Sciulli's Pizza in Oakland marks 40 years amid pandemic
The phone rang, and the caller ID said “Pittsburgh Steelers.”
“I picked it up and it was (Steelers security manager) Jack Kearney, who asked me if we could make 300 large pizzas for the following Friday,” said Eutimio “Tim” Sciulli, co-owner of Sciulli’s Pizza in Oakland. “Jack said one of the players wanted to buy pizza for health care workers.”
Steelers cornerback Joe Haden was the man behind the purchase. The pies were for staff at UMPC Presbyterian. Because of the covid-19 pandemic, the hospital didn’t want people taking slices from the same pizza, so they ultimately decided on 600 individual pizzas. Sciulli’s made 400 in three hours for lunch and another 200 later in the day.
It was April 10, Good Friday, Sciulli said.
“That was such a nice gesture,” Sciulli said. “Business had been slow.”
The empty tables in the shop, which has survived 40 years in business, became the best holding spot for the Haden pizzas.
Lately, business has been tough. “But we are still here,” Sciulli said.
Sciulli’s is located on Fifth Avenue at Halket Street, across from Carlow University, and near to Pitt, Carnegie Mellon and Duquesne as well as several UPMC hospitals. It relies on college students, university events and hospital happenings for a big part of its business. A lot of the catering orders aren’t happening because of the pandemic.
The same family has made the pizzas for 40 years, said his brother and co-owner Luciano Sciulli.
“The past five months have been challenging,” Luciano Sciulli said. “But it has been for everyone. It’s about family here, from the people who work here to our customers. And that’s the way it will stay. It’s an old-school pizza shop. We are a dying breed. We have put our lives into this business.”
They’ve adapted to the changing food ordering practices with GrubHub and online ordering and providing delivery outside of the Oakland area to create more business during the pandemic. And have dedicated a lot of time to social media via Facebook and Instagram.
Tim, 34, and Luciano, 30, who have folded pizza boxes and made pies in the shop since age 6, intend to keep the dough rolling. Their father Antonio, and his brothers Oriente and the late Gabriel Sciulli, purchased the store in June 1980 from their friends and cousins, the Bellisarios.
Oriente’s homemade sauce recipe is used on the pizzas of freshly made dough.
They have pan, regular, Sicilian and white pizzas as well as specialty pies of buffalo chicken and barbecue. The menu includes steak and chicken salads, and steak, Italian, ham and cheese, chicken parmesan, fish and Italian hamburger hoagies.
Oriente Sciulli was 17 when his family came to the U.S. from Abruzzo, Italy, in the village of Gamberale and settled in Oakland. He worked in the steel mills and held other odd jobs, including a year at the D.L. Clark Co. on the North Side, before purchasing the pizza shop. He recalled the days of having 20 people working in the shop, three just answering phone calls, and doing 400 deliveries on the weekends.
“It used to be so busy here,” Oriente Sciulli said as he handwrote an order on Wednesday.
While he was writing, Thomas Fouse, a Carlow University policeman, stopped in. The pepperoni pizza is his favorite as well the calzone — which isn’t even on the menu.
“They make the calzone for me all the time,” said Fouse, who made sure to order two Turner’s iced teas. “They are a hardworking family. I try to support local whenever I can. You come in here you get to see people you know. I love this place. It’s awesome.”
Sciulli’s Pizza (sciullispizza.com) is located at 3404 Halket St. It’s cash only when ordering on site.
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a TribLive reporter covering the region's diverse culinary scene and unique homes. She writes features about interesting people. The Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist began her career as a sports reporter. She has been with the Trib for 26 years and is the author of "A Daughter's Promise." She can be reached at jharrop@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.