New contender for best pizza in Lexington? Details on where, when you can try it
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Deluca’s Pizza will open at 3957 Fountainblue Lane Suite 130 in Lexington.
- The 2,800-square-foot restaurant will include a full bar and a 750-square-foot patio.
- Deluca’s plans to open by October in time for the Keeneland Fall racing meet.
A restaurant that has a huge following in the South — especially among those in horse racing — will be coming to Lexington.
Deluca’s Pizza, staple of the racing scene around Oaklawn in Hot Springs, Ark., since 2013, has drawn crowds for years for its brick-oven pizza.
Now, owner Anthony Valinoti is opening a location at 3957 Fountainblue Lane Suite 130, just off Harrodsburg Road in the Palomar Springs shopping center. It will be next door to the new Graeter’s Ice Cream.
The restaurant, which will have a full bar, will be 2,800 square feet plus an outdoor patio of approximately 750 square feet.
“We are so excited to be opening in Lexington,” Valinoti said in a message. “Deluca’s has a huge customer base in Kentucky, and I’m so thankful for the opportunity to feed them year-round. We will continue to use only the finest and freshest locally grown ingredients and our team is committed to bringing the same menu and vibe to the Bluegrass Region.”
If this restaurant sounds familiar, it might be because Valinoti and Santa Anita and Saratoga Race Course track announcer Frank Mirahmadi planned to open a similar place in Versailles a few years ago. But the plans for that never quite came together.
Now, the Valinoti and his business partners are bringing Deluca’s Pizza’s original recipes into Lexington and maybe elsewhere in Central Kentucky soon.
Mirahmadi, who is helping Valinoti get the word out about Deluca’s Pizza coming to town, said he thinks it won’t be long before the Lexington version will see lines out the door just as the Hot Springs and Little Rock locations have.
“This is going to be the most popular restaurant in town,” he said.
John Sikura, president of Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms in Kentucky, said he’s thrilled that Deluca’s is coming here.
“It’s fantastic pizza, Anthony’s a great guy, there’s a great atmosphere in the place, first quality food,” Sikura said. “I think a great pizza parlor is something Lexington is missing, and even the burgers and the other dishes are the highest quality ingredients.”
Sikura said a friend had noted there weren’t as many TVs as some other sports-oriented restaurants. “Anthony said, ‘because I want people to interact and talk to each other.’”
Valinoti said Lexington will keep the TVs to a minimum too, but there will be at least one in the bar and one on the patio for watching races.
Thoroughbred racehorse trainer Michael Stidham also endorsed Deluca’s: "I thought the ambiance was fantastic and the food was amazing, from salads, to pizza and pasta. Most of all Anthony is one of the friendliest and talented of chefs and just a great person. I highly recommend trying Deluca’s and I promise you won’t be disappointed!”
Rather than a place to watch games, Deluca’s is known for its food, especially the massive, 18-inch pies made with Valinoti’s unique dough recipe; the pizza has drawn rave reviews, even from sometimes-picky pizza fans, such as Barstool’s Dave Portnoy.
Deluca’s was featured in an episode of “True South” and has been highlighted by many food bloggers as having some of the best pizza anywhere.
In recent years, Deluca’s Pizza added another specialty: Hamburgers. What’s so special about them?
Well, the name: Spiteburgers.
According to a write-up in “Garden and Gun,” which dubbed them the best cheeseburgers in Arkansas, Valinoti asked for a medium rare cheeseburger at a restaurant in Hot Springs but was told it had to be cooked medium well. He vowed to make it himself and put it on the menu at his own restaurant.
Brooklyn-born Valinoti, a former Wall Street trader, is not a trained chef but he knows what he likes and has the drive to work at things until he gets them just right.
The version he came up with is made in a cast-iron skilled placed in his 725-degree brick pizza oven. It’s a patty — a huge, rounded patty that looks more like a giant meatball because that’s basically what it is — of aged beef with a little salt. Add a slice of American cheese and a potato roll and serve it with potato chips and homemade pickles on the side.
Deluca’s Pizza is expected to open by October, in time for the Keeneland fall racing meet, which this year will be followed by the Breeders’ Cup. Valinoti plans to split his time between Arkansas and Kentucky, staying in Lexington for the Keeneland racing meets.
