Jocy's Pizza Of Farmingdale Celebrates 1 Year: 'I've Got Great Customers'

FARMINGDALE, NY — Jocy's Pizza of Farmingdale is 1 year old. The pizzeria, at 533 Fulton Street, celebrated its anniversary on June 16.

Owner Alex Mercado opened the eatery, naming it after his daughter. He said he is proud of himself for hitting a year in a town known for its pizza.

"It's been a whole year, and it's tough," Mercado told Patch. "If you make it one year, that means you're doing something good."

Mercado tries to offer unconventional specialty slices, such as his "Trifecta" slice, which combines red sauce, vodka sauce and pesto, the meatball burrata, which sees scoops of burrata cheese on a Sicilian meatball pie, and "The Honey Pep Pizza," which consists of pepperoni, Mike's hot honey drizzle & basil on a Sicilian crust. He also has the classics, including Buffalo chicken, chicken bacon ranch, vodka, and more.

Jocy's also offers appetizers, wings, heroes, pasta, entrees, plenty of dinner deals, and more.

"The customers are great," Mercado said. "I've got great customers. When they try my food, most of them come back."

The pizzaiolo, who has roughly 18 years of experience, said his first year at Jocy's has been up and down, but things have recently gotten better. He has a lot of favorite things about his first year, he said.

"Being responsible, doing a lot of the stuff. It's a lot of commitment. You have to be here every morning for 12 hours a day. It feels good though."

Mercado began working part-time at a pizzeria out of high school, opting to not go to college. He started as a delivery driver before working his way up to a pizza man.