{"id":405370,"date":"2026-08-13T10:16:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T10:16:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/405370\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T10:16:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T10:16:26","slug":"pizza-by-marco-my-familys-pizza-where-to-find-the-original-recipe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/405370\/","title":{"rendered":"Pizza by Marco (My Family\u2019s Pizza): Where to find the original recipe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Almost seven years after a tornado destroyed My Family Pizza at Preston Royal, the recipe that made it a local staple for decades is still being served at two Dallas concepts.<\/p>\n

Frankie Nuccio\u2019s family opened the original store at Preston Royal in 1962. They sold the same thin-crusted pizza recipe for over five decades at the location, amassing a loyal following along the way. Before a trademark dispute forced Nuccio to change the name,<\/a> the business operated as Pizza by Marco for most of its run, which is why many longtime fans simply referred to it as Marco\u2019s.<\/p>\n

In 2019, a devastating tornado<\/a> decimated the shopping center and left Nuccio\u2019s family business leveled. He was disappointed to lose the business, he says, but also relieved as delivery apps had taken a cut and Central Market\u2019s opening next door left customers without much parking. Afterward, he opened a boba business, which he sold last year to resurrect the family business.<\/p>\n

Ghost Pizza<\/p>\n

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CLOSE\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

His rising-from-the-ashes moment came in May, when Nuccio opened Ghost Pizza near his home in Lake Highlands. The new spot uses the exact same recipe as the original Pizza by Marco, and sells almost entirely all of the former pizzeria\u2019s signature pizzas, including the best-selling Maximus, which comes with onions, sausage, ground beef, canadian bacon, pepperoni, black olives, green olives, green peppers and mushrooms.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I learned from my mom and dad is, this is the recipe. \u2018Don\u2019t change it. Do everything the way we teach you, and you\u2019re going to succeed,\u2019\u201d Nuccio says. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why we stayed in the business so long.\u201d<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s already another business in town selling Marco\u2019s-style pizza, and while it may not have a Nuccio in the kitchen, it still sells the recipe under the original-ish name. In 2013, the family licensed the recipe to the owners of the Pour House in Lakewood, where it has been sold for over a decade under the My Family Pizza brand. Tim Feutz and Calvin Bow bought the bar earlier this year<\/a>, and Feutz says they will continue to uphold the legacy for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like thin crust pizza; this is a nice crispy thin crust,\u201d Feutz says. \u201cThe sauce has a nice little tang to it with the Italian spices in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, who\u2019s selling the real Marco\u2019s, and why is the recipe still being sold over 50 years and an EF-3 tornado later? We asked both owners.<\/p>\n

The recipe
\n\"FrankieYes, the dough is literally paper thin before baking.<\/p>\n

While Pizza by Marco opened at Preston Royal in 1962, the recipe\u2019s story goes all the way back to Sicily. And, as Nuccio will tell you, it starts with the sauce.<\/p>\n

His grandmother\u2019s family immigrated from Palermo in 1903, bringing with them a recipe for tomato sauce that Nuccio says dates back to the mid- to late 1800s. She then fine-tuned it for use on pizzas at his father\u2019s private establishment on Carroll Avenue, the Marco Polo Club, which opened in 1949. The recipe has largely remained the same since, Nuccio says.<\/p>\n

It is one of the longest-running styles in Dallas, and may even be second in time-served only to Campisi\u2019s, which opened in 1946. While both Sicilian-rooted recipes use thin crust blackened on the edges, Nuccio says one of the main differences is found under the cheese.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur sauces are totally different,\u201d he says. \u201cObviously, the other sauce has, I believe, some anchovy paste in it, and our sauce is on the sweeter side.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nuccio\u2019s sauce simmers for hours, then is stored overnight and given a final, undisclosed touch (Nuccio is careful not to divulge too many of his family\u2019s culinary secrets) before serving. The key, Nuccio says, is time, adding that a great sauce should be able to age like Roman concrete.<\/p>\n

He buys mild Italian sausage in bulk unseasoned, with fennel, garlic and pepper added in-store at his new Lake Highlands location. White breast chicken and 80\/20 hamburger meat are also sourced locally.<\/p>\n

Dough is made with four main ingredients: organic flour, single-source olive oil, yeast and a pinch of salt. There are also secret herbs and spices added before baking. Nuccio disavowed processed ingredients and food additives after a trip to Burning Man in the early 2010<\/a>s, which is why he says all of his products are made using simple, organic ingredients. It also results in a better pizza, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything has to be made fresh within 48 hours,\u201d Nuccio says. \u201cAnd you got to cook all your meats. And you got to do it yourself, or perhaps the one that isn\u2019t gonna cut corners, especially when you\u2019re not there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NuccioGhost Pizza opened in a space formerly occupied by a pho restaurant, which was helpful during renovations, Nuccio says.<\/p>\n

The resulting dish is aromatic, generously topped with provolone and crispy on the edges, with enough flop in the middle to avoid any tavern-style allegations.<\/p>\n

Nuccio spent years opening up other concepts and trying to operate multiple My Family Pizza locations, which hurt the quality of the product, he says, adding that \u201cno one is gonna love it as much as you do.\u201d His decision to reopen in Lake Highlands was driven by the memory of his parents, which is why the spot earned the title Ghost Pizza.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that they would smile ear to ear today,\u201d Nuccio says. \u201cI finally got serious about everything. Before I wanted to have a lot of fun, now it\u2019s all about serving the best food consistently to everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s selling Marco\u2019s?<\/p>\n

\"TheBow says the Pour House pace is pretty similar to the Dallasite.<\/p>\n

Like Nuccio\u2019s newest concept, the Pour House also blasts its pizzas in the oven for seven minutes at 700 degrees, but again, they largely use the same recipe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody likes it,\u201d Feutz says. \u201cThe pizza\u2019s well received. We could always stand to sell a few more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still selling pizza under the My Family Pizza name, Feutz and the kitchen staff mix in freshly-shredded mozzarella with provolone before baking. That may be the truest foundational difference, as Feutz and his co-owners still buy sauce from Nuccio and get packets for pizza dough. While Marco\u2019s favorites like the Augustus and Spartan are on offer, The Pour House\u2019s best seller is the Lakewood, which comes with Canadian bacon, ground Beef, sausage, pepperoni, tomatoes, parmesan and basil.<\/p>\n

Feutz is quick to admit that \u201cthe original guy always\u201d has an edge, adding that \u201cI can\u2019t say that we do it better than him.\u201d But his kitchen is also focused on burgers, lunch specials and bar snacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just all pizza focused,\u201d he says. \u201cWe have many other things. Sandwiches, burgers, that kind of stuff. They\u2019re a little more zeroed in on one item than us. But I think the quality would be similar.\u201d<\/p>\n

If asked where to find the real Pizza by Marco, Nuccio says he would probably tell customers to come to Ghost Pizza, although he may have a bit of owner\u2019s bias. However, he has no problem sharing his family\u2019s recipe with the Pour House.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to make more money. I\u2019m going to make a little more money,\u201d Nuccio says. \u201cIt\u2019s a win-win for Lakewood. I don\u2019t know if Lakewood people are going to drive over here, but I want him to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Ghost Pizza is a dedicated pizzeria and the Pour House provides pies meant to be enjoyed with pints, one thing is clear: close to seventy years later, Pizza by Marco endures.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be the holder of those recipes and that style, it\u2019s really cool,\u201d Feutz says. \u201cHopefully we can carry it on and keep the name up.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Almost seven years after a tornado destroyed My Family Pizza at Preston Royal, the recipe that made it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,7048],"class_list":["post-405370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-pizza"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}