This Mesa pizzeria is a viral sensation. We stopped by to find out why

Imagine a typical "Instagrammable" restaurant. There's probably bright and colorful decor, almost definitely a photo backdrop wall, which is most likely covered in some sort of plastic greenery, and a neon sign — and not the old-school beer kind. The food is presumably pretty, likely at the expense of some flavor. And there are no doubt hordes of customers snapping selfies.

At Amici Pizza in Mesa, the exact opposite is true. Yet the restaurant has over 300,000 followers on TikTok and 24 million likes.

So, what's the secret that made this little pizzeria go viral online? We stopped by to find out.

Amici Pizza is owned by Kateri Cusumano and Vinny Pante. Pante's father owned Buono's Pizza from 1989 through the early 2000s, and the Cusumano family bought the restaurant in 2018. In 2023, Cusumano and her boyfriend Pante bought the restaurant from her parents and took over all of the operations.

As she adjusted to restaurant ownership, Cusumano began posting daily updates on TikTok. Without a marketing budget, she used the social media platform to share a behind-the-scenes look at Amici Pizza, hoping to find new followers who would become customers.

"Come with me as I open my small business for the day," Cusumano's voice rings out at the beginning of many of her early videos. The snippets of life as a pizzeria owner show Cusumano serving slices, packing takeout orders, mixing up Shirley Temples, making garlic knots and restocking supplies. The videos are cheerful, yet simple, and posted consistently.

After the TikTok account hit 100,000 followers, the videos started to go viral on a broader scale, Cusumano told New Times in January.


On a late summer afternoon, it's hard to find a space in the crowded parking lot. The strip mall is similar to many found in the Valley, except that it's one of the more run-down stretches in town. But cars vie for every last space.

After finally parking, it's easy to find the restaurant, thanks to a line of customers sitting on benches outside waiting for tables. Ducking around folks picking up large, white pizza boxes, we managed to secure a seat by the window.

Inside, the paneled drop ceiling is low. The walls are painted a khaki brown. A shiny poster depicting New York's skyline is stuck to the wall. Wooden pizza peels hang above the kitchen pass, spelling out the specials. "2 slices of cheese pizza, 1 drink $7.50," one says. Other options include a salad or some wings.

To start, we ordered one of the viral menu items: old-school Shirley Temples. The sweet, fizzy refreshers topped with nuclear-red cherries were every bit as delicious as we remember them being from when we enjoyed them on the regular while in middle school. They were brought to the table by a high school-aged server working a few hours after class.

Next, we dug into some fried ravioli, piping hot and crisp, perfect for dunking in a chunky marinara. With their crunchy exterior surrounding tongue-scortching cheese, the little parcels ate just like the classic after-school snack of pizza rolls. As a couple of millennials ourselves, we started to feel the warm welcome of nostalgia kicking in.

Finally, we got to the main event. Having never been to Amici before, we asked our server for a recommendation for getting a good taste of the menu. Order a large pizza, they explained, and you can have up to four different flavors. Sign us up.

Our quadrants came in Baciagaloop, which includes pepperoni, sausage, jalapeno, onion, plus meat lovers, vodka pie and BBQ chicken. The sauces were delicious, the toppings fresh. And the crust completed the nostalgia. It was not thin crust, not thick and bready, but somewhere in between, just like the pizzas served at every birthday party growing up, but better.

If social media influencers visit Amici expecting something flashy and photogenic, they may be sorely disappointed. But if neighbors stop by, hoping for a welcoming, comfortable, family-friendly eatery, we predict they'd quickly become regulars.

This summer, Amici opened a second location, offering takeout only, in Queen Creek. Those neighborhood kids' sleepovers and birthday parties just got a whole lot more delicious.

Nothing about Amici Pizza indicates that it would be popular online. But perhaps there lies the magic. This pizzeria is nostalgic. It's the type of place millennials grew up on. It's a nothing-fancy neighborhood spot where kids can be messy and nobody bats an eye. A soccer team could roll in, split a bunch of cheese pizzas, and roll out full and happy. A family could fill up without breaking the bank. It's the antithesis of an "Instagrammable" restaurant. And just like that, it's gone viral.

Amici Pizza

2023 W. Guadalupe Road, Mesa

22480 E. Ocotillo Road, Suite C101, Queen Creek (Takeout only)