Dunedin restaurant claims to have largest pizza in Bay Area
DUNEDIN, Fla. - The owners of a Dunedin pizzeria that’s famous for its 32-inch pies says it is a labor of love.
Madison Avenue Pizza in Dunedin was born out of Sean and Jackie Ferraro’s desire to come back home to the Tampa Bay Area.
Sean Ferraro grew up in Largo, but then went away to college and moved to South Florida to work in the hospitality industry.
"We knew we wanted to move to Tampa Bay…weren't sure what we wanted to do and Jackie said, ‘Let's start a restaurant,’" Sean Ferraro shared.
The couple went all in. They quit their jobs, and sold their house and cars to get the funding together for a restaurant.
That commitment comes through in their creation of all sorts of incredible edible creations.
"We're just not the normal pizzeria," said Sean Ferraro. "We make a lot of weird pizzas."
Their ‘weird’ pizzas include crab Rangoon, macaroni and cheese, ‘Big Mac’ and chicken and waffles.
"Every week we do a special, not a typical pizza you usually see," Sean Ferraro said of the odd flavors. "We do the normal ones too."
The pair not only hand-makes the pizzas, but also the garlic knots, the meatballs, the cheese sticks and marinara sauce. It's all made fresh.
They have a specialty pizza not for the faint of heart, or those who are eating alone. The 32-inch pizza was inspired by Ferraro's time in Tallahassee in college at Florida State
"We used to eat at a place called Momo's that had a 30-inch pizza," Ferraro explained. "We wanted to make something really big (too)."
So he measured the front door, and it was 33 inches wide; so they settled for 32 inches for the pizza so customers wouldn't have to tilt the box to get out of the door.
"It's almost four of our 8-inch pizzas," laughed Sean Ferraro. "We sell a lot of them every weekend."
That creative nature and willingness to do things other places don't, not only keeps the customers coming back, but also keeps the Ferraro’s love story alive in Dunedin
"I think a lot of people do love us because we do make stuff that's outside of the box," explained Sean Ferraro.
The Madison Avenue Pizza is located at 2660 Bayshore Boulevard in Dunedin.
LINK: Learn more about Madison Avenue Pizza and Sean Ferraro's story here.