Madison Avenue Pizza is a family-owned pizzeria based in Dunedin, Florida.[1] It was founded in 2016 by Sean and Jackie Ferraro.[2]

Madison Avenue Pizza
Company typePrivate
Founded2016; 8 years ago (2016)
FounderSean and Jackie Ferraro
Headquarters,
ProductsPizza
Websitemadisonavepizza.com

Background

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Sean Ferraro was born in Largo to a restaurant owners' Italian family, and graduated from the Florida State University College of Hospitality. At the age of 14, Ferraro started working in a pizzeria.[3] In 2016, Ferraro and his wife Jackie sold their house in South Florida and their cars to get the funding for Madison Avenue Pizza, and relocated to Dunedin to start the restaurant.[4]

On Saturdays, Ferraro sells pizza by boat across Tampa Bay for swimmers and people on other boats whom call him Pizza Skiff Guy.[5][6][7][1]

That's What She Said Pizza challenge

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The pizzeria is known for offering a competitive eating challenge named That's What She Said Pizza where a participant team of 2 people have 1 hour to finish a 1-topping 32-inch in diameter (10-11 lbs) pizza,[8][9][10] which is considered the largest pizza in Tampa, Florida.[11][12] Notable participants included, Miki Sudo, Nick Wehry,[13] Randy Santel, Katina DeJarnett, Dan Kennedy, Nathan Figueroa, Michael Jenkins and Ricardo Corbucci.[8]

Fare

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Madison Avenue Pizza serves New York-style pizza, which is baked in brick pizza ovens.[14] All Madison Avenue Pizza's products are made from fresh ingredients and cooked the old-fashioned way.[5][clarification needed]

Accolades

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Madison Avenue Pizza received several accolades including, "Best of the Bay" "Best Pizza" by Creative Loafing in 2020,[15] 2021[16] and 2022.[17] In 2022, Madison Avenue Pizza won the "50 Best Restaurants of 2021" by Creative Loafing.[18]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Who said that?". Florida Trend. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  2. ^ Newspapers, TIFFANY RAZZANO, Tampa Bay. "Pinellas businesses finding ways to give back during pandemic". TBNweekly. Retrieved 2022-09-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ "The Pizza Skiff Guy". The Frederick News-Post. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  4. ^ "Dunedin restaurant claims to have largest pizza in Bay Area". FOX 13 News. 2022-05-01. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  5. ^ a b "He's a guy, selling pizza, from a boat. 'Damn, I'm on to something.'". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  6. ^ Duffy, Kate. "A Florida restaurant owner bought a boat to launch his side hustle selling $20 pizzas to swimmers and sunbathers in Tampa Bay". Business Insider. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  7. ^ "Florida man delivers fresh pizza by boat to islands and sandbars". Florida News. 2022-06-15. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  8. ^ a b "Is This 32-Inch One-Topping Titan the Largest Pizza in Tampa Bay? - PMQ Pizza Magazine". www.pmq.com. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  9. ^ "Madison Avenue Pizza". The BP Team. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  10. ^ Harlan, Andrew (2022-07-06). "The Pizza Skiff is delivering hot pies to Tampa Bay beaches on a boat". That's So Tampa. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  11. ^ "Tampa Bay's largest pizza is found at Madison Avenue". MSN. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  12. ^ "The Dunedin Pizza Store has the biggest cake in Tampa Bay, in addition to a problem to eat | C.W. Florida Daily News". 2021-02-08. Archived from the original on 2022-09-11. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  13. ^ "Meat cute: Competitive eating power couple now calls Tampa Bay home". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  14. ^ "Madison Avenue Pizza". Visit St Petersburg Clearwater Florida. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  15. ^ "Best Pizza". Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  16. ^ "Best Pizza". Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  17. ^ Cepeda, Brandalynn Nuñez. "25 essential Tampa Bay pizza spots everybody should try at least once". Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  18. ^ "Tampa Bay's 50 best restaurants of 2021". Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
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