This insightful article was inspired by content originally published on QNS by Bill Parry
Neapolitan Pizza Queens is thriving as a former smoke shop transforms into a wood-fired pizzeria serving authentic pies in the heart of the borough.
Mayor Eric Adams recently celebrated the first anniversary of Operation Padlock to Protect at Salsa Pizzeria in Rego Park formerly an illegal cannabis storefront. The transformation from padlock to pizza oven offers bright lessons for pizza lovers, ingredient suppliers, and pizzeria owners.
A Slice of Urban Transformation
In May 2024, the city padlocked nearly 1,400 illegal cannabis shops across the five boroughs, seizing over $95 million worth of illicit goods.
Today, at 63‑118 Woodhaven Blvd, what once sold unlicensed products now pulls perfectly charred Neapolitan pies from the flames serving as a mouthwatering emblem of neighborhood revitalization.
Why this matters for pizza stakeholders:
- For enthusiasts: it’s proof that pizza shops are not just businesses they’re community anchors.
- For industry suppliers: vacant storefronts offer fertile ground for expanding pizza ingredient and equipment distribution.
- For pizzeria owners: it’s a roadmap how civic action can unlock prime real estate once tied up in legal limbo.
Pizza Enthusiasts: More Than Dough
Mike Bancale, co-owner of Salsa Pizzeria, brings a transcultural legacy to Queens Italian roots, Latin flair, and a Brooklyn-Queens spirit.
Here’s what home pizza devotees can take away from his story:
- Ingredient integrity: Quality flour and artisanal tomatoes are essential. Discover top-rated artisanal pizza ingredients like imported San Marzano tomatoes affordable at specialty grocers (see: Best Pizza Sauce for Authentic Flavor).
- DIY dough mastery: Mike’s secret? A pizza dough recipe that balances hydration and simplicity combine Caputo 00 flour, water, salt, yeast; ferment 24–48 hrs for flavor depth.
- Essential tools: To replicate pizzeria results at home, consider a best home pizza oven or pizza stone for crispy crusts
Pizza Suppliers: Opportunity Meets Infrastructure
The Padlock to Protect operation not only cleared crime it reactivated zoning and real estate for legitimate commerce.
Key supplier insights:
- Bulk pizza ingredients: With new pizzerias filling these spaces, suppliers can expand footprint in local markets—think 25‑kg pallets of flour and cheese.
- Commercial pizza equipment: Kitchens need high-volume mixers, conveyors, and deck ovens. Time to pitch your commercial pizza equipment to emerging operators.
- Food service technology: Faster POS systems and order-tracking dashboards are in demand especially at bakeries and quick‑serve setups replacing former smoke shops.
Pizza Shop Owners: From Compliance to Community
Salsa Pizzeria isn’t just a pie factory; it’s a narrative of how public policy can work for small businesses.
What aspiring and existing pizzeria owners should know:
- Prime real estate is emerging landlords, now unencumbered by padlocked leases, are seeking tenants.
- Talk to your city’s Small Business Services office about support programs like commercial leasing assistance.
- Financing and incentives: On top of NYC’s Cannabis NYC Loan Fund, similar funding exists for restaurants investigate small business forward grants.
- Public safety sells: Patrons choose locales where a pizza shop adds to a vibrant, safe corridor emphasis on POS systems, delivery software, and curb appeal matters.
- Marketing with mission: Showcase your roots share your story (“we helped revive a formerly closed storefront”) to build community trust.
- Customer loyalty tools: Integrate a pizza POS system with loyalty and delivery capabilities.
Pizza Pro Tip: Interview with Mike Bancale
Pizza Magazine sat down with Mike:
“We wanted to create a concept that brings together culture, food, and makes everybody happy… this is a place for kids, adults, families, date night, solo diners.”
Mike’s pizza pro secrets:
- 20-hour cold fermentation for chewy, flavorful crust.
- Glossy crumbling cheese blend fior di latte and aged pecorino Romano.
- Wood-fired ovens that peak at 900°F for 90 seconds critical for Neapolitan texture.
Rising Trends & the Bigger Slice of Pizza’s Future
- Plant-based pizzas: Cannabis legalization might boost demand for vegan pizza options think CBD-infused crusts or mushroom “smoked” pies.
- Automation in pizzerias: New shops in former storefronts prefer streamlined operations robots, IoT ovens, app-based ordering.
- Local ingredient sourcing: Customers increasingly crave locally milled flours, heritage tomatoes, and regional cheeses align supplier outreach accordingly.
The Power of Pizza & Civic Alignment
This milestone at Salsa Pizzeria shows how pizza and policy can transform neighborhoods. A formerly padlocked storefront now serves up pies, jobs, and local pride proof positive that pizza shops are catalysts of progress.
Final Slice
From enthusiasts to shop owners, this one-year anniversary is more than photo‑ops it’s a playbook: identify opportune spaces, source the best dough and ovens, flex marketing muscle, and tap into grants and fintech. You’re not just making pizza you’re leading a slice-driven revival.
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