This Pizza Parlor 'Will Be A Staple Of Joliet Again' New Owner Says

JOLIET, IL — Joliet is known for having several outstanding pizza restaurants, but one long-time pizza place became an afterthought in recent years — the Pizzas By Marchelloni on Barney Drive.

But that's changing, vowed Art Leasure, a 2005 Joliet Central High School graduate.

He and his brother, Eddie, became the new owners of Joliet's one and only Pizzas By Marchelloni restaurant in September.

"My goal is to bring it back up to par, to the original taste from 30 to 40 years ago," Art Leasure told Joliet Patch during Friday's interview. "The old ownership actually did a different dough recipe. I went back to the original taste, how I remember when I was a child."

The previous owner purchased pizza toppings and food ingredients "all over the place," he said.

Just like the original owners of Pizzas By Marchelloni, Leasure said he is purchasing his cheese, sauce, "all the meats" and "all my flour for dough," from Joliet's well-known Mancuso Cheese Company, a fixture on Mills Road since the early 1900s.

What's been the reaction from many of the customers?

"I get a lot of phone calls back from people saying that's the best pizza they've ever had come out of this building," Leasure remarked on Friday. "It feels amazing. It feels fantastic."

For the past two-and-a-half years, the previous Pizzas By Marchelloni owners were ghosts on social media. They did not post information about their food specials in Brian Bessler's Joliet Area Bar & Restaurant Guide.

On Thursday, Nov. 3, Leasure posted a new pizza special in Bessler's Facebook group. Pizza sales shot through the roof last weekend at 70 Barney Drive, which is off West Jefferson Street.

"The phone wouldn't stop ringing," Leasure said. "That whole weekend was nonstop."

His follow-up Facebook post, thanking the Joliet restaurant group, received more than 1,100 likes, 44 shares and 144 comments.

"And a big thank you to Brian Bessler because he's amazing," Leasure told Joliet Patch during Friday's interview.

Leasure said he waited until November to start becoming a social media presence, even though he acquired ownership in September.

"When I bought the place, I wanted to learn everything first," he explained.

The previous owners had the Joliet Pizzas By Marchelloni for six years.

"I was just online, I saw it for sale and I remembered eating here as a child and figured I'd give it a shot," Leasure said of ownership.

Leasure worked the past eight years at the United States Cold Storage in Wilmington and before that, he managed the Joliet Jimmy John's restaurant at Essington and Caton Farm Roads.

Leasure said his sister is Lorraine Guerrero Neumayer, who serves on the Joliet Township High School board of education.

"All my family has been a big help doing deliveries and helping with the register," he said.

Right now, the Pizzas By Marchelloni is open six days a week, closed Wednesdays. Hours are: 4 to 9 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. Leasure's currently running two specials: on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, customers can get a one-topping large pizza for $13.99; there's also a game-day special that includes two one-topping large pizzas and a medium beef roll for $41.99.

"The game-day special is available every day," the new owner said.

On Veterans Day, Leasure offered half off on all pizzas for military veterans. A young man named Rudy called in his carryout order around 2:45 p.m. purchasing two pizzas.

When he showed up, Rudy told Joliet Patch how the Pizzas By Marchelloni in Joliet "went to crap" under the previous ownership, but he continued to order there on occasion because of the coupons.

"I will give you guys a try," Rudy told the new owner. "The last guys were horrible. If the quality is there, people are going to come."

Leasure said a lot of customers are noticing a difference compared to what it looked like in the past.

"This place is a lot cleaner than it used to be," he stressed.

Although Leasure overhauled his pizza ingredients, he said the Pizza By Marchelloni beef rolls were left unchanged. However, the previous owners sold RC Cola and that's been ended. Leasure replaced the RC Cola with Pepsi products.

"We're trying to make everything better," he said. "We want it to be a staple of Joliet again, like it needs to be."

Nowadays, there are about eight to 10 Pizzas By Marchelloni restaurants in Illinois, Leasure said. He has the only one in Joliet. Scott Harris has been the long-time owner of the Crest Hill takeout restaurant at Theodore Street and Raynor Avenue.

Besides carryout, Leasure said his Pizzas By Marchelloni offers deliveries within a 15-mile radius, covering Joliet, Shorewood, Channahon and Minooka.

"I try to get one (delivery driver) every day," he said.

For takeout, the phone number for Joliet's Pizzas By Marchelloni is 815-741-2502.

How long does Leasure plan to own his Joliet pizzeria?

"My goal is to spend the rest of my life here and pass it on to my kids," Leasure said.

As for people who refused to patronize Joliet's Pizzas By Marchelloni during its recent history, Leasure had this to say: "Give us another try. We won't disappoint you."