With some 250 restaurants scattered throughout Westport, the town is not an easy one for new eateries to become family favorites or to offer something new to the table. With an understanding of the challenges posed, manager of Ignazio’s The Pizza, Louis Termini has a love for Italian cuisine and feels confident that his restaurant has the potential to win over the citizens of Westport.

“The difference [from other Italian restaurants] is the New York style pizza, the Brooklyn style pizza. The ingredients are different from anybody else,” Termini said.

Westport will be Ignazio’s second location, its first being in Brooklyn. The restaurant is located on Post Road East, in the same location where Bertucci’s used to be. 

“I like the whole look of the restaurant, the food that’s in it, the wood-fired oven and the location with the windows,” Termini said. “The whole town of Westport sees us when they’re driving by.”

While restaurant owning is nothing new to Termini, who owns numerous other restaurants in northern Connecticut, Westport is a new location for him.

“When I would visit my hometown, Brooklyn, I would stop in Westport and have lunch, and I always thought about opening here, and finally it happened,” Termini said.

Being a family business, Ignazio’s fosters a welcoming and accepting environment, with a visible wood pizza oven and colorful paintings. At Ignazio’s, workers develop a bond between each other similar to that of a family.

“I’ve known Louis for 30 years and I’ve worked for him for 11 years. He said he was opening up a restaurant in Westport, and he asked me to come along,” Robert Oldziej, a friend of Termini and chef at Ignazio’s said.

Aside from the pride that Termini feels about the restaurant’s constant 30 minute wait list since opening on Nov. 11, Termini takes pride in the family aspect of the business as well. 

“I’m proud that my sons and daughters are doing a great job, trying to make everybody happy,” Termini said.

Though Termini is currently satisfied with his Westport location, talk of an Ignazio’s opening in Greenwich has also been confirmed. 

“[My favorite part about the restaurant so far] is when it gets busy,” Oldziej said. “It really gets the blood flowing.”