ABOUT US
La Pizza Via Team
Owner: Jeff & Jodi Valentino
Manager: Jill Visger
La Pizza Via Mission
To provide our community with the best pizza and superior customer service.
La Pizza Via Story
La Pizza Via officially opened for business in August 2016, bringing NY style thin crust and Sicilian pan pizzas to the Northwest Chicago suburbs. The founder, Jeff Valentino, had recently lost his job in Banking after spending 20 years in the industry. Jeff’s lack of patience, inability to sit around, and frustration with corporate job prospects led him to start brainstorming about potential business opportunities in the food service industry. Jeff, a self-proclaimed foodie and pizza aficionado, then began discussing some of these ideas with Jodi Zalewski, who assisted in further defining a “vision”. In late spring, Jeff returned to his former home in NYC and attended the highly respected Goodfellas’ Pizza School, where he trained with some of the world’s best pizza makers. After completing this intensive hands-on training, Jeff secured the Fox River Grove location and continued refining his skills. Jeff added Jill Visger to the team as general manager in late June. Jeff, Jodi, and Jill have worked tirelessly together since that time to refine the concept, constantly improve menu offerings, and better serve our customers (with the highest quality food and by giving back to our communities). The La Pizza Via of today has some great new offerings and is proud of the progress it has made over the past year. We now offer a wide variety of pizza styles: NY Style, Detroit Pan, Chicago Cracker, Sicilian, Grandma, Margherita, Specialty, and Gluten Free. We look forward to continuing to provide our customers with the highest quality food, the highest level of customer service, an innovative menu, and effective programs supporting our mission to make a positive impact in our local communities.