Giuseppi’s Pizza Plus is an anachronism in the sleek, shiny Rockville Town Center. The late Sue Feldman, a Pittsburgh native, opened Giuseppi’s Pizza Plus with her sons Scott and Eric in 1990. According to this 2015 article in the now-defunct Montgomery County Sentinel, the name Giuseppi’s is an Italianized version of Sue’s father’s name, Jerry.1 Before the Rockville Town Center opened in 2007, city officials convinced the Feldmans to move locations from a few blocks away to its present site next to the Regal Theatres. Since then, it seems that Giuseppi’s is the only thing that’s remained unchanged in this upscale slice of Rockville.
Nature meets Industrial epitomizes today’s restaurant design aesthetic. This style encompasses warm, earthy tones, exposed wood and stone, lush greenery, and dimmable, intimate lighting. It’s unclear why the Feldmans chose a yellow and blue motif for their restaurant, but it’s the antithesis of current design. Fashionable diners may sneer at Guiseppi’s datedness. However, DishingPizza and Ukrainian nationals prefer the Guiseppi’s vibe over anything else in the area.
Nobody ever raved about the food at Cheers because the watering hole existed to provide a warm environment where “everyone knows your name,” not a world-class burger. Giuseppi’s serves a similar purpose. At its 25th anniversary celebration, town officials lauded the establishment that hosts lawyers hashing out plea agreements and past-their-prime softball players reliving the highlights of their mediocre performances. It’s a local hangout, sans Sam and Woody. Even better, Giuseppi’s is an upstanding business, supporting and donating to local charities.
Does all the Guiseppi’s bohnomie and nostalgia place its pizza in a supporting actor2 role? Depends who you ask. DishingPizza is a gimlet-eyed reviewer and loves the taste of good pizza more than the flavor of sentimentality.
The recipe for Giuseppe’s pizza comes from Aiello’s, a Pittsburgh neighborhood pizzeria established in 1978, where Scott worked as a high school lad. Emulating a pizzeria with good bones seems a wise place to begin. However, Scott may have fallen into the trap of glorifying his experience instead of dispassionately assessing the quality of his employer’s pizza. Giuseppi’s pizza is inoffensive. The steel-deck oven crust is firm, the mozzarella is good, and the sauce is fresh and mild.
Sadly, nothing about Giuseppe’s pizza stands out. It’s an everyday eating kind of pizza, but not one of the greats worthy of a special trip. Still, if a group of Rockville High School alumni home on break seeks a third space, a ravenous soccer team needs sustenance, or one’s seeking an inexpensive lunch special, Giuseppe’s Pizza Plus fits the bill.
Giuseppi’s Pizza Plus
199 East Montgomery Avenue, Suite L, Rockville, MD 20850
335 Kentlands Boulevard, Gaithersburg, MD 20878
Type: New York
Pizza quality: 🍕🍕
Overall experience: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Slice: $4.10
Slice price per square inch: $0.16
Slice greed factor: 🤑🤑
Pie (16″ round): $22.99
Pie price per square inch: $0.11
- Jerry’s was already taken. Oddly, Giuseppi is the Italian version of Joseph, not Jerry. Perhaps the Feldmans had already printed the menus when they learned of their mistake. Or, perhaps, the Montgomery Sentinel article is incorrect. Digging deeper, it’s also possible the restaurant was actually named after Giueseppe “Joe” Aiello, the founder of Aiello’s in Pittsburgh, which provided its pizza recipe to Giuseppi’s Pizza Plus. ↩︎
- In a surprise upset, Kieran Culkin won the 2025 Best Supporting Actor Oscar for A Real Pain over the crowd favorite, Giuseppi’s pizza. ↩︎