The Perfect Marriage:Bianchi’s Pizza in Revere Closing Shop, Moving into Renzo

Monday night, the end of the Labor Day weekend, Bianchi’s sold its last slice of thin crust pizza at 322 Revere Beach Blvd..

But don’t shed a tear, Bianchi’s is moving to 381 Revere Beach Blvd. inside Renzo.

Here’s the story.

It’s no secret that Jack Gatemen, owner of Renzo, which has a wood-fire pizza oven, is a frequent customer of Bianchi’s.

“What can I say, they make a better pizza,” Gateman said.

“He comes here for pizza. This is how the whole thing got started,” Bobby Bianchi said. “It might be a perfect marriage.”

“It’ll be a great wedding,” Gateman said. “We’ve known each other for years.”

Awhile back, when plans for development at Bianchi’s were divulged Gateman approached Robert “Butch” and Bobby Bianchi about a new venture.

“Yeah, we’re going to move. I don’t have exact dates,” Bobby said, adding sometime in the month.

“It’s sad but I can understand it,” said Butch, who was wearing a black “The Godfather” T-shirt. “Probably this week we’ll have the movers in to move the ovens. We know what we’re doing. We’ve been on the beach for 68 years.”

Bianchi’s was opened in the early 1950s by Butch Bianchi’s uncle, Anthony, at the age of 17. The pizza shop was mixed in with the amusements of Revere Beach. Anthony, who died earlier this summer, had worked as a dishwasher at a pizza shop and heated up the ovens for the pizza makers.

Gateman’s plan now includes getting rid of his wood fired pizza oven and, working in conjunction with the Bianchi’s, move the two, half-ton, brick oven pizza ovens from Bianchi’s into Renzo.

When you sell 100 pizzas a day, you know something has to be good, from the ingredients to the employees.

Binachi’s has two full-time employees and a bunch of part-timers. Some haven’t decided if they will go with the move.

“We start them young here,” Butch said. “Some were born and raised here. I tell everyone I was born in the back room.”

Butch Binachi said he’s not fond of the development on the beach, but he understands.

“The traffic is terrible,” he said. “I miss the whole beach. When you’re born and raised on the beach and you see all the amusements gone, it’s not right.”

Sal DiGianni, has worked for Bianchi’s for seven years. Lately he’s been taking orders and fielding questions from customers about the move.

Louis Rabino, who grew up in Revere, and Amy McInerney love Bianchi’s Pizza. Rabino, who’s been eating pizza there for the past 25 years, had no idea Bianchi’s was moving.

“It’s the best pizza in Revere,” Rabino said.

“We’ll follow them,” McInerney said.

The city has approved construction of a 145-unit apartment development at Bianchi’s, next to the St. George Condominiums on Revere Beach Boulevard. Construction plans for the $50 million project include a space for retail space on the first floor, which many assumed could be occupied by Bianchi’s.

“We still have a few things to work out with the transfer to Renzo’s,” Bobby Bianchi said. “I’m trying to think of tomorrow not a year from now.”

The developers plan to demolish the Bianchi Building and two other existing buildings on Revere Beach and replace them with a six-story building of studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments, and 2,500 square feet of retail space on the first floor. Parking will be below.