Legendary Midwood pizzeria Di Fara is reinstating seven-day-a-week service after eight years without Mondays — but the additional opening time means owner Dom DeMarco may be sitting out on making some pies, the pizzeria confirmed. His sons, Michael and Dom Jr., will be taking over some days instead. "It's not possible for anyone to work seven days a week, especially not someone who is close to 80," says Fabiana Santana, who works with the family on Di Fara Dolce and private events. "We're going to give him the option to do those seven days. If he feels like he needs a break, one of the boys will step in."

DeMarco has been hand making pizza at Di Fara since 1965, and people wait in line for hours to see the legend himself serve those $5 slices. The pizzeria started closing up shop on Mondays in 2007 after Dom had foot surgery and the doctor told him to start taking it easy. At the time, his wife started pushing him to share more of his secrets with his sons. Later, they closed on Tuesdays for a few years, too. Dom still kept making most of the pizzas, but Michael and Dom Jr. have stepped in a handful of times during service over the years, like when it's gotten too hot for Dom to keep working, Santana says. Now, the sons will likely be stepping in more, depending on how Dom is feeling on particular days.

Still, Dom senior will never be too far away, even says Santana, who acknowledged that many people come to see Dom work. He'll be watching and guiding his sons when he's not cooking, Santana says. "There’s no talk of retirement or slowing down or anything from him at all," she says. "It's definitely giving the boys the opportunity to spread their wings a little bit and show that they haven’t just been hanging out. They really have been apprenticing from their father and really learning the craft." Both Michael and Dom Jr. have been making pizza their whole lives, and Dom Jr. has already opened pizza places on his own, including a spot in Vegas and Tagliare in local airports.

Dom loves being in the shop and has been showing up even when it's been closed on Mondays, Santana says. The family hopes that being open when there are smaller crowds on Monday and Tuesdays — waits can be as low as half an hour — will also give them the opportunity to do other things. They're planning to launch a new website this week that will let people know when they can start ordering for delivery to Manhattan, with a minimum order of 10 pies, Santana says. "Sometimes people come and say 'I want to make sure only Domenico makes my pizza,'" she says. "But I think a lot of people will be pleasantly surprised to taste something Michael or Dom Jr. made. You probably couldn’t guess. That’s how good they are."