Fishers resident Michael Spencer, who has a background working in health care, is trying his hand in the pizzeria business.
Spencer owns Nino’s Pizza inside the Noblesville VFW at 654 S. 9th St. It opened in the spring. Spencer said the opportunity fell into his lap when he befriended Mike Sisternino a few years ago.
Sisternino’s uncle, Nino Sisternino, migrated to Chicago from Italy, where he founded Nino’s Pizza. When he died about five years ago, his wife and son sold their two pizza locations.
“At that point, it looked like it was just going to die off,” Spencer said.
Spencer, a member of the Noblesville VFW, said he had recently left the corporate world, and Mike said he should open a Nino’s Pizza to bring Chicago tavern-style pizza to Indiana.
“At the time, somebody was occupying the kitchen here, but once they moved out and the kitchen opened up, I decided to run some numbers,” Spencer said.
Spencer rents the VFW kitchen to keep it open, as well as serve the veterans and the family members who are VFW members. The menu has a variety of Chicago-style pizza, using the Sisternino family recipe, and sandwiches, as well as traditional Indiana staples like a tenderloin. It also offers dessert options such as gelato and cake.
“The VFW has been gracious enough to allow the public to come in, and if they want to stay here and eat, they can eat. If they want to drink from the VFW’s bar, they can get signed into the guest book, and then they’re allowed to drink here as well.
Spencer said there are plans to host a grand opening celebration, but he has not set a date.
“We’re still trying to get our feet under us,” Spencer said. “Before we go and do something like that, I want to make sure we work out all of our kinks.”
With business picking up, Spencer is looking for ways to expand.
“We have thought about taking this model to other private organizations that have kitchens that are underutilized,” Spencer said. “But we’re also starting to talk to food brokers to take our pizza recipe and make a frozen pizza to sell at grocery stores. The nice thing about that is if someone buys a frozen pizza from the grocery store, we’ll track it by state, and we will take part of the proceeds from the sales in each state and give a percentage of those sales back to a veteran program in that specific state.”
Spencer said he would be interested in opening a brick-and-mortar location in the Fishers area.
For more, visit ninospizzanoblesville.com.
