Piccolo Buco has opened in Estero, bringing authentic Roman-style pizza and Italian cuisine to Southwest Florida after a $6 million buildout by Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants.
David Dorsey
An Italian pizzeria more than six years and $6 million in the making — a collaboration between natives of Chicago and Rome — opened in Estero.
Piccolo Buco, a spinoff project of Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants, debuted July 13 at 22800 Via Villagio Parkway, off U.S. 41, just north of Coconut Point and south of Hertz’s corporate headquarters.
The restaurant opened following a weekend of festivities, with Cooper’s Hawk founder Tim McEnery, a native of Orland Park, Illinois, just southwest of Chicago, and original Piccolo Buco owner Luca Issa, a native of Rome, on hand for the official ribbon cutting July 11.
McEnery and his wife were on vacation in 2019, dining at the original Piccolo Buco, steps from Rome’s Trevi Fountain, when he first tried the pizza. Piccolo Buco means “small hole” in Italian, and the original 35-seat restaurant lived up to that name — until McEnery asked Issa if he wanted to bring the concept to the U.S.
“After the first bite, he called me back to the table,” Issa said of McEnery. “I remember thinking, ‘What in the world is the problem?’ But instead, he asked me if I wanted to take my concept to the United States. I said, ‘Yes, of course.’”
The main dining room at Piccolo Buco features open seating beneath greenery and decorative lighting. The Estero restaurant accommodates 156 guests indoors and employs about 95 people.
Piccolo Buco
In 2020, with COVID-19 raging in both Rome and Chicago, the two worked on adapting the pizza from a restaurant that bakes 500 pies a day into a concept that could serve the American market. The Estero restaurant seats 156 people inside, another 28 on the patio and employs about 95 people.
McEnery said he spent several hundred thousand dollars researching and developing a way to scale up pizza production without losing its Roman authenticity. About $6 million went into building out the Estero location.
The oven reaches about 700 degrees and can bake a pizza in less than four minutes. The dough is made fresh daily, stored in a cooler, then rolled, topped and baked.
Luca Issa, owner of the original Piccolo Buco in Rome, helped bring the family’s century-old concept to the United States through a partnership with Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants.
Piccolo Buco
“One hundred percent authentic to what they’re doing in Rome,” McEnery said. “And the pizza is tough to execute. We got excited about this business because somebody can’t just go and rip it off. This pizza is very serious food. It’s not just you and your mom making it at home. This is a five-step dough-making process, fermentation, science and temperatures. That is one of the real special factors about this business and business model.
“The pizza is spectacular.”
There are 77 Cooper’s Hawk locations, including one in south Fort Myers and another in North Naples. Beginning in 2020, McEnery worked with LQ Commercial Real Estate Services to find the Estero site for Piccolo Bucco, roughly midway between Southwest Florida’s two Cooper’s Hawk locations. This marks the fifth Piccolo Bucco, and McEnery aspires to open as many as 150.
Community leaders, restaurant executives and guests gather for the ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating Piccolo Buco’s opening in Estero. The pizzeria officially debuted following a weekend of grand opening festivities.
Piccolo Buco
“We loved the idea of putting a Piccolo Bucco between a couple of our successful Cooper’s Hawk locations,” McEnery said. “And we love Florida. We love Estero. Fort Myers and Naples are huge successes for us. This was the perfect community for us to come into.”
The sign above the door reads “Piccolo Bucco: EST 1916.” When the original opened that year in Rome, it operated as a bakery before converting into a pizzeria in the 1960s. Issa’s parents bought it in the 1980s.
In 2015, Giovanni Issa, Luca’s father, bequeathed the restaurant to his son. He died before his son could transplant the concept across the Atlantic, but his mother, Giuseppina Sperduto, has watched with pride.
“It’s a really proud moment for me,” said Luca Issa, who did not want a painting of his likeness installed just inside the front door but allowed it because McEnery insisted. “Because I’m a humble guy and grew up in a humble family. Watching and expanding and bringing the brand from Rome to the U.S., it’s a big deal. It’s a proud moment for me and my whole family.”
Close
A large mural inspired by Rome’s Trevi Fountain serves as the centerpiece of Piccolo Buco’s dining room in Estero. The restaurant draws its inspiration from the original pizzeria located steps from the famous landmark.
The main dining room at Piccolo Buco features open seating beneath greenery and decorative lighting. The Estero restaurant accommodates 156 guests indoors and employs about 95 people.
Framed artwork, warm wood finishes and Italian-inspired décor create the atmosphere inside Piccolo Buco in Estero. The restaurant seats 156 guests indoors, with additional patio seating.
Piccolo Buco features a full-service bar offering wine, cocktails and other beverages alongside its Roman-style pizza and Italian menu. Cooper’s Hawk Wine Club members can redeem their benefits at the restaurant.
Piccolo Buco opened July 13 at 22800 Via Villagio Parkway in Estero. The restaurant is the fifth Piccolo Buco location and the first in Southwest Florida.
A large mural inspired by Rome’s Trevi Fountain serves as the centerpiece of Piccolo Buco’s dining room in Estero. The restaurant draws its inspiration from the original pizzeria located steps from the famous landmark.
The main dining room at Piccolo Buco features open seating beneath greenery and decorative lighting. The Estero restaurant accommodates 156 guests indoors and employs about 95 people.
Framed artwork, warm wood finishes and Italian-inspired décor create the atmosphere inside Piccolo Buco in Estero. The restaurant seats 156 guests indoors, with additional patio seating.
Piccolo Buco features a full-service bar offering wine, cocktails and other beverages alongside its Roman-style pizza and Italian menu. Cooper’s Hawk Wine Club members can redeem their benefits at the restaurant.
Piccolo Buco opened July 13 at 22800 Via Villagio Parkway in Estero. The restaurant is the fifth Piccolo Buco location and the first in Southwest Florida.
Pizzas cost $18 to $21. Main dishes include Norwegian salmon ($28.99), baked eggplant parmesan ($20.99), braised short ribs ($33.99) and chicken parmesan ($26.99).
The menu also features seven pasta dishes, five appetizers, salads and desserts, including gelato.
Cooper’s Hawk wine club members can use their benefits at Piccolo Bucco.
“It was always very important, the quality of the ingredients,” Issa said of the pizza. “We’re very happy to bring the same quality of what we had in Rome to Chicago and now Estero.”