DERBY – Italian Pavilion, a mainstay in the Valley since 1970, is back and open for business.
The 56-year-old restaurant, which began in the former Ansonia Mall and became a tradition among Valleyites for its pizza slices, has reopened – with a smaller footprint – at its former location at 90 Pershing Dr.
Hi! People cannabis dispensary occupied the 6,000-square foot space which previously housed Italian Pavilion in January 2025. The dispensary’s owner, David Salinas, vowed to ensure Italian Pavilion would return when he purchased the building from Mario Perone in 2024.
The restaurant has been downsized to about 2,500 square feet, with a smaller menu. However, new owner Jamie Cavallo said the pizza is as delicious as ever, using the original recipes and the same dough mixers and pizza ovens from the old Ansonia Mall kitchen.
Cavallo is a Milford businessman who has owned Papa’s Pizza in Milford for more than 20 years. Perone, the now-retired former owner of Italian Pavilion, took Cavallo under his wing to ensure the legacy of the family-owned Valley staple endures.
“The Italian Pavilion has a lot of history, lots of memories, and a great community, which we hope to honor and preserve, and Mario keeps us connected to all of that,” Cavallo said. “The spirit of the Italian Pavilion lives on, and we’re excited to preserve its legacy.”
Perone’s cousin Pasquale opened the restaurant in 1970 before moving back to Italy in 1983. Perone then ran the business until his own retirement in 2024, he said.
The revamped restaurant has a small, inside dining area for about 20 people, with small, round tables and bistro-style stairs. Cavallo said the restaurant is offering just pizza for the time being, but he plans to expand the menu to include grinders, calzones, salads and some desserts.
“With the reduced footprint, we unfortunately don’t have the space to make pasta dinners or other kinds of entrees,” Cavallo said. “Pizza has become the centerpiece of our menu now, and we believe we are on par with the best pizza places in the area. We’ll go toe to toe with the popular places and we’ll be on the state pizza trail soon enough.”
Cavallo said he did some renovations to the space before reopening. The restaurant quietly reopened in December, Cavallo said, and he’s been working with his family and employees to perfect the classic Italian Pavilion pizza recipe.
He said they’ve also added a few new specialty pizzas to the menu, including the “A Pizza Di James,” featuring mashed potatoes, bacon, caramelized onions, mozzarella, parmesan, cheddar, olive oil and garlic.
In addition to classic pizza toppings like pepperoni, meatball, sausage and peppers, the menu’s other specialty pizzas include eggplant parm, lasagna pizza, chicken cordon bleu, veggie works, shrimp and chicken parm.
Perone and Cavallo said they were grateful to their mutual friend Salinas for bringing them together. Cavallo said Salinas has been a repeat customer of his other pizza place in Milford, and that Salinas introduced him to Perone about keeping Italian Pavilion’s legacy alive.
Perone said Cavallo is the perfect fit for the restaurant’s next chapter.
“We wanted to make sure we got the right guy,” Perone said. “Jim (Cavallo) is a stand-up guy, he’s a people person, and this is a place where you’ll be treated like family and get personal attention.”
The restaurant moved from the Ansonia Mall in 1996 to the former Valley Bowl location on Pershing Drive, before moving once again in the same plaza to its current location at 90 Pershing Dr., according to Perone.
“We have always used quality ingredients and packed our recipes full of love,” Perone said. “The recipes have stayed the same. I want to thank our customers for all their support and love over all these years. We have truly enjoyed being in the Valley all these years, it’s been my second home, and I am excited to see the legacy live on.”
Italian Pavilion is currently open six days a week from 4 to 8 p.m., and is closed on Mondays. The phone number remains the same from back in the Ansonia Mall days at 203-736-9005. Italian Pavilion can also be found on Facebook.