Giuseppe’s Pizzeria by Brothers Set to Open in Downtown State College

Giuseppe’s Pizzeria by Brothers is set to open its doors on Wednesday at 204 E. College Ave.

The pizzeria will open in the former location of Weirdoughs. Joseph Pistone, Giuseppe’s Pizzeria’s owner, is restoring his family’s pizza business in the building it first occupied 47 years ago.

“It seemed like it was kind of destined to be,” Pistone said. “It was a no brainer.”

Giuseppe’s Pizzeria will offer pizza by the slice and pie, five sub sandwich variations on homemade bread and more. Pistone plans to offer a two-slice-and-a-drink special as one of the storefront’s “big things.” The pizzeria will also deliver through GrubHub and DoorDash.

Pistone and his wife, Kerry, jumped on the opportunity to snag the location after Weirdoughs’ lease was terminated. Pistone’s father, Angelo, and his brothers created Brothers Pizza in the 1960s, opening their first location in the Nittany Mall, and expanded the business to multiple locations. Angelo Pistone opened a Brothers Pizza in the former Pops Mexi-Hots on East College Avenue in 1976. He eventually sold that location and it underwent a series of ownership changes before closing in 2020

While there are now a number of similarly named restaurants in Centre County, many of them connected to the three Pistone brothers who opened a series of pizza shops around the area, Joseph Pistone owns Brothers Pizza and Italian Restaurant in Wingate and co-owns the the Benner Pike location with his brother-in-law Eddie Nicolosi (who also owns the Centre Hall location with his wife and Joseph’s sister, Rose).

In order to differentiate from the various Brothers Pizza locations and highlight his given name, Pistone created Giuseppe’s Pizzeria by Brothers to highlight his given name and ensure authenticity.

“I couldn’t let [the location] go,” Pistone said. “So we got it, and I’m calling it Giuseppe’s because it’s my given name and because there’s so many other Brothers Pizzas that name has been a little bit diluted. So I decided to call it Giuseppe’s Pizzeria by Brothers.”

StateCollege.com’s Geoff Rushton contributed to this report.