Nino Maltese, who introduced Lansdale to the pleasures of pizza more than a half-century ago and built an iconic area chain that bore his name, died Friday, Jan. 11, at the age of 85.
Born in
Cinisi, Sicily, he emigrated to the United States in the 1950s, starting as a construction worker before returning to what he knew and loved — making pizza. He opened the doors to his first Nino’s Pizza in Lansdale in 1966, eventually establishing more than a dozen Nino’s from Chalfont to Conshohocken, and from Norristown to New Jersey, before divesting all except today’s Lansdale location.
His shop’s sign claimed "pizza started here,” and indeed, his was likely the first pizza restaurant in the borough. And while the operation of the shop at 721 E. Main Street today is in the hands of his son Philip Maltese and daughter Margaret Maltese, he continued to come to work there daily well into his 80s, up until recently.
He would arrive early every morning to taste the sauce and test the dough, to open up the ovens and check out the equipment. He wanted to make sure that everything was just the way he liked it, just as it had always been and just as his patrons always would expect it to be. Longtime customers knew him simply as "Mister Nino.” They recognized and greeted him wherever he went, and he always welcomed them to Nino's as if they were family.
Nino Maltese is survived by his wife of 62 years, Josephine Maltese; children Margaret and Philip and his wife, Christina; grandchildren Gabriella Cerminara and her husband, Nicholas, Anthony Maltese, Joseph Chapman, Angelina Chapman, Philip Maltese, and Madison Maltese; plus numerous siblings and their spouses. He was preceded in death by his son Salvatore.
