REHOBOTH BEACH, Del.-Â With over five decades of making pizza and serving friends and family behind him, Nicholas Caggiano Sr. is ready for the next chapter which will soon be without the original Nicola Pizza on North First Street.
The tables and booths will no longer be in use after Saturday because of a low amount of staff but people can still come in for take out orders.
Kelly Small has worked at Nicola since 1994. She says many customers have asked about the iconic pieces that adorn the restaurant walls, but they have nothing to worry about.
"Our location on the highway is going to look and feel so much like our downtown location and our avenue location with the woodwork, with the brick, with the Tiffany lamps, with the carousel horses, with the two window seats that we will recreate out there, with our ovens that have that awesome seasoned you know Nicola Pizza flavor to them," Small said.
Caggiano remembers vividly some famous people that have sat in the window seats.
"I could see you know Bill Roth, Senator Bill Roth in this window here and Senator Joe Biden in the other window at the same time," Caggiano said. "The same time, the same day, the same day, the same hour. I can see it very plainly."
Owners of The Royal Treat on Wilmington Avenue decided they can no longer serve breakfast because the family is aging and staffing is just not what it used to be.
Scott Fornwalt said the business is facing challenges like so many others.
"Breakfast has been very very popular," Fornwalt said. "Of course the last two years with COVID and the staffing shortage has been really rough. Unfortunately, we've only been able to open half the restaurant and do you know forty percent of the breakfast we would normally do over the last two years."
Nicola Pizza's new location off of Coastal Highway in Lewes is expected to be up and running by October while The Royal Treat will not be opening until 1 p.m. every day during the summer season.
Two iconic restaurants with 92 years of service combined hitting road bumps but in turn providing the services they can to regulars and other visitors.