BY JESSICA SMITH
Staff Writer
JESSICA SMITH Joe Russo, who recently opened Villa Borghese II in Helmetta, is part of two father-and-son teams that also own a restaurant in the Fords section of Woodbridge. HELMETTA – Those who come to Villa Borghese II for pizza can also expect to get a slice of history.
The new pizzeria has made its home in one of the town’s oldest buildings, dating back to either the 1870s or 1880s.
The Helmetta Mercantile Co., a general store owned by former snuff mill proprietor and town namesake George W. Helme, was the first business to inhabit the building. And the site has mostly been used as a store, under different owners, until it became a pizzeria in 2003.
The brick structure predates St. George’s Church, also on Main Street, and was used as a place to hold services in the early 1890s, according to Joe Sapia, a local historian. The religious services were apparently held on the second floor until the church was built.
Kindergarten classes were also held there in the 1890s, likely upstairs as well. The Helmetta post office was part of the store area until the 1950s when it moved to its present site next door, first in a wooden snuff mill building, then in today’s circa-1967 building.
With the now-defunct snuff mill on the brink of major redevelopment, it seemed to restaurateur Joe Russo that this was as good a time as any to expand his family business by bringing it into the town.
“We liked the town when we came here,” said Russo, of Millstone. “We plan to open more locations, and we figured this was a good start for us. It’s an up-and-coming town.”
Business has been great so far, Russo said. Villa Borghese II opened about a month ago, but had its grand opening ceremony Nov. 12, with Mayor Nancy Martin on hand for the ribbon cutting.
The Russo family has been in the pizza business for over 30 years. The two father-and-son teams that keep things running are composed of Joe and his father, Jack, and Jack’s brother Sam and his son, Guiseppe. Their other location is in the Fords section of Woodbridge, where their most popular specialties include both the penne alla vodka and chicken parmigiana.
Villa Borghese II has ample seating for those who wish to enjoy their meals within the walls of the historic building, and they offer delivery to Helmetta, Spotswood, Jamesburg, and parts of East Brunswick and Monroe. Residents can expect advertisements with coupons to arrive at their homes in the near future.
“I like the way things are going. I like the town, I like the people,” Russo said.