Pizzeria Bacco Bistro

From their family to yours.
By Alicia Eichelman

A family affair that began in Bucks County in 1995 is back and better than ever with a new venture, Pizzeria Bacco Bistro, which opened this past April 21st. The Cipullo family, consisting of Frank, Judy and their daughters Christine and Jacqueline, have a longstanding history and have been very successful in the community in owning restaurants starting with the Washington Crossing Inn, then moving on to La Stalla in Newtown, followed by the original Bacco Bistro in Montgomery County. They decided to bring the success of the first Bacco into Doylestown, a place where Frank says, “people know us, and know our history.”

Frank Cipullo was engrossed in the culinary scene from a young age, “My family has always been in the food business, my Neapolitan upbringing has always been about food. We grew up living on what’s for dinner.” One of his first jobs was at a pizzeria, which provided his inspiration for the coal fired pizza concept. After college he started his own catering company, which eventually led to ventures in the restaurant business starting with Washington Crossing Inn. Today, his family owns The Bacco Bistro restaurants with both Jacqueline and Christine getting in on the action. Jacqueline helps out on the floor while Christine is the manager and co-owner of the new Bacco. She too got her start early in the food industry, helping her parents out at Washington Crossing Inn when she was just 10 years old.

In extending Bacco to Doylestown, the Cipullo family has brought along many unique features. This Neapolitan style family restaurant includes old school dishes with a modern flair to coincide with the atmosphere of the restaurant which is clean, classy and accentuated with earth tones that add to the relaxed and enjoyable surroundings. “What works at main [Bacco], we bring here, we like to add twists to traditional dishes and do different things to keep it interesting. And, we bring only the best,” says Frank. This includes Bacco’s take on old fashioned macaroni and cheese, but this one is made with mozzarella, parmigiano, cheddar, gorgonzola, bacon and peas. Or you can opt for “Uncle Tony’s Macaroni” which includes broccoli rabe, garlic, sausage, baby rigatoni and parmigiano. Other menu features include “Long Hot’s” which is long hot peppers stuffed with parmigiano cheese, plum tomatoes, beef, pork, veal, risotto and olive oil. They also offer homemade soups, and Linguini fra Diavlo, which is a mix of clams, shrimp, mussels, scallops, garlic, marinara and linguini. Chef Sergio, who also has worked with the family for years, prepares all of these along with their delicious fired up wings that are topped with roasted garlic and caramelized onions.

However, what is the prized feature of the Bistro is something not seen in Doylestown; the coal fried crispy pizza. Using Pennsylvania coal, the pizza’s are baked to perfection in the coal fired over, which heats to over 1000 degrees, bringing out delicious flavors not always found in pizza. The restaurant also offers another unique addition to Doylestown; it is BYOB. This allows customers to enjoy casual dining, while keeping prices reasonable, and customers can pair their favorite spirits with delicious Neapolitan style cuisine in a fun family style restaurant.

The casual dining experience also offers some interesting features that tend to stop customers in their tracks, which is the open kitchen, “people can see the food being prepared; on a busy night there are flames shooting, garlic is burning and the sauce is flowing, you get all the flavors of the place, besides the flavor of eating it you can smell it, and you get to see it. We have people who actually just stand there and watch their food being prepared, it’s a show” says Frank.

Pizzeria Bacco also offers corporate and business delivery daily from 11:00 until 5:00, party trays, and a catering menu. Bacco Bistro is located on 478 North Main Street in Doylestown, PA. For more information call (215) 348-9882, or visit them online at www.baccobacco.com.

Alicia Eichelman lives in Philadelphia, PA.