a larger stand-alone location nearby.
Sugarfire Smokehouse closed in July 2022 after operating a year. The franchise owner cited supply chain shortages, staffing deficiencies and inflation.
Denny’s Inc. has owned Keke’s since July 2022.
Orlando-based Keke’s Breakfast Cafe locations are open 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. They are closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
The online menu shows waffles, pancakes, omelets, other egg dishes and more on a breakfast menu served during all operating hours.
It shows the lunch menu starts at 10:30 a.m. and includes paninis, sandwiches, burgers, salads and more.
Keke’s has three area restaurants that opened since 2017 at:
• The Strand at St. Johns Town Center at 4906 Town Center Parkway near St. Johns Town Center in Jacksonville
• The Pavilion at Durbin Park at 450 Durbin Pavilion Drive, Suite E10, in Saint Johns.
• In St. Augustine at 135 Jenkins Street, Unit 106.
Before issuing the Girvin permit, the city issued a permit Oct. 6, 2023, for Keke’s Breakfast Cafe to build-out in OakLeaf Town Center in Southwest Jacksonville.
Quantum Facilities Services LLC of Sarasota is the contractor and Haas Modern Architecture of Tampa is the architect for the 4,198-square-foot project at 9570 Crosshill Blvd., No. 106, at a cost of $800,000.
That space also had been a Panera Bread, which moved into a stand-alone building.