A takeout spot with pizza by the slice is opening in Charlotte’s Dilworth neighborhood
A second Charlotte location of a pizzeria specializing in NY-style pizza by the slice — Pizzeria Sapienza — is opening Tuesday, Feb. 11 in Dilworth.
We can also look forward to ordering the restaurant’s chicken parm, wings, salads, subs and more in the new restaurant space.
Owners Sal Sapienza and Nicholas Lathrop are childhood best friends from Albany, N.Y., where Sapienza’s family opened the pizzeria’s very first location back in 1990. They’ve grown up together since they were 5 or 6, playing soccer and hanging out at Pizzeria Sapienza, watching the restaurant sling out pizza by the slice.
When they moved to Charlotte, Sapienza and Lathrop leaned into that background to form a partnership and opened the uptown location of Pizzeria Sapienza in 2018. Now, they’re ready to grow again and settle into the Dilworth Crossing Shopping Center spot where Sal’s Pizza Factory recently closed.
“We’re really excited ... we really feel like we can grow and be a part of that Dilworth community for the next 20 years. We really took our time finding the location that was for us,” Sal Sapienza told CharlotteFive.
Whereas the uptown location is more of a fast-casual restaurant, offering counter service and a full bar, the new Dilworth spot will be more of what Sapienza calls a “true, traditional NY pizza shop.” Expect minimal seating, with about six to eight high-top counter seats, and no bar service.
“So, kind of going back to our roots,” Sapienza said. It’s “more of a resemblance and feel of the original Albany location.” (It’s still open, by the way.)
Diners will see most of what’s on the uptown location’s menu there, with 12-14 different options for pizza by the slice, plus Sicilian pizza by the slice on certain days — and whole pizzas for takeout, of course.
Sapienza’s favorite pizza on the menu is “stereotypical,” he said. “I’m just a sucker for just a classic cheese slice.”
But he branches out, too: “If i were to pick a vegetarian option, bruschetta slice. Oh yeah. And then we make our bulk sausage in house. If I’m gonna go with a meat slice, I’ll go pepperoni/sausage. That’s a good one. You can’t go wrong with that, either.”
Offering a variety of slices is really where the restaurant shines, Sapienza said.
“That is the Albany pizzeria — that is what that pizzeria does. Slices, slices, slices — that’s what I saw growing up and working there in my teenage years. That’s the part of the business that I turned to. ... And that’s the big draw.
“But I will say, we do sell a ton of other our hot subs and pastas, and our wings are also delicious. I just think if there’s something that we should be known for, quote, unquote, it’s the fact that we sell pizza by the slice and an assortment of pizza by the slice all day,” he said.
Pizzeria Sapienza
Location: 2212 Park Road, Charlotte NC 28203
Location: 620 N Church St. Charlotte, NC 28202
Cuisine: pizza, Italian
Instagram: @pizzeriasapienzaclt
This story was originally published January 13, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
