Frank Buono was at a St. Patrick’s Day dinner at a friend’s house, and mutual friend Lisa Trani, a member of one of the great restaurateur families of San Pedro, said, “Frank, why not name a pizza after me?”
Frank was recounting how the Buona Lisa Pizza came about. The gourmet pizza was first introduced in 1996 to celebrate the restaurant’s 23rd anniversary.
“I had to invent a pizza to go with the name,” Frank said. “So the Buona Lisa was named after Lisa Trani.”
Of course he couldn’t call it the “Lisa Trani,” which is why it sounds like the Mona Lisa, Frank explained. Frank called the Buona Lisa ― sauceless pizza with mozzarella, provolone and goat cheeses, tomatoes tossed with fresh garlic, basil, roasted peppers, pan roasted garlic and pine nuts ― a phenomenal pizza that is still popular. So much so that it went from a rotating menu item to the regular gourmet menu.
There are many items on the Buono’s Pizzeria menu to which Frank has memories attached.
Frank was named after his grandfather, Francesco Bruno, a native of Italy who became a U.S. citizen in 1961, he was a commercial fisherman. In 1968, he partnered with his son Nicolaniello to open a market and deli in a 950-square-foot building on 15th and Gaffey in San Pedro.
In Italy, Francesco owned a grocery store and a bakery with his wife (Frank’s paternal grandmother). So purchasing a grocery store and operating it was not something that was new to the Buono family.
It was something that they had always done, along with being experts at baking bread for their village and other stores. They would sell fresh baked bread. The bakery was run by Frank’s grandparents and their kids: Frank’s dad and his siblings.
The 950-square-foot store at 1432 S. Gaffey was a market before Nicolaneillo purchased it, known as Galletti’s Market, and Veteran Market before that.
Nicolaniello took a different tact by opening a market and deli combined. Frank’s grandfather was famous for his homemade Italian sausages and his grandmother Teresa was famous for her meat sauce, which she would can, package, and sell frozen. The meat sauce recipe is the same as the one Buono’s Pizza uses to this day.
So when people came to Buono’s Market and Deli, they were usually coming to get their deli meat, italian sausages, meat sauce or torpedo sandwiches.
When he first started, Frank said he didn’t know what he wanted to do.
While attending LA Harbor College, Frank attained a real estate license, but he didn’t know what he wanted to do.
“When I was younger I always thought I’d never wanted to do this after growing up in the grocery store,” Frank said. “It just so happened that I decided that since I didn’t really know what I wanted. But I could do this well. We opened up 43 years ago on Willow and Chestnut, and that became a huge success, and the rest is history.”
Frank said he enjoyed the freedom of being his own boss. Sure, there’s a lot of stress and a lot of work. You’d have to be crazy to be in the restaurant industry, Frank said.
“There are parts I love and there’s parts I don’t love just like in anything else. But mostly, I love, I love, love the freedom. I can be creative in developing menu items, new marketing ideas and growing the business. Not so much now. I’m now focusing on an exit plan. But all of those parts of the business … I enjoyed dealing with people. I love people. So a lot of the things that come with this business [are] a perfect fit for me and for my personality.”
People’s relationship to work has been different since the pandemic. They have employees that have been with Buono’s for 45 years.
“We have one kitchen manager who actually retired and came back if he wanted something to do,” Frank said. “He loves working but he’s going to be 71-years-old. He’s in great shape. We have others in the kitchen who are probably 60. Forty-five is probably the youngest.
“The good thing about that is these are people that are coming with us for a lifetime. [They have raised families, and we used to provide healthcare before it was fashionable. The restaurant industry retirement plan, so they were able to raise a family, buy a house and just kind of live. Just to see their kids and their grandkids and to know that we were responsible for that. We provided those opportunities. That’s a wonderful thing.”
Through the years, we’ve gone through the recessions, we’ve gone through booms, we’ve gone through pandemics. If there’s one thing Frank would change about his 50 years in the restaurant industry, it would be to remove all the economic down years he had to see through. If not for that, his journey would have been perfect in his eyes.
Through the years Buono has led the family business, it’s been about providing good food and service.
To celebrate Buono’s Pizza’s 50th anniversary, they are going to be selling slices of pizza on Nov. 13th and 14th for 50 cents a slice. If you buy a pizza, pasta or sandwich at regular price, you get the second one for 50 cents. Your first beer or your first glass of wine is 50 cents with any meal and then they are going to be giving away $50 gift certificates to customers who draw the winning tickets.