Meet the Owner: Lou Dammassa of VIPizza

For more than 50 years, northeast Queens residents have been able get a slice of Bayside on the corner of Bell Boulevard and 43rd Avenue.

VIPizza, located at 43-02 Bell Blvd., first opened in 1959 as Eddie’s Pizza and changed hands and names several times before being taken over by Lou Dammassa, Peter Agouriasa and Francisco Lara.

Dammassa said the eatery, which only serves pizza and calzones, has long been a popular place to grab a slice in the community.

“Everything is made fresh daily,” he said. “Our quality comes from having the best ingredients. A lot of them are imported from Italy.”

VIPizza specializes in Sicilian and spicy pies, but also serves vegetable, margherita and eight other styles of pizza.

“These are the same family recipes they used 50 years ago at Eddie’s,” Dammassa said of the eatery’s trademark pies.

The Sicilian pizza is the most popular and the spicy pie is the second most frequently ordered, he said.

Recently, the restaurant added chicken bacon and “upside down” pies, which have fresh mozzarella on the bottom and marina on the top with grated cheese and olive oil.

“Not many places make it,” Dammassa said of the “upside down” pie. “It’s an original from years ago that used to get made a lot in Brooklyn.”

Damassa said VIPizza has a number of regular customers who drop by several times each week.

“We’ve been here for 54 years, so we’re well known in the neighborhood,” he said. “Customers like that everything is fresh and made by hand.”

Gina Dammassa, Lou’s daughter, said the eatery is also popular in Bayside due to the rapport between customers and VIPizza’s staff.

“The customers like the people who work behind the counter,” she said.

VIPizza is open Sunday through Monday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and on Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight. For more information, call 718-229-9311.