Under New Ownership, Uncle Joe's Pizza Restaurant Lives On in Hampton Bays

After half a century of serving up home-style pizza and pasta, Hampton Bays’ favorite Uncle Joe is loosening up on the reins, but his eponymous red-sauce joint is staying put in the hamlet.

The 83-year-old Joe Sciara, known far and wide as “Uncle Joe,” is “passing the torch” to Hampton Brands, led by Hampton Bays residents Tana and Scott Gerber, who are the new majority owners. The Sciara family is maintaining a minority ownership stake, and the namesake restaurant, Uncle Joe’s, will continue to serve the Italian-American specialities that have made it such a community cornerstone.

“There is a lot of optimism. Everyone knows the food will still be great. I feel incredibly good that the Gerber family and their team will bring this to the next level. I wish them incredible success,” Sciara says. “I am a big supporter. We have a great relationship and much mutual respect. I wouldn’t let just anyone do this. They are good people.”

The Gerbers and their four school-aged kids were fans of the eatery before it became available on the market, and are considering plans to expand the 50-year-old brand to other parts of Long Island. Sciara, they say, is not officially retired, and plans to be a presence at the restaurant a few times a week.

“We thought it was super important that if we were going to build upon Joe and his legacy, he had to be involved. This isn’t a name only, we wanted it to have the heart, and that means the founder has to remain with the ship in some ways,” Scott Gerber says. “He will certainly be a presence in the dining room, making pizzas still. You can’t take that out of him.”

Born in Scordia, Sicily, Sciara arrived in America through Ellis Island in 1958, and learned how to make pizzas in Bay Shore from his little brother, who arrived from Sicily, along with other family members, ahead of him. He says he is a self-taught chef, and that his recipes have not changed since the 1960s. He opened his first restaurant in Bay Shore in 1968, and the Hampton Bays location in 1985.

Since everyone needs an Uncle Joe, the moniker, he says, took on a life of its own. “My nephew started calling me ‘Uncle Joe’ in front of various customers at the pizzeria and it stuck. Everyone in town started referring to me as ‘Uncle Joe’ — and the rest is history. Since the 1980s, I have been called ‘Uncle Joe’ almost everywhere I go on Long Island.”

He says he’s even been recognized in Puerto Rico while he was on vacation, “A group of young ladies from Texas stopped me and said, ‘Uncle Joe, it’s you!’ They were tourists that came to the Hamptons during the summers and knew me. It was amazing.”

For Tana Gerber, the focus of the transition has been to preserve Sciara’s legacy, which she says is apparent in the sheer number of stories his longtime local customers tell about his family’s warmth and generosity.

“It’s more about celebrating the man, and with him knowing that his legacy and his brand are in good hands. It’s easier for the customers to really get behind us, knowing that nothing is going to drastically change,” Tana says.

The feedback they are getting from Uncle Joe’s army of regulars has shown as much. “First they’ll wish us a massive congratulations and best wishes and so forth,” says Scott. “And then they’ll tell us some special story of why this restaurant is so important to them … that transcends the pasta on the plate.”

The Gerbers are also aware that change is happening in Hampton Bays. “And it’s anticipated there’s a lot more change coming,” Scott adds. “So I think if we can provide a safe space if you will for the locals to know that their favorite red-sauce joint isn’t going anywhere and that we aren’t coming in as some corporate raider trying to bang out every buck, I think we’re going to be paying a lot of attention to that because as residents we too want to have our special local spot.”

Changes will be minimal, Scott says. “Like anything else, we will update where we think it’s needed to ensure its vibrancy, but not in a way that destroys its very heart and soul.”

As for Uncle Joe, he has plans to visit Sicilly now that he’s got a little more time on his hands, but you can expect to see him on hosting duties in the dining room, or behind the counter in a cloud of flour.

“I don’t plan to stop making dough and pies from time to time, and greeting my customers,” says Sciara. “Even when I fully retire, I certainly will continue to be at the restaurant to be a supporter and talk to members of the community. They mean everything to me.”

Uncle Joe’s is located at 42 East Montauk Highway, Hampton Bays. For more info, visit unclejoeshb.com.