Welcome to the family!

For pick up or delivery call: 860-887-5574

Our fresh bread is delivered daily from New York City and most everything is made homemade here in our restaurant. We make our own sauces, fresh dough, and pasta.

Come in and enjoy one of our 13 specialty New York-style pizzas. Or build your own pizza, or enjoy one of our Sicilian specialty pizzas. If you're in the mood for pasta, we offer a variety of pasta and baked pasta dishes. We also have hot and cold grinders, burgers and gyros served on fresh-baked New York bread.

La Stella Pizza has received great reviews from The Reminder News and The Hartford Courant. We have also received Congressional Recognition from Senator Rob Simmons.

We look forward to your visit!

"La Stella" meaning; "The Star in Italian has been in business since 2001 but in January 2020 it was purchased by Restauranteur; Justin Burrows.

Since acquiring the restaurant, Justin has completely renovated the space to make way for a beautiful dining room and bar where you will enjoy an upscale environment and an updated menu that includes La Stella's famous pizza and many more new Italian dishes. Many of which are his own family recipes.

Justin is joined & supported by many members of his "big Italian family" pictured below. Justin's love for hospitality, his family & his hometown (Norwich, CT) comes out in everything La Stella Pizzeria is now and will be in the future.

Justin Burrows

Owner / Restauranteur

Justin is a Norwich native and a Norwich Free Academy graduate.

In 2010, Justin worked for La Stella Pizzeria as a delivery driver while he attended school at Three Rivers Community College.

Also in 2010, Justin met his wife, Kelsey, and they were married in 2012. Since then, they have had three children; Anthony, Reagan, & Luca.

In 2012, Justin started working for Sharp Training at Geno's in Mohegan Sun as a Job Coach/Mentor. Sharp Training is a vocational training program for individuals with mental disabilities. In 2013, Paul Ghiorzi (Geno's brand-owner) asked Justin to work for him as a Manager. Two years later & with a staff of 65 employees; Justin was promoted to General Manager. In 2017, Justin was promoted again to Director of Operations for all of Geno's locations which included the 4 inside Mohegan Sun, 1 in Storrs, CT, and 1 in Southington, CT.

All the while, Justin had a long term dream of opening a deli. His Uncle Lefty was the inspiration for that dream. Uncle Lefty was a WW2 Veteran that served at the Battle of the Buldge. He was also a semi-pro baseball coach & left-handed pitcher who worked for the Boston Red Sox's semi-pro team The Dobblers. In fact, the Red Sox offered Uncle Lefty a position as their pitcher. He turned down the job because (after returning from the war) he wanted to stay in his hometown to be close to his family. Uncle Lefty was a real humanitarian; the type of guy that packed the garbage man a lunch twice a week! He was known by all as a carrying person who believed in opening his door & feeding everyone and anyone. His philosophy was; "whether you were hungry or not, you were eating"! Justin learned so much about hospitality from Uncle Lefty & aspires to do just as much good as he did.

So, while he was Director of Operations at Geno's; Justin began looking at spaces locally. He considered opening his deli in the Ponemah Mill. Luckily, he could not come to an agreement for that space. Because on Halloween 2019; Justin went to La Stella Pizzeria to pick up pizza for a Halloween party when he ran into his old boss. Jokingly, his old boss asked him if he knew anyone interested in buying a restaurant. Several meetings later and a small loan from his father, Robert Burrows; Justin took over the business in January 2020.

Since acquiring the restaurant, Justin has repaid the loan from his father and dramatically improved everything about the business. He completely overhauled the dining room, kitchen & bathrooms. He kept things like the famous pizza crust and sauce but wanted a fresher more gourmet ingredient base. So he switched to the 100% Grande Mozzarella cheese that we now use on all of our pizza's.

Justin strives to provide a gourmet experience at La Stella Pizzeria. The quality of the food, drinks & the dining environment at La Stella Pizzeria is Justin's highest priority. He invites you to try one of the new fresh pasta dishes & looks forward to serving the community just as his Uncle Lefty did.

"Welcome to the family" -Justin Burrows

Jessica Daigle

Justin's Mother / Catering Manager

Since she was a teenager; Jessica has loved to cook! So, in April 2020 when Justin started calling family to help with the restaurant, Jessica was eager to jump right in!

Currently, our Catering Manager, She helps out with just about anything at the restaurant from answering phones to hand-making the manicotti using our own family recipe, Jessica is a very big part of the La Stella Pizzeria family.

Jessica is mother to Justin, Ashley, & Lauren.

Jessica is also the wife of an investment broker and grandmother of 7.

Having had experience working for The Ocean House & Olive Garden; Ashley offers us a strong background in hospitality that is the perfect fit for her current role as our Front of House Manager. In her personal life, Ashley is a mom of 2 girls & 2 boys and wife to her childhood sweetheart, Christopher Winn.

Ashley Winn

Justin's Sister /

Front of House Manager

Ashley actually has a long history working for La Stella Pizzeria!

In 2004, she was given her first job at La Stella's by the original owner, Jack. Ashley worked for La Stella's for 6 years while she attended college at E.C.S.U. to earn her degree in psychology.

Ashley met her husband (Christopher) when they were in middle school at age 12. They both went to school here in Norwich and graduated High School from Norwich Free Academy. Ironically, Christopher also worked for La Stella's original owner as a delivery driver.

Erasto

Kitchen Manager

Having worked for Justin at Geno's in Mohegan Sun for 7 years; Justin knew Erasto was the best possible person to hire as his Kitchen Manager.

As our Kitchen Manager Erasto is in charge of ordering only the highest quality food, pricing, & also works in our kitchen prep. & line cook.

Erasto has lived in Norwich for 20 years. He is married to his wife Martha and has 3 daughters ages 6, 13, and 18. His oldest daughter is currently attending school at UCONN.

Erasto liked Justin's business philosophy and was very comfortable working for Justin at Geno's. So in April 2020, Erasto joined the La Stella family as our Kitchen Manager.