Thanksgiving pizza goes viral on Long Island
DEER PARK, N.Y. - Turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce - all on a slice of pizza.
Love the idea or hate it, the Long Island Thanksgiving turkey pizza pie is going viral at Pino's Pizza in Deer Park.
"We surpassed 12 million hits between Instagram, Facebook, TikTok," Pino Barbieri said.
The pizza starts with the dough, as usual, but then Barbieri changes course.
"Turkey gravy, right on top of it. Cornbread-sausage-apple stuffing. Celery, carrots, onions, all the good stuff in there. Carved turkey, chopped. Mozzarella, that's just to tie everything together. To me, what makes the pie is our homemade cranberry sauce," which includes cranberries, dates, pears and figs, Barbieri explained.
The whole thing goes in the pizza oven for 20 minutes, and what comes out is a Thanksgiving pie.
"That's insane"
"The Thanksgiving pie is phenomenal. The flavors just hit the tongue," customer Daniel Martinez said. He posted a glowing review online.
"The sauce is gravy. That's insane," one customer said.
"It tastes like Thanksgiving on a pie," a customer said.
The idea happened when his Italian food market down the street roasted too many turkeys. So what to do with the extra cooked birds? Carve them up and then deliver them to the pizzeria. He brainstormed the holiday creation.
Customers have come from Lower Manhattan and Montauk, and beyond.
"A couple told us the other day they took the day off work and drove here from Pennsylvania to have the pizza," Barbieri said. "We will keep on making it 'til we don't have the demand for it anymore, or until we run out of turkeys."