‘It gave me chills biting into a slice.’ Closed 6 years ago, beloved Boise pizzeria returns

After a six-year layoff, Dan Guild watched the first practice pies come out of the oven three weeks ago at Casanova Pizzeria.

“It gave me the chills biting into a slice,” he says.

Maybe it was all those memories. When the original Casanova lost its lease in 2015, Guild was forced to close the Boise Bench institution after a decade. Or maybe it was the anticipation — of finally being able to serve familiar, grateful customers again at a new location, 2431 W. Fairview Ave.

Or maybe — OK, totally — it was the pies. Frankly, “they are amazing,” Guild says.

Preparing to reopen, the Casanova crew is savoring the moment. That crust, that sauce, that cheese. Naples-style pizza. The kind that Guild, 56, devoured as a teenager growing up in Connecticut.

“We’re kind of blown away,” he admits. “We have a unique product.

“Like the old pizza box: ‘You’ve tried the rest, now try the best,’ ” he says, chuckling.

Eager Boiseans already are invading the new restaurant on the ground floor of the Adare apartment complex. Yo, when can they dig into those East Coast-style pies?

“They’re coming in and hugging us and stuff. Well, a lot of fist bumping or whatever — elbows,” Guild says with a laugh. “People are getting really excited.”

Casanova Pizzeria will open this month, but there is no confirmed day yet. The new space will feel similar to the old one, Guild says, except a little roomier — with seating for 60 customers. It also has a “great big bar” with 16 taps. The modern brick oven is larger, too, with ceramic logs that maintain a consistent temperature up to 1,000 degrees. (The sweet heat is 750, Guild says.) Crucially? “It creates the same burnished pies that we used to put out with a crisp crust and chewy crumb.”

Same menu

Casanova’s menu will be nearly identical, too. Thin-crusted, neo-Neapolitan pies are the foundation — sprinkled, not smothered, with top-notch ingredients. Fresh mozzarella. House-made tomato sauce or olive oil. Pepperoni and spicy sausage. Pine nuts and kalamata olives. Adriatic figs.

“I don’t want to serve up anything I wouldn’t want to eat or serve to my family,” Guild says. “You can cut corners in that industry a lot. We try and use the highest-quality stuff.”

Naturally, Casanova’s beloved clam pizzas are among the two dozen signature options: Clam Bacon ($16 for 12-inch small/$25 for 16-inch large; olive oil, fresh mozzarella, clams, bacon) and Clams Casino ($16.50/$26; tomato sauce, mozzarella, clams, bacon, onion, green peppers, garlic).

A simple, pure Marinara pizza will be $11.50/$18. Send your taste buds out of this world with The Comet ($15/$23.50; tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, tomato, fresh basil, “lots of garlic”). Or make those taste buds sing with the Louis Prima Suprima ($16.50/$27.50; tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, sausage, meatball, bacon). Customer-created favorites that used to run as specials will be back, too.

Casanova also will serve salads and an array of sandwiches — hot and cold. Sometimes, nothing beats an Italian Hoagie ($12.50, salami, ham, capocollo, mortadella, provolone, onion, tomato, lettuce, olive oil and balsamic vinegar).

Takeout made up 40 percent of Casanova’s weekend business during its long run on Vista Avenue. Along with to-go orders, Guild hopes to add delivery to the Fairview model eventually.

But as pizzaiolo, he’s most looking forward to seeing customers sit and eat his pizza. “I think it’s best straight out of the oven. That’s when it’s real,” he says.

He also wants Casanova to have the same neighborly feel that made the original one popular. In 2006, the Idaho Statesman described it as “kind of like ‘Cheers,’ a local hangout where people actually know your name.”

Pizza family

When Casanova fans walk into the reincarnated restaurant, they will recognize a face or two besides Guild’s.

“Jen, one of our first original employees, will be assisting in management,” he says. “She really kept us motivated to reopen all these years and kept in contact with a lot of our former customers. They’ve all been really supportive and want our pizza back – everyone misses the food they love. And Karen, our original dough maker, will be joining us as well.”

Guild is collaborating with lots of his family this time, too — the “New Jersey side,” he says.

Ultimately, he’s just excited that Casanova finally has returned. In a new home. With old friends.

“I enjoy people eating my food and lovin’ on it,” he says. “It made me real happy.

“... Plus, I miss people. It’s so nice to have a group of some of these, just, young folks, all different folks, I can work with and be around. I just kind of miss people.”

This story was originally published March 1, 2021 at 4:00 AM.