Business Profile: Grandma’s 202 Kitchen, Yorktown
Photo credit: Neal Rentz
Yorktown resident Bill Ulutas has a message for local residents – Grandma’s restaurant is alive and well, it has just undergone some changes.
The lunch and dinner menus are now dominated by Italian specialties, with wood fried pizza being the new star attraction.
Ulutas said last week some changes in the format were needed at his eatery. “Grandma’s was doing pies and breakfast and dinner was never doing well,” he said. “The lunch and dinner menus are totally different. We still have breakfast and pies.”
“Grandma’s was in trouble,” Ulutas said. Without the format changes Ulutas said he would have eventually had to close his eatery.
Ulutas, who has 31 years of experience in the restaurant business, purchased Grandma’s nearly four years ago after the property was foreclosed. He introduced his wood fired pizzas four weeks ago.
“We’ve had a very good response,” he said, adding once customers try the wood fired pizzas they like it.
Wood fired pizzas have “a totally different taste” from conventional American pizzas, Ulutas explained. “Everything’s fresh, nothing’s out of the can.”
Ulutas, who bakes the pizzas at his establishment, uses only fresh mozzarella cheese. The pizzas bake at 800 degrees for about 90 seconds, he said. “It has to be thin crust because it cooks so quick. It can’t be doughy,” he said.
Ulutas said he would recommend the margarita pizza, which features fresh tomatoes and basil, as well as olive oil. “That’s the basic pizza,” he said. “What we do here is what they do in Italy.” The Italian pizza contains less cheese than American pizza, he noted.
The oven was built by the Kitchen Fire company in Italy. The company brought all the oven parts to Grandma’s and staff from Italy constructed the oven at the restaurant, Ulutas said, adding it took about five days to complete the oven. “You just use 100 percent wood fire, no gas is involved,” he said.
Lunch and dinner choices are mainly Italian, though some other items as burgers, wraps and quiches are available. Aside from pizzas, other Italian entrees include pasta, veal, poultry and seafood items.
Pies are still a Grandma’s specialty. “Pies are very popular,” Ulutas said. The most popular pie is apple, with the vanilla and chocolate, banana cream pies also being customer favorites, he said. “We bake early in the morning, every morning,” he said.
The problem was residents were confused about the status of the restaurant, Ulutas said. “A lot of people said Grandma’s closed (on Facebook),” he said. The eatery has experienced some loss of business for pies and breakfast because of the confusion, he said.
Ulutas said he has answered about 500 phone calls will people asking, “What happened to Grandma’s?” sine the new sign was put up.
The new format is to divide the business into two compartments, even though all the business is still in one location, Ulutas said.
“Grandma’s is doing just breakfast and dessert and 202 Kitchen is just Italian,” he emphasized.
Grandma’s 202 Kitchen is located at 3525 Crompond Rd. in Yorktown. For more information, call 914-739-7770.
