ASTORIA, N.Y. (CN) — When you call up Belluci’s Pizzeria in Astoria, Queens, you’ll catch a prerecorded message from the shop’s namesake: “Thank you for calling The Real Bellucci’s.”
It’s a simple greeting, but if you ask the owner of the neighboring Bellucci Pizza, those are fighting words.
After sparring for months, pizzeria owner Leo Dakmak sued his former pizza chef Andrew Bellucci in Brooklyn federal court, saying the latter stole business by opening a nearly identically named pizzeria just a few blocks from the one the pair opened together.
The story starts on Craigslist, where Bellucci posted an ad looking for work during the pandemic. Planning to open his first pizzeria, Dakmak replied, and by September 2020 they had set up shop as Bellucci Pizza.
That name was already familiar in the world of New York City pizza. Bellucci’s storied past has included stints and legendary New York City pizza spots like Lombardi’s and Joe’s — as well as one in federal prison after the pizzaiolo pleaded guilty to embezzling thousands of dollars from a law firm where he worked in the late 1980’s.
But Dakmak had no idea that Bellucci was “well known in the New York pizza scene, both as a chef and notorious character,” since he is from Lebanon and was new to the pizza business, according to the complaint filed Tuesday in the Eastern District of New York.
Dakmak agreed to emblazon the shop with the Bellucci name, with some insurance: a registered trademark and an agreement with Bellucci giving Dakmak commercial rights to the family name.
It wasn’t long until the two parted ways.
Dakmak says Bellucci quit after being confronted about “repeated high charges on the company credit card,” while Bellucci told Grub Street that Dakmak wanted to expand into Manhattan, with or without Bellucci on board. (“To use my motherfucking name when I’m not there, that was the final straw,” he told reporter Joshua David Stein.)
Just over a year after Bellucci Pizza went into business, its namesake quit — and in April opened up Bellucci’s Pizzeria, eight blocks away.
Dakmak tells his side of the rivalry that followed in a 31-page lawsuit laying out trademark, defamation and unjust enrichment claims. He says Bellucci locked him out of his Instagram account and forced him to make a new one, then went on to attack the old business on social media.
Bellucci called himself “The Real Bellucci’s” — and very much still does — while casting Dakmak’s place as “fugazi,” or fake. The complaint even notes the Dictionary.com definition of the Italian slang word.
Customers have already been confused about which Bellucci they’re ordering from, Dakmak’s lawsuit claims, and Bellucci reinforced confusion about who owned Bellucci Pizza after he quit working by writing on a pizza forum that he had spent all of his money on “his” pizza restaurant.
The suit also says Bellucci or his business associates called and threatened the novice pizza maker, including asking Dakmak if “he thought he was a tough guy?” and then hanging up the phone.
Bellucci’s position is that Dakmak’s registration is invalid since using Bellucci’s name would require consent to be filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office during the application process, according to the suit. Neither Bellucci nor his attorney could be immediately reached for comment.
Bellucci’s own place sells mainstays like Sicilians and pasta plates, as well as more adventurous takes, including the “Vodka-Roni” and a clam pie that needs a two-day lead time when you order. The extravagant “Sonny Supreme” is topped with two types of pepperoni and Italian sausage, and is named after Bellucci’s former cellmate John “Sonny” Franzese, a Colombo crime family associate, the New York Post reported.
Dakmak’s attorney declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Follow @NinaPullano
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