What can a person do with $20? Not too much these days. But, in 1955, Louis Piancone traveled from a small town called Corrado, Italy to America with only $20 in his pocket. He used that $20 to build a thriving restaurant/catering business known today as La Nonna Piancone’s.

Selling fresh mozzarella and ricotta from his truck, Louis would drive from Hoboken, New Jersey to Bradley Beach each day. When he saw a “For Rent” sign on the property where Piancone’s bakery is now located, he immediately inquired. Louis was told that opening an Italian specialty store in a primarily Jewish neighborhood was risky – but he forged ahead.

One year after opening, Louis was so busy that he asked his brother John Piancone to come to America and help him run the business. Years later, Louis sold the business to John so he could pursue his dream of operating a wholesale business known today as Roma Foods. John married a woman he met on Bradley Beach named Ethel. As the years passed, he continued to run Piancone's and eventually went on to have and raise four children.

In 1977, John decided he needed more space in order to open a bakery and eventually branch out into the catering business. His solution: to buy two neighboring businesses known as the Black Cat Shoemaker and Connors Bar & Grill. Piancone’s is truly a family-run business. When John and his wife retired in 2003, his children - Rick, Charles, Donna, and Anna - all followed in their father’s footsteps and took over the business. Then, in 2007, Rick and his wife Cindy decided they wanted to have more time to travel the world so they sold the Piancone business to restaurateurs Russell Lewis and Mike Tennyson.

Today, La Nonna Piancone’s has an excellent reputation as a Mediterranean Italian restaurant/bakery/catering facility that focuses 100% of its attention on its customers. And, the Piancone motto: ‘To make each and every customer feel like they are eating at their grandmother’s house,’ will live on for many, many years to come.