One thing that everyone, or most people in general, have in common is their love of pizza. Both Amr Abdel Salam and Milad Wissa, who are both from Egg Harbor Township and Atlantic City, respectively, are the new owners of Mario’s Pizza and Pasta. Both men started on Jan.
27, 2023 after being shown the restaurant and with the previous owner wanting to sell the restaurant, Wissa kept checking and discussing with the owner and then eventually bought it.
Mario’s Pizza is the first business venture for Abdel Salam and Wissa and they are still learning. They are seeing how it goes so far but Wissa is liking how Hammonton has treated them.
“We just started, we’re seeing how we’re going but the area has nice people, they respect us and that’s the thing,” Wissa said.
Mario’s Pizza serves pizza, pasta, all types of italian food and breakfast. The restaurant is open everyday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. They are looking to increase the hours of operation during the summertime as it gets busier but as of now, Abdel Salam and Wissa are liking how it is going so far.
Despite being new to the town and being a new owner himself, Abdel Salam has praised the town of Hammonton and the residents, including those who have been loyal customers to the restaurant from the previous ownership.
“It’s a nice town and we have a lot of people that come here. I think we have customers that have been coming over and over for a long time and they still continue coming here. We also have Italian food and the food tastes the same, even for a long time because we keep the same stuff but it’s nice, yeah it’s going okay,” Abdel Salam said.
Hammonton is a town that’s very supportive of their businesses. With both men not being from Hammonton and from both Atlantic City and Egg Harbor Township, starting a business in a town unfamiliar to them could seem challenging, Abdel Salam encouraged those who want to start a business to learn what the town’s culture is.
“I’ll say that they need to know that this town is filled with people that all know each other, close to each other. You need to know what the culture is in here, you know the culture here is a little bit different than Atlantic City or other areas, people here are together,” Abdel Salam said.
He also believed that people will try new things, even if they like something for so long.
“Once they like something, people will come to it. If there’s like something new, they can try new stuff. I would say, like you need to know first like how is the area, what people like around here, what is the culture of the area, it’s one of the good areas here,” Abdel Salam said.
Both Abdel Salam and Wissa have seen how friendly everyone has been and how the residents have gone out of their way to get to know them.
“People here are friendly, they get to know you more, they welcome us and were so friendly with us, even if we were only here for a couple of weeks. They appreciate what we’re doing, it’s something good,” Abdel Salam said.
Both men are looking forward to the restaurant getting busier, having people come out to them more and have them try different types of food that they’ll serve while trying to enhance their food quality. They want to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and for holidays, they plan to open the restaurant open for breakfast for the whole day.
They also want to keep doing their best and keep the food quality the same as well as moving forward with plans to renovate the restaurant. They are aware that it takes time for all of it to happen but are hopeful for that time to come to help their business be successful and bring in customers.
Mario’s Pizza and Pasta is open every day from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and is located at 220 South White Horse Pike.