about

Long before Brian Dicintio’s Ford Country Squire broke down in Marlow, the story of DiCintio’s Pizza Cucina began 1,561 miles away in a town just north of New York City.

The building at 807 Post Road in Eastchester, N.Y., was home to the DiCintio family business back in the mid-1900s. Brian grew up on the second floor in a series of family apartments, surrounded by siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles and a pair of grandparents who immigrated from Italy. Downstairs, the DiCintio’s ran Skee’s Bar and Grill, a popular local hangout. 

The restaurant was there as far back as Brian could remember.  In 1959, the family began crafting and serving pizza out of the back kitchen. 

Brian can still hear The Shirelles on the jukebox, taste the maraschino cherries from behind the bar and smell the aroma of fresh dough that hung over the family restaurant. But in the summer of 1975, fresh out of high school, he left all it behind and ventured west.

Inspired by Woodstock-era culture, Brian bought the Country Squire and hit the road with plans to land work on a fishing boat in Alaska. The Squire made it as far as Yucatan, Mexico, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, but never quite reached Alaska.

Instead, its final destination was Marlow. 

From work in the oil fields to the grocery store, Brian eventually returned to a familiar craft.

He began making pizza and opened the original DiCintio’s Pizza in 1986. The overwhelmingly popular Guiseppe’s Italian Dining followed 10 years later in 1996 and stayed until he sold the business in 2007. 

Now in DiCintio’s second act, Brian is back to delivering the tastes of his youth inside the New York-style pizza joint on West Main Street alongside owner Joe Hennan in the Stephens County community he’s called home across six decades.

Partnered together at the restaurant that opened in its current location in 2017, Brian and Joe — a pair of perfectionists — are a mix of new and old with a menu that reflects it. But DiCintio’s is more than meets the eye or even the taste buds. For Brian and Joe, the pizzeria is a labor of love and passion.

To Brian, the second iteration of DiCintio’s is the continuation of a journey that began when he left New York and landed in Marlow nearly 50 years ago. For Joe, a son of Marlow, serving the community that raised him was one of the central pulls when he bought DiCintio’s from Brian in 2020. 

Under the terms of sale, Brian initially agreed to work with Joe for three months. Three years later, he’s still hanging around and can be found behind the counter a few nights a week.

Together, working with fresh dough made daily, imported Italian extra virgin olive oil, locally-sourced ingredients and a specially designed oven, the duo at DiCintio’s are now crafting some of the finest hand-tossed pizza in the region.

In Brian’s native New York, they’ll tell you it's the water that gives their pizza its distinct taste and texture. However, just about every New Yorker who’s stepped into the pizzeria on West Main Street in Marlow would beg to differ.