Community Spotlight: Locale90 Neapolitan Pizza Market
Locale90 Neopolitan Pizza Market offers an authentic Italian dining experience. In the true Neapolitan tradition, they select simple, whole ingredients and combine them by hand to create a product they know you will appreciate. They use “00” Flour, San Marzano Tomatoes, Fresh Mozzarella, Italian Sea Salt and imported Extra Virgin Olive Oil. They bake their pizzas using the time-honored method of open flame cooking in their imported oven that reaches temperatures of over 900 degrees.
Locale90 uses locally sourced and imported ingredients to create food for you to experience their love and passion for sharing a meal.
This Community Spotlight is Sponsored by South Bay Credit Union. South Bay Credit Union is for all who live, work, or worship in the South Bay.
Community Spotlight: Locale90 Neapolitan Pizza Market
Tell us about Locale90.
We opened our doors in July of 2014, almost two years after my husband, John walked in the door from work one day after being let go from his media sales job. He proudly announced, “I think it’s time to open a restaurant!” We had a conversation when we first were dating about one day, when we didn’t need the money, we would open a restaurant together since we both have experience in hospitality. (It turns out that we still needed to make money, but the opportunity presented itself anyway!)
John grew up in a big Italian family and his grandmother who was born in Naples, Italy, lived with them when they were little, and taught them how to make authentic Neapolitan Pizza dough! It took us two years to find the right location, do the research and find investors but it was so worth it when we opened!
What inspired you to launch Locale90?
My husband has always had a dream to own his own restaurant, especially a Neapolitan Pizzeria. His passion for quality food and genuine Italian hospitality stems from his family and especially his grandmother.
I have worked in the food business off and on throughout my life since I was 13 years old when I was making deli trays at Giuliano’s in Gardena and was a runner during the holidays when the catering orders would need to be fulfilled. I worked in restaurants and bars throughout college so it was a no-brainer when John and I met that we would one day get into the food business. I think we both had a passion for quality and our community which has lead to the success of our business.
What is one of your proudest moments?
It would be hard not to say that our proudest moment was when we opened our doors on July 11, 2014 to a long line of guests down Catalina Avenue waiting to try our pizza. However, we have had so many proud moments over the past 9 years, celebrating the small things like our amazing staff, some of them who have been with us since the beginning.
When the pandemic hit, and all restaurants were forced to close, we were able to shift to doing online orders and a take and bake pizza kit for families to enjoy making their own creations at home. The sense of community we felt through that endeavor was definitely one of the most memorable. When we celebrate our 10-year anniversary this coming July, we will definitely be celebrating not just surviving, but thriving in the restaurant business for 10 years!
What can one expect when visiting your restaurant?
We hope you feel a sense of family, casual sophistication and the feeling you could be at a little corner pizzeria somewhere in Italy. We take pride in the quality of our food and the effort that goes into the authenticity of our pizza.
Tell us a little about you.
John and I are South Bay residents. We have raised our 3 children in Manhattan Beach and now Palos Verdes for the past 25 years. Our boys were just 2 and 4 years old when we opened our first restaurant. They have been raised on our food and in the food business. I (Jen) grew up in Palos Verdes and am so proud to call the South Bay my home. I am so grateful for the opportunity to live and work in such an amazing place and share our passion with this community.
Do you give back to the community?
Yes! We give back to so many organizations in the South Bay! We are big believers in education of food and quality food and where it comes from. We have been big supporters of Blue Zones from the Beach Cities Health District and have participated in multiple school garden programs including Beach Cities Health, Palos Verdes School Gardens and Growing Great in Manhattan Beach.
We also support all of the school districts the South Bay including The Palos Verdes Education Foundation, RBEF, HBEF, and El Segundo Ed Foundation. We have also supported Walk With Sally for over 8 years as well as Richstone Family Center. We believe in supporting the organizations that support this community so the South Bay will continue to thrive!
Anything else you would like us to include?
We are so grateful to our community, the regulars, staff and patrons for the years of support and trust! We hope to continue serving you for many years to come!
Locale90 Neapolitan Pizza Market
Riviera Village
1718 S. Catalina Ave.
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
locale90.com
IG: @locale90
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