It’s official. You can dine on hand-stretched, thin-crust pizza at the Supino Pizzeria Eastern Market location.
After shuttering because of fire damage to the second floor, Supino Pizzeria’s dining room in the Eastern Market district has reopened at the corner of Russell Street and East Fisher Service Drive.
In April this year, nearly a year to the day after the fire, Supino’s opened for carryout only, for fans clamoring for its hand-stretched, thin-crust, red (with sauce) or white (no sauce) pizzas.
“It’s been a long time coming,” starts a message on the restaurant’s website.
The fire started in the residential loft atop the restaurant. No one was injured, and firefighters doused the blaze.
However, the restaurant suffered residual water damage, owner Dave Mancini said Tuesday afternoon.”Most of the walls were damaged,” he said.
In working on reopening, Mancini said his main concern was retaining the “vibe” of the place.
“I’ve been here 15 years and wanted the reinvention of the space to be not far from what we already had,” he said Tuesday afternoon. “There are some of the same elements, the back bar is the same, with a fresh coat of paint.”
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An important part of that vibe, Mancini said, was to salvage the dining room floors.
“We put fans on them (floors) right away,” he said. “It’s a salvaged piece from a gym in Detroit that we stripped and refinished. We wanted to keep those because it was part of the original esthetics.”
In being able to reopen, Mancini gives credit to his management team and his wife, Danielle Karmo. Leading the kitchen is chef Mike Mazzola with the help of Angel Gomez as sous chef. Although Mancini is the owner, he is still involved in the process.
“I still have a hand in mixing and getting each batch of the dough off the ground,” he said.Supino’s director of operations, Stephanie Schult, came on board just before the fire.
“We had this great team in place and got upended by the fire,” Mancini said. “It was a real bummer. But now on the other side of (the fire), I am hopeful that I do have this great team in place, and we can start making strides.”
In 2021, a second Supino Pizzeria location opened in Detroit’s New Center on Woodward Avenue. When the fire happened at the Eastern Market location, Mancini said, New Center added some hours and helped retain some of its staff.
Supino Pizzeria opened its doors in 2008 and garnered much success. A year later, its pizza got the Free Press’ nod as metro Detroit’s best pizza.
While the menu is pizza-focused, Supino’s also offers some classic Italian fare and pasta dishes. But for the next few weeks, Mancini said, only pizza and salads will be available.
Inside, Supino Pizzeria has seating for about 60, including the bar area, Mancini said, and 16 seats on the patio.Eastern Market Supino is at 2457 Russell St., Detroit. Hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. In New Center, 6519 Woodward Ave., Detroit, hours are 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
For information and menus, go to supinopizzeria.com.
Contact Detroit Free Press food writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news to: [email protected]. Follow @SusanMariecooks on X (formerly Twitter.) Support local journalism and become a digital subscriber to the Free Press.
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