Tarantellas — a Medford-based, family-owned pizza restaurant that's been in business for three generations — is opening up a pizzeria in Mullica Hill.
HARRISON TWP. -- It was roughly 45 years ago when Salvatore Coppola came to the U.S. from his home country of Italy.
After arriving, Coppola moved to Brooklyn and began working in various restaurants in New York City. Eventually, he moved to New Jersey to open up his own place to make delicious Italian cuisine.
Inside the old Toscana Pizzeria and Grill on Bridgeton Pike, in Mullica Hill, on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015, workers were refitting the space that has sat empty, but will soon be occupied by fa new Italian restaurant early next year. In 1997, Coppola opened Tarantella Ristorante in Medford, where he and his family live today. Nearly his entire family helps run the business, which also includes another restaurant in Medford called Femmina Italian Grill.
In the coming months, the Coppola's will open an Italian restaurant in Mullica Hill -- a space in a shopping center on Bridgeton Pike that has been empty since the Toscana Pizzeria and Grill closed last year.
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The Coppola's place will be called Chianti Ristorante Italiano. It will be operated by Salvatore Coppola's daughter, Claudia Coppola, of Medford. The space is between the post office and the McDonald's.
"My dad thought it was a great opportunity," Claudia said. "He saw a lot of potential (there) because it is growing at a rapid pace and he's wanted to be there for years."
Some in the community were saddened by the closure of Toscana.
Like Elizabeth DellAquila, of Mullica Hill, who on a whim Wednesday afternoon stopped in at the old Toscana space to try and track someone down to find out if another restaurant might be moving in anytime soon.
She had eaten at Toscana for several years and it had become her favorite spot to dine.
As workers in the back carried on with some interior work, DellAquila said she was delighted to hear another Italian restaurant was coming. However, as an avid patron of Toscana, she was a little skeptical that Chianti could live up to her expectations.
"It was really good, home-cooked food," said DellAquila, who noted that the food also did not have any preservatives, which she is allergic to. Claudia Coppola said she believes the restaurant's food and its reputation can speak for itself.
There are, in fact, numerous positive reviews on several dining-review websites -- touting not only the food but also the service.
"I think we have strong family values with a heritage that is centered heavily around food," she said. "We genuinely take pride in what we do and have a passion for cooking and bringing generations of family traditions to people."
Claudia said they expect to move in at the new space some time in February.
The family is currently in the permitting process and some interior work is still needed at the space.
Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.
