New Centre Commons, a newly constructed retail and dining center across from Target, will be home to Agostino’s Pizza & Pasta, a family-run Italian restaurant. 

Owners Tony and Shari Agostino were in the restaurant business for many years in New York and New Jersey prior to moving to Wilmington four years ago. 

“We always knew we wanted to open another place,” Shari Agostino said. “But we took our time, we looked all over, throughout three counties, and we finally found the perfect location.”

The new center provided the Agostinos the opportunity to design the restaurant and kitchen to their specifications, and by leasing an end unit, they were able to install a drive-through window for pick-up orders. 

“It will be great for people to be able to order ahead and just drive right up to the pick-up window,” Shari Agostino said. “That is something that I don’t think any other pizza places offer locally. We will also have about 20 varieties of pizza by the slice in our case each day, which is something else that will set us apart.”

While there are several specialty pies on the menu, Tony Agostino said he’s always getting ideas from the pizzas that customers create, and will often try them out as slices. With the help of past customers, he’s created a taco pizza, a cheese tortellini Alfredo pizza, a baked ziti pizza and even breakfast pizzas. 

“I have so many ideas,” Tony Agostino said. “It's fun to put them out there and see what bites.”

“You can’t have pepperoni everyday,” Shari Agostino added. 

In addition to pizza, Agostino’s will serve hot and cold subs, salads, pasta and traditional Italian dishes. The meatballs and all sauces will be made in-house from recipes that have been passed down from family members for generations. 

“We improve on them as we go along, and we make them our own,” Tony Agostino said of the family recipes he’s grown up with. “Quality is our main thing, we believe in the freshest ingredients and I always say, ‘It has to be good enough for me to eat,’”

The couple describes the atmosphere at the 80-seat restaurant as casual and family friendly. There will be some large screen TVs for games, but as of now there are no plans to serve alcohol. Business hours will be 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday. 

Pending final construction and inspections, the Agostinos hope to be open by mid-February.

Agostino’s Pizza and Pasta will be located at 4712 New Centre Dr. #107.

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