Nancy's Pizza on Golf Road, Niles

The history of Nancy’s Pizza dates back to 1971 when Italian immigrants, Nancy and Rocco Palese, opened their first pizza parlor, Guy’s Pizza, in Chicago. They were known for their thin crust pizza, but as business fluctuated, the Paleses began experimenting. Rather than imitate, Rocco modeled his new pizza creation after a family recipe for ‘scarciedda,’ an Easter specialty cake made by his mother. The end result was the first stuffed pizza in America, which is now a staple in the pizza industry. The invention and success of the stuffed pizza led to the opening of Rocco’s new restaurant in 1974, Nancy’s Pizza in Harwood Heights, IL, being the first of many Nancy’s Pizza locations.