NEWBURYPORT — It seems the city's downtown can't get enough pizza — especially if you ask those dishing out the pie.
There are the longtime pizza joints: Abraham's Bagels and Pizza on Liberty Street and the Pizza Factory II on Pleasant Street, as well as relative newcomer Not Your Average Joe's in Market Square, which offers brick-oven pizza.
By next month, there will be Oregano's Brick Oven Pizzeria and Ristorante on Pleasant Street, complete with an Italian-imported oven. And now there is a new member looking to join the crowd: The Upper Crust.
The Upper Crust, an upscale pizza chain, is pushing to get a beer and wine license to serve with its high-end pizza at 42-44 State St., the current site of Schooner Financial Associates.
If all goes as planned, The Upper Crust will be the fifth pizza joint in a block-and-a-half section of Newburyport's downtown district. And that doesn't even include Nick's Pizza and the Park Lunch, which are just outside downtown on Merrimac Street, not to mention Domino's, Captain's and Pizza Hut farther out.
David Marcus, The Upper Crust's chief financial officer, said a franchise is opening at a State Street location currently housing a financial business but would not name the person who will own the franchise. He said the hopeful opening date is July 1, but that depends on permitting and the beer and wine license hearing May 7.
But if you ask Chester Cappucci, the general manager and chef of Oregano's, the competition is welcome.
"Competition is not a bad thing," he said yesterday, standing outside his restaurant. "Do I think (this district) can handle it? Sure I do."
Even with the increase in restaurants either specializing in or offering pizza, each of the downtown restaurants seems to serve its own niche in the market.
Pizza Factory, for one, offers a complete menu that includes subs, pizza, calzones, salads, french fries, chicken fingers and many other items. It also offers the downtown's least expensive pizza-by-the-slice downtown and is a popular gathering spot for city youth.
Abe's, on the other hand, concentrates on breakfast food in addition to pizza and sandwiches. The small restaurant features an outdoor patio and offers coffee, breakfast sandwiches and fruit in the morning. It also offers pizza, salads and sandwiches during lunch and is open at night on weekends.
Not Your Average Joe's offers mostly a non-pizza-related menu but still reserves a special place for its own version of the Italian classic.
The two new pizza places will likely have a different feel from the existing restaurants.
Cappucci said Oregano's will serve pizza, salads, pasta, some appetizers, and beer and wine. Cappucci, a first-generation Italian, said his recipes come from his grandmother and are written in Italian on pieces of yellow paper.
He said he will make homemade dough, meatballs, cannoli, sauce and pasta.
"It is Italian, thin-crust pizza the way it's supposed to be," he said.
"The closest thing to Italy will be right here," said Michelle Amodio, the front-of-the-house manager for Oregano's.
The Upper Crust plans to open where the Schooner Financial Associates office is located now.
It is a building right next to Gram's Ice Cream and Desserts. The restaurant, which has nine locations in the Greater Boston area, features high-end pizza with dozens of unique toppings and a beer and wine list.
The toppings at the restaurants include scallops, lobster, chorizo, veal, six different cheese options, eggplant and clams, along with traditional toppings, such as onions, pepperoni, bacon and mushrooms. It also serves calzones, salad and lasagna, and features a menu of more than two dozen specialty pizzas.
