For the fifth consecutive year, San Matteo has been the official pizza of the US Open, the largest sporting event in the United States after the Super Bowl. It’s a remarkable achievement for two brothers who left their hometown of Salerno — a seaside city just south of Naples, known for its culinary heritage and vibrant street food — and rebuilt their lives in New York.
A month after the tournament’s close, the numbers speak for themselves. With six official pizza stations — two inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, one at the Grandstand, two at Louis Armstrong Stadium, and one in the Food Village — San Matteo served thousands of pizzas to an audience that topped 900,000 visitors over the two-week event. “Serving hundreds of thousands of people in just a few days is a huge challenge,” says Ciro Casella, “but it’s also proof that Italian authenticity has a universal power. When someone tastes our pizza and says ‘It tastes like Italy,’ you realize all the effort was worth it.”
The story of San Matteo began in 2010, when Ciro, after losing his job in Italy, decided to start over in New York with his brother Fabio. They opened a forty-seat pizzeria on Second Avenue, decorating the walls with family photos and memorabilia from their hometown soccer team, Salernitana. What started as a humble neighborhood spot has grown into a national brand with over a hundred employees, featured in The New York Times, the Michelin Guide, and Zagat, and beloved by celebrities like Spike Lee and former mayor Bill de Blasio.
Beyond the restaurant business, the Casella brothers saw early on the value of connecting their brand to major events. That vision led to the creation of San Matteo Event, which has since catered at iconic festivals such as the Ultra Music Festival in Miami, Governors Ball in New York, EDC in Orlando, and the Minnesota Yacht Club, as well as private events for Hollywood stars and the American jet set. “Every time we bring our pizza outside the restaurant,” says Raffaele Volpe, San Matteo’s manager since 2015, “we tell a piece of Italy that never stops dreaming.”
The US Open partnership has been a crowning moment. After winning the Burger Bash at the New York Wine & Food Festival twice (in 2019 and 2021), San Matteo took home the World’s Best Sandwich award at the 2024 Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. Next week, the team will return to defend its title at the 2025 Burger Bash, showcasing its signature gourmet sandwiches and panuozzi — a traditional stuffed flatbread from their home region.
From the streets of Salerno to the stands of Arthur Ashe Stadium, from the ovens of the Upper East Side to the biggest sporting stages in America, San Matteo’s story is one of persistence, pride, and passion. As Ciro likes to say: “The American Dream can’t be bought — it’s built, day after day.”
