This tucked-away takeout spot in Scottsdale gets creative with pizza

Tucked away in a modest storefront in a northern Scottsdale strip mall, a cartoony slice of pizza helps customers find Giovanna’s Pizza. The sign, simple and understated, sits above the glass doors, signaling something delicious inside.

The restaurant was founded by Fabian Lumaj in November 2024 as a love letter to both pizza and his wife, Giovanna Lumaj. Theirs is a tale of hard work, big dreams and heart, as the couple does almost everything at the restaurant. 

The couple met in Albania, Fabian’s family’s home country, before moving to the U.S. They worked in Italian restaurants in Connecticut for several years. But Fabian always dreamed of owning his own pizzeria.

It wasn’t until he heard about an empty restaurant sitting vacant for a while on Via Linda that the dream shifted into a possibility. 

It took the Lumajs about four months to get everything started. The kitchen and bones of the restaurant were already in place, but the couple took their time developing the recipes and the menu. After putting up the cartoony sign, people came. 

“We did no marketing,” Fabian explains with awe in his voice, “Me and Giovanna, we treat it like our house. It is our Albanian tradition to be welcoming. Hospitality is important. It is a privilege to have people eat here.” 

He emphasizes multiple times how much having a sense of community and face-to-face interactions mean to him as the owner. 

“The most important thing is talking to the people,” Fabian says. 

A true test of success for the couple came in July 2025, when they closed the restaurant for a month to travel to his brother’s wedding in Albania. 

They returned on a Tuesday and reopened the restaurant on Friday. To see that nothing had changed “was beautiful, having all the customers back,” Fabian says.

This year, without a family wedding but heartened by last year’s success, the Lumajs took July off for vacation. They reopened the doors on Saturday.

Fabian did some research before starting Giovanna’s Pizza. With 5,000 residents living within a mile radius of the casual shop, the restaurant does about 80% takeout and delivery. 

The pizzeria seats 14 at maximum capacity, with a few additional outdoor seats. 

“People call for reservations, and I have to explain, it’s not that kind of place,” Fabian says. 

When customers order at the counter, they are talking to the owners.

“We spend the budget on our food and ingredients rather than having a large staff,” Fabian says. 

For Fabian, his dream was to dedicate the restaurant to his wife and show her that the two of them could create “the best neighborhood pizza spot.”

Growing up as a first-generation American from an Albanian family, he first started making pizzas as a teenager in Connecticut. He is methodical, yet maintains an artistic eye for his creations. 

“You have to get sauce and cheese on the crust too; it makes it taste better,” he insists. “The dough ferments for 48 hours and sits in the walk-in for three days. I don’t add sugar to the dough. The longer fermentation balances it.” 

Giovanna’s favorite pizza is the one named after her, a white pie with four types of cheese, an olive oil base and oregano. It was the flavor she would always ask for when they were making pizza during the recipe testing phase of their business, Fabian explained. 

Fabian’s go-to is a simple and classic cheese pizza – no ranch on the side, but he does not judge people who dip their pizza in ranch. 

The Lumajs are open to special orders ahead of time, but the menu has a lot to offer a variety of tastes. Giovanna’s serves whole pizzas, individual slices, salads, fries, calzones, sub sandwiches and pastas. The restaurant acquired a liquor license this summer and is now serving beer and wine as well. 

Fabian thinks the most underrated item is his Roadrunner Pasta. It features marinated chicken, bacon, mushrooms and penne in a chipotle cream sauce. 

The most popular order is the Chicken Parmesan Pizza topped with marinara sauce, a fried chicken cutlet, ricotta and parmesan cheeses. 

One customer comes in three to four times a week and only orders the Chicken Kebob Pizza, topped with banana peppers, feta cheese and kebob-style chicken with an olive oil base and house dressing. 

The couple blends some Balkan flavors into several of their dishes, while others take inspiration from Fabian’s East Coast upbringing.

Some of Giovanna’s most unique pizzas include the Phili Pizza with cheesesteak-style shaved steak, mushrooms, peppers and onions, and the Cold Cut Pizza with ham, salami, and mortadella.

For vegetarians, Fabian recommends the Balkan Beauty pizza, topped with sun-dried tomatoes, feta, artichokes, spinach and black olives on a garlic-and-olive-oil base. 

Every specialty pizza can also be made on a gluten-free crust from Venice Bakery, which also provides their sub rolls and gluten-free rolls. 

For Fabian, each pizza, regardless of flavor, has to be his best yet.

“I had to know how to make pizza look as beautiful as possible,” he says. “I need to make it nice every time.”

Giovanna’s Pizza

10135 E. Via Linda, Suite #C113, Scottsdale