Our History
The Fine Folk Story
Fine Folk owner and founder, Mike Denunzio has worked in pizzerias since he was 15. He opened a seasonal restaurant, DeNunzio’s, with his parents in Seas Isle City, New Jersey. One off-season winter, Michael moved to Fort Myers, Florida
“I fell in love with the area,” he says. “I fell in love with the girl. And we decided to eventually open up a shop here.”
Chris Batties, general manager, has been with Fine Folk the whole way. Michael urged him to move to Florida and help open and run the pizzeria.
With days until its soft open, Mike and Batties were having such issues with the adapted dough formula from New Jersey that they delayed Fine Folk’s opening, while the two tweaked several dozen batches until they came up a crust they were proud of.
“We really go for a chewier style of pizza,” Mike says. “There’s a little crisp to it but it’s not as crispy as your New York-style pizza but that is very intentional.”
We opened our doors in the fall of 2015, serving up whole Artisan and Traditional pies and slices for dine-in, carryout and delivery. Year two is when everything began to fall into place. Mike, and his wife, Brie studied the business, went to Pizza Expo and built a community of pizzeria owners.
Today, Fine Folk Pizza has become that pizzeria Mike and Brie always envisioned.