A&M Pizza

Armed with recipes from Angela’s grandfather, the couple opened their first A&M Pizza in the Big Apple in 1983. Later, they moved to Pennsylvania and operated two locations there. And when Angela decided she was tired of cold weather, the Buccellato family set up shop in the Phoenix area.

The next move, in 1992, seems to have stuck. A friend suggested the family look at Florence, southeast of the Valley, because at the time, the city’s dining options were mostly Mexican food. The friend thought A&M Pizza would do well there — and she was right. “We had half of the building at first,” Angela and Mike’s son Piero says of the restaurant’s location along State Route 287.
“It was so busy that they had to rent the other side out the next week.”

According to family lore, the fact that Angela’s grandfather had been born in Florence, Italy, made the move even more appealing. Regardless, A&M has thrived on the outskirts of this small town via a mix of regulars and visitors in search of New York-style pizza, pasta, wings, subs and more.

The house-made lasagna is a popular menu item, Piero says, and other entrees include Italian staples such as spaghetti, fettuccine Alfredo and chicken Parmesan. Philly cheesesteaks and the Big Bite — which features ham, cheese, salami, capicola and mortadella — are highlights of the sandwich menu.

The hand-tossed pizzas, though, remain the centerpiece, and they’re offered in sizes from 12 to 18 inches, along with a 28-inch “party pizza” that boasts a staggering 4.3 square feet of pie. It serves 8 to 10 people, and no, you don’t get it for free if you eat it all in one sitting.

Over the years, not much has changed at A&M, from the spartan interior to the fresh ingredients that fuel the extensive menu. The restaurant also remains a family business, with Piero now the Buccellato in charge. Angela died in 2023, but Mike still helps out from time to time.

The family’s pride in what they’ve created is evident in the way Piero talks about the place, but it also shows in every pizza that comes out of the oven. “I just want people to walk away happy and satisfied with the service — and the food, of course,” Piero says. “And I want them to want to come back.”