Neighborhood Cuisine: Coppola's Restaurant and Pizza

While you might think of Coppola’s as the place to go to grab a pizza or a plate of penne alla vodka, what the regulars go to Coppola’s for is the friendship.

Coppola's Restaurant and Pizza owner Salvatore Coppola knows his regular customers by name and strives to make Coppola’s a place that feels like home.

“We serve customers from the time they are babies to the time they get married,” said Coppola, who grew up in Italy.

The restaurant has been in Gloucester Township since the 1980s and at its current location since 1996. 

“The best thing about doing business in Gloucester Township is that everyone knows everybody. It is a warm and friendly community,” said Coppola. “We live in town and people support you as their neighbor.”

The menu ranges from pizza, including the customer favorites cheesesteak hoagie pizza (topped with shaved steak, American cheese, lettuce and tomato) and chicken parmesan pizza (topped with chicken cutlet and parmesan cheese) to more formal Italian-American classics like penne alla vodka and speciality sandwiches on homemade bread. The Rustico sandwich, a combination of grilled chicken, spinach, roasted red pepper and sharp provolone, is another customer favorite, says Coppola. 

Coppola’s personal favorite item is the frequent special, Chicken Scarbariello. Coppola calls it a volcano of flavor: pan-seared chicken topped with roasted potato, sausage, roasted red pepper and marinara sauce.

Coppola choose to keep the menu more Italian-American versus Italian, embracing the favorites in South Jersey and giving customers food they are familiar with and enjoy.

“If people are not happy, your business won’t be happy,” said Coppola. 

And it seems Coppola has succeeded in making people happy—more than 85 percent of his customer base is made up of regulars who come in once a week. And he says that regulars often befriend each other in the store. 

“People are here the same time every week and strike up friendships,” said Coppola.

The restaurant is family owned and operated. Coppola’s employs nine full-time employees and four part-time employees. 

The restaurant is open seven days: Sunday through Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. It is located in the Laurel Springs section of the township in the Marketplace shopping center on Chews Landing Road.

Take-out or eat-in only, no delivery. To see the full menu, visit Coppola's website.