MCKINLEY PARK — A ghost of pizzas past will soon return to the neighborhood.
From noon-6 p.m. Sunday at Blessed Sacrament Parish, 3528 S. Hermitage Ave., you'll have a chance to take home a fresh-baked pie from Jefee's Pizza.
Opened in 1954, the pizzeria was a staple for families all over the South Side. Since the joint closed in 1985 at 1820 W. 35th St., Jefee's has been nothing more than a distant memory.
That all changed last year when Anthony Caccitolo — the doughslinger who ran the place from 1980-85 — decided to start making his family's pizzas in the cramped kitchen of his Tinley Park apartment.
Every year around Christmas, Caccitolo thinks about his father, who opened the original Jefee's Pizzeria. He died during the holidays in 1968, leaving the business to his wife.
Feeling nostalgic and missing his father, Caccitolo published a post to Facebook asking if anyone remembered Jefee's.
"There were over 300 hits on the picture," he said. "Over 100 comments. Everybody had their own stories. People said it was the best pizza they ever had."
The 66-year-old pizza chef's original plan was to make the pizzas on Sundays to pass the time and offer neighborhood folks and friends a tasty remedy for their nostalgia.
Word spread fast. More and more people wanted a Jefee's pizza.
“Everyone said, 'If you ever open up again, we’d love to have it,'” Caccitolo said. "I told them I'd try to dream up an event."
He soon got a call from Our Lady of Good Counsel with a great idea: A Jefee's Pizza Reunion.
On Sunday, Caccitolo will be making large, 14-inch pizzas. All transactions are cash only.
Since Caccitolo started making his family's famous pizza again, many have asked: Why don’t you go back into business?'
"I don’t want to work that hard," Caccitolo said.
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