Pizza Salvatoré Plans Dieppe Opening In Early March
DIEPPE – Pizza Salvatoré’s aggressive expansion plans will see it opening its fourth pizza shop in New Brunswick early this spring.
Élisabeth Abbatiello, VP of communications and granddaughter of the Pizza Salvatoré’s founders Salvatore Salvatoré and Angèle Fecteau, confirmed the Quebec-based pizza chain’s plans to open a new location in Dieppe this coming March – about a year after the chain opened its first restaurant in Quispamsis.
“We are hoping to open by the 12th of March, and we hope construction goes well,” Abbatiello said.
The new family-owned pizza joint will be taking over the space once occupied by Starbucks, at 270 Amirault Street.
Pizza Salvatoré will be a strictly takeout and delivery-only model – one that has seen success at its other three New Brunswick perches in Quispamsis, Miramichi, and Bathurst.
Abbatiello noted the kitchen will take up most of the square footage at 270 Amirault.
“We are focused on high-volume orders during rush hour, so there are no seats – it’s delivery and takeout only,” she said.
Pizza Salvatoré has made a reputation as a purveyor of pizza and poutine with a quick turnaround on its delivery and takeout orders, with its poutine and stuffed crust making up the bulk of its most popular dishes.
“We don’t have a large menu, but we deliver really fast. We focus on 70 different kinds of pizzas and eight varieties of poutine,” Abbatiello said, noting that more than 40 percent of their orders are for poutine.
“That’s surprising and a high percentage for a pizzeria, but once you taste the poutine, you’ll understand why,” Abbatiello quipped.
When all is said and done the fit-up work will cost Pizza Salvatoré about $400,000 – and most of the fit-up is focused on the interior.
“We will be renovating the inside, and touching up the outside a bit, but not so much,” said Abbatiello.
When complete, the new pizza shop will take up somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 square feet, the standard size for other Pizza Salvatoré locations.
Abbatiello told Huddle the chain will hire between 45 and 50 team members to staff the Dieppe location – a similar staff presence to its existing stores.
She stressed that while the chain is rapidly expanding into other provinces, their focus is on building efficient restaurants, not a high volume of locations.
RELATED: Quebec Family Opening Its First Pizza Place In Quispamsis
“It’s difficult these days to hire, but we’re really focused on team members being happy and convincing friends to work with them,” Abbatiello said.
According to online property records the property sold for $685,000, on July 4 2022 – significantly lower than the price it was promoted for by Royal LePage: $895,000.
The first Pizza Salvatoré opened in Saint-Georges de Beauce 1964, one of many launched by Abbatiello’s grandfather, an Italian immigrant and her grandmother, who hails from Chaudière-Appalaches.
The restaurant expanded into a chain eighties, and between 1987 and 2015, Pizza Salvatoré opened 12 restaurants.
When the founders’ grandchildren -Guillaume Jr., Katarina, Sébastien, Élisabeth and Frédéric Abbatiello – took over the business, they implemented the chain’s current expansion plan – one that saw 28 restaurants open in the last four years.
Sam Macdonald is a Huddle reporter in Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].