Family, faith and a little bit of tomato sauce. On Coburg Road in Sheldon Plaza, Bellizzi’s Pizza Joint is built on more than dough and mozzarella. The self-proclaimed home of “mafia style” pizza has carved out a late-night niche in Eugene’s food scene, serving until 3:30 am on weekends and 2:30 am on weeknights.
Jeremy Bellizzi opened his first Italian restaurant in 1996 at East 11th Avenue and High Street, in the space where Cheba Hut now operates. After nearly eight years downtown, he says the landscape began to shift as national chains moved into the area and customer traffic thinned.
“What was happening was the big boxes finally came to town, Outback, Chili’s, Olive Garden, you know, all the big names finally came out to Gateway Mall or Valley River,” Bellizzi says. “And so downtown was getting a little bit scarce as far as patronage.”…