GREEN Eric Griffin has always wanted to make and serve pizza. With the opening of DeLuca’s Pizza Pub in the Shops of Green, he has made that a reality.

DeLuca's opened July 5 in Green and is known for its New York style thin crust pizza cooked in a wood fire oven.

Griffin and his wife, Claudia, formerly owned Howie’s on the Lake for seven years before they sold the business in December. They decided to open DeLuca’s in the Shops of Green where Chop and Swizzle was formerly located. The business can be accessed from inside the plaza's atrium.

Claudia Griffin said both her and Eric went to Green High School and their family all lives in Green, so it made perfect sense to open in the city.

The name originates from Eric’s great grandfather, who ran DeLuca’s Bizmark Italian Restaurant in Akron’s North Hill neighborhood along with DeLuca Distribution.

Offerings

DeLuca's offers a wide variety of options including pizzas, pastas, appetizers, salads and panuozzo sandwiches. Zack Roberts is the head chef.

Two of the top-selling pizzas are the Margherita and Roberta. The Margherita Pizza features red sauce, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and balsamic drizzle. The Roberta Pizza features red sauce, fontina, red pepper flakes, hot soppressata, shaved parmesan and Italian honey drizzle

Also on the menu is a dessert pizza, which features Nutella, strawberry, banana, lemon Icing and powdered sugar.

There are 10 beers on draft and DeLuca's also has cocktails, which are all made in-house. It also has Champaign on draft.

Claudia Griffin said everything is made fresh as there are no fryers or freezers. She believes making everything fresh and having high-quality ingredients makes their restaurant stand out from other places.

"Business has really been awesome," she said, adding that they have seen an increase since school started.

“We are excited to be here,” Claudia Griffin said. “It is nice to get back to where we grew up.”

DeLuca's is open Monday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. On Sunday, it is closed but are now booking for private parties.

Orders can be placed online along with reservations.