A local Italian restaurant with a homey feel is only a seven-minute drive from Elon University’s campus. Reno’s Pizza and Italian Restaurant serves pizza, pasta and subs, has a salad bar and more. They also serve beer and wine.
Though Reno’s is not a fast-food restaurant, the wait is short. Behind the counter, customers can see the wood oven where the pizzas are cooked and the chef is hard at work.
Reno’s is not only a sit-down restaurant, but they also have carryout as well, and the menu can be found online. The steak and cheese sub and the macaroni and cheese with broccoli are owner Tiffany Lattero’s favorite meals to order.
“I like anything with an Alfredo sauce,” Lattero said. “So I like to do our macaroni and cheese with broccoli in it. Our macaroni and cheese is really just Alfredo sauce with three times more cheese in it. And then I throw a little broccoli in it to make me feel a little better.”
Reno’s Pizza opened up in 2007 and is part of the Gibsonville community.
“We do sort of cater to the families of the communities. And, you know, it’s laid back, it’s pretty chill,” Lattero said.
Reno’s Pizza is family owned too. Almost 75 percent of the staff are family members, according to Lattero. Tiffany and her husband Lui own the restaurant and pride themselves on fresh ingredients and family values. There were many families dining in at Reno’s Pizza this past Sunday as it is family owned and family friendly. But what about students?
“It’s more local. But it seems some years we have more of a student population here. And then other years we don’t. And then the next year we’ll have a bigger group. It’s odd. It kind of goes in waves,” Lattero said.
Elon sophomore Emma Fritts tried Reno’s Pizza’s cheese pizza for herself. “The cheese is very creamy. It melts in your mouth. It’s delicious, and it’s perfectly salted. Oh, and the cheese is greasy. I’d say 9.8 out of 10. Cheesy, delicious, but a little greasy. The tomato sauce is very fresh. The bread is also very fresh,” Fritts said.
Lattero wishes more Elon students like Fritts would come to their pizzeria.
“We would love to have more students come. I mean, we are not in Elon. I think that’s what’s always been the stopper sometimes — is if it’s not right directly there. It’s not on campus, it’s not on the Bio Bus route,” Lattero said.