by Linda Charlton
Co-owner and chief chef Roberto Del Verme is excited to announce the opening of Green Mountain Pizza, located in Sunnyside Plaza at 303 State Road 50, Clermont. A couple of weeks ago, management started allowing customers into the new dining room, either to dine in or to wait for their take-out. And on Tuesday, May 4, it became official: The big inside-seating coming-soon banner was changed to Open.
Alex Guzman is one repeat customer who has noticed. Having come with his daughter for take-out, he gestured to the dining room. “Now that they’re open here we’re going to come back and dine in,” he said. Even though the restaurant is Italian by design, daughter Alexa’s favorite item is very much American. “I like the Buffalo wings a lot,” she says.
For the older Guzman, his focus is on the Italian. “I love the lasagna and the pizza is really great. I’m from New York and this is the closest to New York pizza I’ve tasted in Florida,” he says.
The restaurant’s expansion project started last year, mid-pandemic, when the adjacent unit at 301 became available. It was a full-circle move for Del Verme, for 301 was the location of his parents’ Capri Pizza & Subs restaurant. Capri operated from the mid-’80s to the mid-’90s, and members of Del Verme’s family still own and operate Italian restaurants in other parts of the county.
The restaurant now has a capacity of 49 total, including staff. “We knew if we did this we’d have to have about 40 (customer seats), or else this wouldn’t be a destination,” Del Verme commented.
Green Mountain started out in Montverde in 2013, relocating to Clermont in 2019. The restaurant had a few tables in its Montverde location but was mainly a takeout business. Del Verme recalls customers telling him that “we’d come to the restaurant but we knew we wouldn’t get a seat.”
Now, in the Clermont restaurant, that is not an issue. Dining in is the big change at Green Mountain, but there are some small changes as well. The make-your-own pizza kits are relatively new. The Green Mountain t-shirts have been in for about a week and a half now. And Soups by Mama Concetta are a new addition to the menu. Concetta is Del Verme’s mother.
Learn more about the history of Green Mountain Pizza, its owners, and life-long residents of the south Lake community by visiting GREENMOUNTAIN
Green Mountain is open five days a week, closed on Sundays and Mondays. Their Web site is GMPizza.com. The telephone# is (352) 432-3380, and delivery is done via doordash.com.
