General Info

Piccolo was founded in 1979 the second successful business started by Thomas Valenti Sr. and his mother Teresa in Bellmore, Long Island. Tom Sr. had mastered the pizza pie venue through the opening of Tommy's Pizza in 1961, but wanted more of a restaurant atmosphere. In 1979 he developed the concept of Piccolo, which opened in conjunction with his son Tom's high school graduation. Tom Sr. had recently married a very popular Bellmorite, Donna Tomasulo, who worked six or more days a week building the dining room business. In 1983, Tom's eldest son, Tom Jr., decided to study Hotel and Restaurant management, following in the footsteps of Tom Sr.'s brother Nick of Compass / Restaurant Associates another prot g of Teresa and Tom Sr's. Tom Jr. graduated and was fast tracked by Marriott's Management Program, and after about four years of National Marriott training, left as a Food and Beverage Executive to enable Tom Sr. to have some free time and establish some family roots for himself. This initial expansion was a HUGE success. So much so, that in 1998 Piccolo expanded again both in the size of its main dining area and the size of its private dining room. This expansion, too, has been very successful, allowing the Piccolo team to provide their excellent food and service to an ever-increasing amount of satisfied customers. In November 2009, the success of Piccolo drove more expansion however for the first time this expansion didn't happen at the Bellmore location. Instead, it was the launch of a second Piccolo location in Carle Place called "Piccolino" ( baby Piccolo ) a smaller version that recreates the original atmosphere and captures the same great cuisine and service Piccolo patrons have come to expect over 30 years serving the Long Island community. From these two great locations, Piccolo Ristorante looks forward to serving even more of the community for another 30 years.