Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Food
Fornino Williamsburg Has Reportedly Closed
By
Paula Mejía
Published Feb 12, 2019
Modified Feb 12, 2019
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Alexis Lamster/Creative Commons
By
Paula Mejía
Published Feb 12, 2019
Modified Feb 12, 2019
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Pizza mainstay Fornino appears to have closed its Williamsburg location, on South 2nd and Kent Avenues. A pizza-deprived tipster informed us on Monday that the space is now empty, and a sign on the door thanked the neighborhood for 15 years. (Fornino had been located on Bedford Avenue before moving to the Kent Avenue location in 2017.)
Multiple attempts to call and email Fornino for confirmation have gone unanswered. The Yelp page lists it as closed, as does Google Maps. Fornino's website has removed the Williamsburg location from its homepage. Fornino has two other Brooklyn locations, in Greenpoint and a seasonal spot in Brooklyn Bridge Park.
"It's sad to see Fornino lose a foothold in the neighborhood it sprang from," pizza scholar and Margot's Pizza founder Adam Kuban told Gothamist. "When Michael Ayoub opened Fornino at its original Williamsburg location (Bedford & N 7th St.) in 2004, it was at the forefront of the wood-fired pizza trend—and he was growing herbs and toppings in a mini greenhouse. That seems so Brooklyn in hindsight, but he was actually a couple years ahead of the whole DIY backyard-chickens thing of the late '00s. I'm happy that he still has the Greenpoint and Brooklyn Bridge Park locations, so it's not as much of a 'goodbye' as it is a 'see you around.'"
It's unclear what led to Fornino's Williamsburg closure, though it's likely that the L train's numerous night and weekend closures did not help. In 2016, Ayoub told the Commercial Observer that the since-shuttered Fornino location near the Bedford L stop lost 40% of its business when the L wasn't running.
Tagged
closed
fornino
kent avenue
pizza
restaurant
williamsburg
Paula Mejía
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE food
10 dishes that demonstrate the delicious diversity of curry in New York City
The global dish is shapeshifting and ubiquitous.
By
Robert Sietsema
Published Sep 12, 2026
Frozen yogurt is back in New York City. So are the super long lines.
Is it worth the high price and ridiculous wait? Gothamist needed to find out.
By
Sonia Rao
Food
Frozen yogurt is back in New York City. So are the super long lines.
Is it worth the high price and ridiculous wait? Gothamist needed to find out.
By
Sonia Rao
5 NYC banana puddings as good as Magnolia's
By
Hannah Frishberg
Where to eat in Greenpoint, Brooklyn right now, from Polish to Sichuan to Iberian
By
Robert Sietsema
Can a congressional candidate's dumpling diplomacy win over Queens’ immigrant communities?
By
Caroline Shin
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .