‘You feel part of the culture and tradition’
Popular Bridgeport Italian restaurant Massimo’s expands to Norwalk
NORWALK — A popular Bridgeport Italian restaurant is establishing a second location in Norwalk.
Massimo’s Pizza and Restaurant, located at 100 Boston Ave. in Bridgeport, will open a new location on Westport Avenue.
The plan to expand to Norwalk was in the works for a while, as restaurant owner and namesake Massimo Colandrea filed to establish Massimo Pizza and Deli in November 2021, according to the state business database.
Massimo’s new location, at 420 Westport Ave., will open next week, Massimo Colandrea’s daughter, Maryla Colandrea said.
The Westport Avenue location was previously home to a Five Guys Burgers and Fries and the Colandrea family attempted to repurpose the burger joint before deciding to do a complete overhaul, Maryla Colandrea said.
“It’s been about a year that we’ve been here fixing the place,” Colandrea said. “We initially wanted to move in and utilize whatever Five Guys already had at our disposal, but it’s difficult to go into a place and when you envision it a certain way to utilize what there is. We did a whole redo on the place it looks very different.”
The Bridgeport location, which is a more formal, sit-down establishment,
was opened in 1986, Colandrea said.
The Norwalk location will be an informal, deli-style restaurant, in which customers can order at the counter and have the food brought to their table, Colandrea said.
Colandrea said the Norwalk location will be similar to the family’s Italian Corner Deli By Massimo in Trumbull.
“The location in Trumbull is similar to this place than the location in Bridgeport because it’s been there so long, it remained more of a restaurant and it’s got pasta dishes and their menu is more extensive,” Colandrea said. “Here is more informal.”
Her father has wanted to move the business into Norwalk for a while, largely due to the location of Westport Avenue, Colandrea said.
“Truthfully, this was just a location my dad has wanted to come into for a while,” Colandrea said. “Westport Avenue is a great place for people to just go down the street, and there’s a bunch of different places to choose from. This shopping center is great because there’s Marshall’s, Staples — there’s a lot of traffic.”
The restaurant has an extensive display case in which customers can gaze at the Italian pastries made fresh daily and locals can peruse Italian foods and snacks not found in the area, Colandrea said.
“We wanted a place where everybody felt Italian no matter what background they had,” Colandrea said. “When you go to the town square in Italy you feel part of the culture and tradition. That’s what we created in Bridgeport and Trumbull and are now looking to do in Norwalk as well.”