De Lorenzo’s Tomato Pies on Hudson Street, a legendary Chambersburg eatery born of an Italian family’s dream of a better life, will close on Jan. 15 after nearly 65 years in business.

Despite its humble beginnings, over the years the distinctive De Lorenzo pie developed an almost cult-like following of customers drawn to its thin, crispy crust, plump tomatoes and pungent cheeses. For many, it is the only pizza they will eat.

“It’s time,” owner Gary Amico, 68, explains, announcing his family’s decision to close the 530 Hudson St. location. “We’re going to take a breather.”

The family Amico refers to includes himself, his wife Eileen, 66, and their only child, son Sam, 40, who operates the family’s second De Lorenzo’s tomato pie mecca on Route 33 in Robbinsville. The trio sat down earlier this week at the suburban location to speak candidly about their decision. They want to make sure the customers they consider friends will understand.

All three Amicos emphasize that the closing is neither a retirement nor a flight from Trenton.

“People will think we’re closing because we weren’t doing a good business,” said a tearful Eileen. “But that’s not it. We’re still doing a good, steady business there.”

“We’re 68 and 66,” her husband explains. “That’s why we’re closing. We have nothing bad to say about Trenton. We thought when we opened the Robbinsville location four years ago that business would die down on Hudson Street. But it never did. We even get a lot of people from Pennsylvania.”

Pennsylvania may become the home of the family’s next venture, an expansion of the distinctive De Lorenzo brand pie that has drawn generations of customers to Trenton’s Chambersburg section along with the likes of singer Vic Damone and a food critic from the New York Times.

“That’s what we’re thinking,” the elder Amico and his wife disclosed. “We’re thinking of a Pennsylvania location. But not for another year or so.”

Eileen, who doesn’t even attempt to hide her reluctance to leave the narrow 55-seat restaurant whose upstairs rooms were once her childhood home, is sad about no longer seeing the customers she has come to love.

Her husband understands.

“This job defines me. It defines me,” says the man who would make one pie after another as customers and phone orders poured in. “You work 40 years and, all of a sudden. . . .” His voice trails off as he ponders the future. “When I got the restaurant, it was an opportunity to make something of myself.”

The original De Lorenzos, Pasquale and Maria, emigrated from Naples, Italy, and settled in Chambersburg, where they would raise 12 children. In 1936, the family opened a restaurant at the corner of Mott and Hudson Streets in the “Burg.” Eleven years later, one of their sons, Alexander “Chick” De Lorenzo, decided to open a tomato pie place of his own — down the street at 530 Hudson. He and his wife, Sophie, worked side by side for 40 years there.

Chick chose Gary Amico, and Gary’s wife — daughter Eileen De Lorenzo — as the people to carry on his legacy 40 years ago. The pair has worked side by side in the ensuing years, raising their only child, Sam, in the interim.

A legendary tomato pie whose reputation put De Lorenzo’s and Trenton on a national culinary map, the De Lorenzo’s pie is made by putting cheese on the dough, then seasoning and toppings, and, finally, canned plum tomatoes. It is not, strictly speaking, a pizza, which begins with tomatoes and ends with a cheese topping.

The unquestionable success of the De Lorenzo’s business is made even more extraordinary by the simple rules of its operation: no advertising, no delivery, no menu, no posted prices, no credit cards or checks, no parking lot, no reservations and not even a bathroom in the tiny row house location that became a restaurant before there were rules about such things. On Friday nights — their busiest nights — they do not even answer the phone when the orders pile up.

While the ethnic makeup of Chambersburg has changed, its Italian families replaced by Latinos, time has almost stood still inside 530 Hudson Street. A push-key cash register from the 1950s remains as do cedar paneled walls and the distinctive way the all-male cooking staff cuts the pie — with a knife and at odd angles.

On any given night, in hot weather or in cold, customers often wait outside for an available seat while the tantalizing aroma of fresh baked dough mingles with the smell of cheese and tomatoes, spilling out every time the front door opens and closes. Inside, with its no-frills setting, the service at booths is as succinct as the non-existent menu. There isn’t much to talk about. Everyone wants a tomato pie and a soft drink. Sausage and plain tomato pies are the traditional favorites.

“When some people starting putting things like pineapple or buffalo chicken on pizza, we didn’t do that. Our customers know what they like and why change what we’ve been successful with,” says Sam, who opened the Robbinsville location four years ago. Now that location has developed a cachet of its own, with customers lined up outside the back door to enjoy a $12 or $15 tomato pie. Salads, printed menus and two bathrooms are its concessions to changing times.

Modest people who have lived in Hamilton Township for 30 years, Gary and Eileen Amico cut back their Hudson Street hours of operation four years ago from six days to four. Now open Thursdays through Sundays from 4 to 9 p.m., it’s a place Eileen Amico still considers home.

“My mother was raised there. I was raised there. I liked it there. I love it,” says Eileen, who resembles her mother.

There are five living De Lorenzo children from the original 12. In the early 1950s, four of the eight original sons opened their own tomato pie place at 1007 Hamilton Ave. in Trenton, where it remains to this day. They have branched out with a presence at Risoldi’s Market in Hamilton.

“People are always trying to say there’s a rivalry between us, but there’s not,” says Amico.

Asked if they have any memories that stand out from their years on Hudson Street, the long-married Amicos answer almost in unison.

“Tons of memories,” says Eileen, wiping away a tear.

“We even shipped pies to California in dry ice for a wedding,” says Gary.

“The city (Trenton) has been a family to us and made our business what it is today and beyond,” Sam said.

As for their future, the Amicos have a simple wish. They want their Hudson Street regulars to come see them at the Robbinsville De Lorenzo’s location.

"A lot of our customers became friends," Eileen explains. "Will we miss them? Absolutely."

"It's a Trenton success story," adds husband Gary in a bit of an understatement.

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