In 1981, Gaetano expanded the original “hole in the wall” in both menu and design, finally in 1988 the present restaurant was created with an innovative contemporary decor. Family has always been cenrtal to Melo’s and with the new generation, new restaurants have been added to the tradition. In 2008 Melo’s opened exciting new locations in Brentwood and Livermore.
It has been said that Melo’s has set the standard for New York style pizza and Italian regional pasta for over 35 years in the Contra Costa County area and still today, Melo’s strives to offer a menu and setting that is fresh, healthy, and updated, all of which remembers its roots in the Italian heritage where this all began.
Melo’s actually began in a remote village in the lush Calabrian hills of Southern Italy. There two brothers, Carmelo and Gaetano, were raised on simple, rustic meals which incorporated the best regional ingredients such as pure olive oil, tasty tomatoes, red hot chilis, wild oregano, flavorful eggplants, hand made pasta and hearty bread. In this region the cooking was done with love and everyone loved the cooking.

These flavors and tradidions were kept in the memory by the brothers as they crossed the Atlantic to their new home in California. In 1956 they began their first reataurant venture called the “Napoli Pizzeria” in Vallejo, California. It quickly became incredibly popular. This popularity was wxpanded to Contra Costa County where Melo’s Pizza was opened in 1971 in Pleasant Hill.