As a teen, Lami immigrated with his father from Albania to New York, where he worked with his grandfather in a pizzeria. Lami later moved to Texas and continued to work in pizzerias all the while developing a concept for what Dumitru describes as a combination Italian trattoria and sports bar. Lami told Dumitru his vision.
“It was the easiest decision I made in my life,” Dumitru said. “In two hours, I made a decision for hundreds of thousands of dollars to get into business with Jonny. I never dreamed of it.”
The first Jonny’s Pizza opened in Aubrey in 2019 followed by the Fort Worth location in 2021. In May 2022, the owners launched another pizzeria in Frisco.
Dumitru’s daughter, Dana Maracine, is the general manager of the Fort Worth restaurant. She said many customers tell her Jonny’s Pizza is the closest to New York-style pizza they can find here.
“The pizza was always Jonny’s recipe and was always made from scratch—the dough, the sauce. We use premium cheese, we bake it in the brick oven, and it is hand-tossed,” she said. “All the good stuff.”
Pizza is the restaurant’s specialty, but it also serves classic Italian dishes such as lasagna, spaghetti and stromboli as well as Buffalo wings.
Top sellers at Jonny’s Pizza:
- Margherita pizza (large 16-inch $19.95) This pizza features plum tomato sauce, beefsteak tomatoes, fresh garlic, mozzarella cheese and basil and is topped with olive oil.
- Garlic knots (half-dozen $4.95) The knots consist of housemade dough buttered and sprinkled with spices and served with freshly made marinara sauce.
- Buffalo wings (10 wings $14.95) These traditional bone-in wings are made with fresh jumbo wings and are served with Jonny’s proprietary Buffalo sauce.
Jonny’s Pizza, 5337 Golden Triangle Blvd., Fort Worth. 682-337-7064. jonnyspizzany.com Hours: Sun., Tue., Wed. 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Thu.-Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; closed Mon.
