Gusta la pizza e mangia a Gustapizza!

Any place Guy Fieri has eaten has got to be good. At least, if you ask my father, a fan of Fieri's Food Network show "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," that’s what he’ll tell you. So when he discovered that I had eaten at Gustapizza, which was featured in Fieri’s “Fillin’ up in Florence” episode (Season 22, Episode 3), he wanted to know what it was like.

As the doors open at 7pm, people are already lined up around the building. Gustapizza is located on Via Maggio, near Piazza Santo Spirito. It’s a small interior, the counter and wood-fired, stone oven taking over the majority of the space. A giant photo of the Maruca brothers, who own the restaurant, hangs to the right of the entrance. Artwork and various black-and-white photos of famous Italians scatter across the other walls, adding to the cozy atmosphere. Near both entrances hang photos of Fieri, giving the place his official stamp of approval.

The time waiting for food is easily passed watching the locals, tourists, and employees maneuvering through the small space. The shouts of “eighty-one, ottantuno, eight-two, ottantadue,” from the cooks cut through the chitter-chatter of the customers. Weaving up to the counter to grab a pizza is a little tough, but the first bite makes the struggle through the crowd worth it.

Gustapizza prides itself on producing pizza Napoletana. This style of pizza uses a specific type of dough that must be kneaded at slow paces, preferably by hand and without a rolling pin, explains food writer Lev-Tov in her article What is Neapolitan Pizza? According to her, Neapolitan pizza must also use fresh, all-natural ingredients. Gustapizza fulfills all these requirements, as shown in Fieri’s episode when Fieri helps Pasquale Maruca make their famous Gustapizza.

The workers barely get time to catch their breath as they rush to get customers anything they need. Stefan, the employee in charge of seating customers, cleaning tables, opening beer and wine bottles, and doing any other task asked of him, pauses only for a moment in his busy night to shed some light on the business. Having worked there for two and a half years, he seems to know what he’s talking about, even if he struggles to express his thoughts in English. According to him, their most popular pizza is the Calabrese (number 6) and they sell around 700 pizzas a day, confirming that the restaurant is just as popular as Fieri’s show claims.

If 700 pizzas aren’t enough to assure one of the restaurant’s popularity, just ask any customer in the store or on the steps of the Basilica di Santo Spirito. Due to its low-priced, high-quality pizzas and quick service, Gustapizza is particularly a favorite of study-abroad students, like Ally Davis from Judson University.

On a Wednesday evening, Ally and her fellow students grabbed their pizzas before taking a seat on the steps outside the church. This was Ally’s first time at Gustapizza, and she only had positive things to say about her “ten out of ten experience.”

“I’d recommend it to anyone, but especially abroad students,” Ally grinned through a bite of her Calabrese pizza. “It’s just classic.”

The pizzeria’s lunch hours are much calmer than the dinner rush. With less of a crowd, the pizzeria’s atmosphere feels more like somebody’s home kitchen. An Italian version of Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect” plays overhead, and one of the cooks starts to sing and dance along as he shovels pizzas in and out of the oven. Most customers take their pizzas to go. Ethan Gillett and Miles Keller are two such customers, opting to sit on the church steps as they eat their lunch.

Ethan and Miles are from Salt Lake City and are abroad for a Mormon mission trip. This two-year mission takes them through northern Italy, and this is only their fourth week in Florence. Ethan had heard about the pizzeria from his father and has visited a few times already.

“It’s probably the best [pizza] I’ve had,” he explains.

In contrast, this is Miles’ first time at Gustapizza, but he also seems to love the pizza. When his pizza box was blown down the steps from the wind, Miles’ assures us that the box was empty.

“Thank heavens, I would be crying.”