New pizza joint serves up NY-style slices, salads and subs in southwest Cape Coral
Grado’s Pizza is fitting into southwest Cape Coral just fine.
The new pizza joint has had a steady flow of customers grabbing slices, pies, sandwiches and more since opening Aug. 12 on Pine Island Road. It’s toward the east end of the Diamond Billiards-anchored plaza, in the spot previously occupied by The Painted Conch.
“It took us a year to do everything,” said Beth Acklin, who co-owns the business with fiancé Antonio Grado. “We signed the lease a year ago. Hurricane Ian put us behind.”
The interior has a cool industrial vibe with a sleek metal counter and well-stocked display case greeting customers. Two-top tables with color-changing LED lights glowing warmly in their centers dominate the dining room. A few half-booth tables seat four or more. Orders are placed at the register, often manned by Acklin, at the fast-casual restaurant.
The couple certainly knows what they are doing. They owned The Pizza Cutter on Bayshore Road in North Fort Myers for three years and Grado grew up working in his Sicilian family’s restaurants.
“He’s very creative,” Acklin said. “Everything here is made from scratch. The sauce, the dough, the bread ― even the desserts.”
Signature pizzas featured at Grado's
Grado’s serves a dozen signature New York-style pizzas — from the Queens white and Staten Island (sausage, green peppers, mushrooms and onion) to the Madison Square Garden and Park Ave. Margherita. Prices range from $16.95 and up for a 14-inch medium to $20.95 for an 18-inch XL and $24.95 and up for Sicilian.
Specialty pizzas will be introduced often.
“He makes a Big Mac pizza,” Acklin said. “It has the sauce, cold lettuce on top. It’s so good.”
Six different pizzas are on display at the counter and can be purchased by the slice ($2.95-$4.25).
“We will probably change the options daily,” Acklin said.
Besides the build-your-own options ($13.94 for a 14-inch medium to $17.95 for an 18-inch XL and $18.95 16-by-16-inch Sicilian with topping extra) are also offered.
The menu doesn’t stop there. Hot and cold subs (including turkey, cheesesteaks, and eggplant, chicken and meatball parms), appetizers (from ricotta meatballs to wings to an eggplant tower), salads, desserts, and even dinners complete with garlic bread and a side salad are available.
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“We will do different dinner specials down the road,” Acklin said.
Open seven days a week
Open daily beginning at 11 a.m., dine-in, take-out and delivery are available.
Subtle LED lights, “like a bar has,” fill the darkened dining room at night.
Acklin says it will help them cater to the nightly crowds brought in by Diamond Billiards and TJ’s Hatchet Hangout in the same strip mall.
“We’ll be open late — maybe even to midnight some days,” Acklin said.
Yep, Grado's is fitting in just fine.
Grado’s Pizza, 1242 SW Pine Island Road, Cape Coral; (239) 900-3003; gradospizza.com; follow on Facebook and Instagram
Robyn George is a food and dining writer for The Fort Myers News-Press. Send news to [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Grado's Pizza opens with New York-style pies in southwest Cape Coral
