Plans are underway to open a new pizzeria in Kewanee. Stephen Mazzarise made the announcement recently on social media. His new restaurant, Pasquale’s Pizzeria, will be located at 401 Tenney St., in the shopping center adjacent to CSB Bank.

The restaurant will feature deep-dish Chicago Stuffed Pie, thin-crust, pan pizza, beef rolls, pastas, calzones, Italian beef and meatball subs, although he is still considering whether to offer a more limited menu in the first few weeks. Training staff, he said, will be the focus for the first several weeks, and Mazzarise is asking that customers be patient with them until the staff can be fully trained.

Mazzarise has been making Italian cuisine his whole life, he said.

“My dad and uncle started off in Rockford 50 years ago,” he said.

His uncle owns Maria’s Pizza in Amboy. Another of Mazzarise’s uncles owns a Maria’s in Freeport and his cousin owns a Maria’s Pizza in Dixon.

Mazzarise said he’s been able to take the best of the best of his family’s recipes and perfect them. His ingredients, he said, are only the finest. His pizza dough is homemade and he uses fresh sausage and a mixture of cheese. His tomatoes are sourced from California. His pizza sauce he described as slightly sweet.

Mazzarise recently moved to Kewanee from Buda. He had driven through Kewanee many times and noticed an absence of pizza choices in town. For a town the size of Kewanee, Mazzarise said you would expect to find at least seven or eight really good pizza places. Because of the limited pizza restaurants, Mazzarise and his wife, Molly, made the decision to move to Kewanee and provide the city with another option.

Pasquale’s Pizzeria is set for a soft opening on Tuesday, August 8. Mazzarise said he plans to hold a grand opening sometime in the future.

The restaurant will be pick-up and delivery, and the hours will be Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 4 pm to 9 pm, and Fridays and Saturdays from 4 pm to 10 pm. The restaurant will be closed on Sunday and Monday.