Homemade underscores everything at Cappy's Olivo Pizza

ANDOVER — “People have a mid-life crisis,” said Cappy Olivo, “And some people go out and buy a boat or a jet ski. I bought a pizzeria.” Olivo is 50, and was a carpenter his whole life. He grew up in Netcong, wrestled for Lenape Valley Regional High School and has lived in Cranberry Lake for the past 25 years. He’s responsible for founding the Lenape Junior Wrestling Program. With two Italian grandmothers, Olivo learned how to cook early in life and made his first sauce at age 12. “Every Sunday we’d go to my grandma’s house for lunch,“ he recalled, “There’d be a big long table filled with aunts and uncles and cousins and lots and lots of good food.” When the pizzeria at the corner of routes 206 and 517 in Andover went up for sale, Olivo decided it was time to follow a life-long dream and go into the restaurant business. As he left the construction business and began his career as a restaurateur, in an ironic twist, he said, “My last construction job was to completely redo the restaurant.” With its touches of old world charm and Italian accents built by Olivo himself, Olivo Pizza opened for business in mid-September. “Everything is done right and done fresh and done from scratch,” said Olivo. Two menu items have become so popular that they go out by the hundreds each week. “My pizza I call ‘Grandma’s Pizza’ because it is her recipe. We use a thick crust, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and oregano and sliced ripe tomatoes. People love it.” The other specialty is something that started as a tip from a friend. “A friend told me that we should sell a cheese steak,” Olivo said. He didn’t want just any cheese steak, he wanted one that was the best. The Olivo Cheese Steak starts with fresh steak, includes onions, peppers, mushrooms and three cheeses and is served on a 10 inch roll. The menu is filled with homemade dishes ranging from pastas to parmigianas. “No one leaves hungry,” Olivo said. “We pride ourselves not just on quality, but on generous portions.” Baked Italian specialties include calzones, sausage rolls, stromboli and a host of pizzas and hot sandwiches. Olivo is a family man. His twin sons, Mike and Matt, work at the restaurant, as does his eldest, Joseph, who is also attending Centenary College. Olivo’s wife, Clara Verrengio-Olivo, works part-time at the restaurant in addition to her job as a nurse at Bristol Glen. Her daughter, Brittany, helps out and her son, Dave, handles a lot of the computer components of the business. And then there is Cappy’s 75-year-old mother, Joanna. “It’s so great to have her part of the restaurant,” he said. One of his sons’ girlfriend also works at the pizzeria as does one of Olivo’s former wrestlers, Steve Church, who he coached from third to eighth grade. “This is an owned and operated family business,” Olivo said. “I wanted to provide very high quality food and surround myself with family when I decided to do this, and that’s what I’ve done. We have great customers, and the food we provide is very popular.” It’s so popular that people from not just neighboring towns but those further away have been requesting delivery. “I leave it up to my drivers if they want to make a longer trip,” said Olivo. “We just charge a $2 delivery charge, but people who order from afar seem to know our drivers work for tips and they take care of them.” Olivo Pizza is open Sunday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and on Friday and Saturday nights from 11 to 11. Cappy’s Olivo Pizza is located next to the Andover Post Office at the corner of routes 206 and 519. The restaurant can be reached by calling 973-786-6168 and is on Facebook under “Cappy’s Olivo Pizza.”