After four years of serving the Carrboro area, Coronato Pizza is closing. The Roman-inspired pizzeria posted on its Instagram on Sept. 18 that the restaurant will no longer offer takeout services after Oct. 15.
Located in South Green, a newly developed shopping and dining center, Coronato serves pizza and snacks to takeout customers.
The restaurant has worked through significant health and safety concerns for over a year, Coronato's Instagram post said. Another post from April 25 said Coronato was dealing with the intrusion of secondhand tobacco smoke into the restaurant. The restaurant closed its dining room indefinitely on Feb. 27.
"We have since exhausted ourselves, and our resources, while waiting for a solution that never came," Coronato's most recent Instagram post said.
Teddy Diggs, the owner and chef of Coronato Pizza, said the restaurant opened with the intention of celebrating Roman pizza culture. Diggs, who attended the Culinary Institute of America in New York, served as a chef at Martha's Vineyard and the Il Palio restaurant in the Siena Hotel in Chapel Hill.
He said there are three types of pizza in Rome, each with a unique dining experience.
“We really incorporate all that into what we do at Coronato: the thin — cracker thin — crispy crust pizza of Rome, and then additionally we offer what we call Roman pan pizzas, which is the pizza al taglio style,” Diggs said.
It has been wonderful to be able to share the authenticity of what Roman pizza and pizza culture are with the Chapel Hill and Carrboro community, Diggs said. He said the restaurant has been able to recreate his experiences — including his trips to Rome and cooking experiences in Italy.
Diggs said working at Coronato has been a great source of connectivity for himself and with the community.
