Business & Tech

Meet the Owner: Hoopty's Pizza and Pasta

Matt Giangiulio is a lifelong Havertown resident.

By Natalie Daher

For almost five and a half years, Hoopty’s Pizza and Pasta, located at 2415 Darby Road, has served Havertown with restaurant-quality dishes under a somewhat unique title.

Urban dictionary defines the word “hoopty” as a piece of s--- car.

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“It’s not a piece of s--- car,” said owner Matt Giangiulio, quashing the perceptions of some who have never eaten at the restaurant before.

He did not invent the name. Giangiulio took over ownership of the eatery roughly two years ago, though the establishment has been in business for more than five years. In hiring and menu choices, he values both customer service and his Havertownian roots above all.

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Why Havertown?

A lifelong Havertown resident, Giangiulio grew up “three blocks that way,” he said with the westward point of his thumb. He currently resides “three blocks that way,” as he signaled with his thumb in the opposite direction. The Delaware County suburb remains both his home and workplace for more than just its familiarity.

“It’s nice to walk up to Wawa with your dog,” he said. “The people don’t change over that often. I get to know people here. My brother lives in Florida, and it seems like they get new neighbors every other week.”

Giangiulio reached various milestones in his life, including time in the military, marriage and a college graduation with a physics and geology degree, but all paths led him back to Havertown. After briefly working as a commissary at the Chester County Prison, his 20-year passion for the art of cuisine landed him with his own pizza shop.

“Honestly, I needed a job, and this was the best option” he said. “I love cooking, always have. It was a chance to own a business in the town I grew up in."

Hoopty’s distinguishes itself from other Italian takeout options in Havertown through its more atypical menu items, like the salmon or grilled portabella sandwich on focaccia bread. Giangiulio organizes monthly team meetings to discuss similar menu additions to maintain his foodie appeal.

Hiring Young

Additionally, Giangiulio remains loyal to Havertown’s youth with his willingness to employ high school teens from the area. While he acknowledged that the initial cost may be greater to hire and train an inexperienced worker, the benefits eventually outweigh the costs because the younger kids know the town well and will stick around for a while.

“No one else will give them their first job,” he said.

After hanging up the phone with a customer around 1 p.m.—a task that he generally leaves for one of his four high school-aged employees—Giangiulio cracked a joke with his delivery boy.

“Have fun delivering that—he sounded drunk,” he said with a smirk.


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