The Ritz on Union restaurant opens at Homestyle Pizza in Schenectady

PHOTOGRAPHER: Stan Hudy

Shane Porter delivers a pizza to a customer at The Ritz on Union at 1720 Union St. in Schenectady during the restaurant's soft opening recently

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SCHENECTADY — The Ritz on Union, a new Italian-American style restaurant located within the longtime family-business Homestyle Pizza, had its first customers last week as the restaurant held its soft opening.

The restaurant’s co-owners, cousins Anthony Adonnino and Michael and Paul Bennice, opened it for lunch last week and expect to be fully open this month. Homestyle had a sit-down restaurant section prior to The Ritz, but it closed during the height of the COVID pandemic. Homestyle continues to offer catering and takeout service out of the business at 1720 Union St..

The Ritz opened following a lengthy reconstruction of the restaurant area.

Images: The Ritz on Union, new Schenectady restaurant (6 photos)

Family patriarchs Andrea and Rina Adonnino and Anthony and Ida Bennice first bought Homestyle Pizza in Niskayuna in 1972, and later moved the business to its current site on Union Street.

“We had the other business before COVID, then when COVID hit we kind of shut it down,” Michael Bennice said referring to the former restaurant at Homestyle. “We saw an opportunity to expand and do more.”

“It’s still Italian-American, little bit different menu, little more upscale,” Paul Bennice said. “We’re sticking to our roots, the classics, just trying to dress it up a little bit.”

The menu offers a variety of classics like lasagna and parm dishes, and new items such as seafood dishes, gourmet pizzas. The restaurant also offers customers a full bar.

“We’ve been part of the community for a long time,” Paul Bennice said. “We have good, classic, Italian cuisine, we use good ingredients, we try to do as much locally sourced stuff as we can. We try to give a good value, so, good portion size, reasonable prices. We think we’ve created a nice atmosphere.”

The concept for the new restaurant came about two years ago, shortly after the closing of the other dining area.

“We’re here all the time, we’re not just absentees,” Michael Bennice said. “We’re a part of the business, we’re here every day, we cook, we clean.”

The Ritz on Union will be open at 11 a.m. on weekdays, with the kitchen open until 9 p.m. and the bar open later. On the weekends the kitchen will be open until 10 p.m.

Images: The Ritz on Union, new Schenectady restaurant (6 photos)