Continuing George’s Recipe For Success

George’s Pizza & Restaurant at One Dodgingtown Road (Route 302) has been serving Newtowners and others since 1986. The popular eatery is overseen by Lou Graziani, a 1975 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, and the menu includes a large selection of veal ($14.95–$18.95), chicken ($13.95–$17.95), seafood ($13.95–$23.95), and pasta dishes ($9.95–$13.95), served with salad or soup, bread and butter, and a side order of linguini, ziti, or rice, and vegetable.

Caesar salad is available for $2 extra and everything is made to order. Often tweaking the menu, Mr Graziani recently introduced homemade manicotti seafood crepes and seafood lasagna.

George’s also offers pizza and a selection of calzones ($6.50–$7.50), grinders ($4.95 to $8.95 for the New York strip grinder with mushrooms, onions, and cheese) and burgers ($6.95–$7.95).

Cheese pizzas come in three sizes and sell for $6, $8, and $10, respectively.  Regular toppings — sausage, peppers, fresh eggplant, cherry peppers and the like — are $1, $1.25, and $1.50 each and gourmet toppings such as grilled chicken breast, artichoke hearts, and portabella mushrooms are available for $2, $2.50, and $3 each.

There are six blackboard specials daily including two appetizer specials. On a recent week it included spinach ravioli, veal cacciatore, chicken portabella, groupa boscaiola, and shrimp Madeira, priced from $14.95 to $21.95. The house-made soups of the day were pasta fagioli and cream of chicken.

Dinners to go, which include salad and bread, are popular at George’s, and each month offers a particular group selection. For May there is a choice of eight pasta dinners at $8.49 each, and pints ($4.50) and quarts ($8.50) of soup, sauce, and dressings are also available to take home. All items on the menu can be ordered to go.

During the months of June, July, and August the barbecue menu will be back, offering all the summer favorites.

Early bird specials, $10.95, are served daily from 4 to 6:30 pm. The menu, which changes every other week, includes a choice of six entrees, bread and butter, soup or salad, a side dish, and coffee or soda.

George’s has a full bar and has expanded its wine list with 15–20 bottles of $15 wine specials on a rack in the foyer. “I sell a ton of it,” Mr Graziani said. “These are a lot of wines that you don’t see, wines from small vineyards, new vineyards. We also have a wine cellar with more than a thousand bottles of wine, offering quite a choice to the wine connoisseur.”

The staff is full of familiar faces, both those serving the customers and those behind the scenes.

“In our whole kitchen staff, no one has been here less than 12 years,” Mr Graziani noted. “Hawk — Momiul Hoque –– our chef, has been here 18 years and our sous chef, Bahar Miah, for 15. Mohammed Latif, the manager and pizzamaker, has been here 19. I’ve been here 19 years, and my wife, Giulia, also works here and is the backbone of the operation. Our children, Anthony and Gina, now help out on weekends as well.”

George’s Pizza & Restaurant, One Dodgingtown Road, has new hours. It is open Sunday through Thursday from 4 to 10 pm, Friday and Saturday from 4 to 11. Major credit cards are accepted. Off-premise catering is available with two days’ notice. Call 426-2715 or 426-6793 for reservations and takeout, or fax orders to 270-6867.

Grilled Swordfish, Tomato And Capers

2 8-oz pieces of swordfish filet

3 cloves garlic, sliced thick

1 large tomato, diced

2 Tbs capers

Juice of ½ lemon

3 oz white wine

2 Tbs butter

2 Tbs oil

Lightly grill swordfish on both sides; set aside. Sauté garlic in oil until lightly browned. Add tomatoes and simmer until soft. Add white wine, lemon juice, capers, and swordfish. Cook on low heat for approximately eight minutes. Turn off heat and add butter until it melts. Serves two.