Cugino Forno was founded in 2017 in Greensboro, North Carolina. The word Cugino means cousins, which is appropriate considering that this pizzeria chain was founded by three cousins who emigrated to the US from Turkey.
After spending a year touring Europe, the trio fell in love with the taste of oven-fired pizza in Italy. Forno means oven so while Cugino Forno might roughly translate to Oven Cousins, the idea behind it is clear.
Beginning with a single restaurant in Greensboro, the company has since expanded to 6 locations around North Carolina and a 7th in Maryland.
The company specializes in Neopolitano, wood-fired pizzas, in ovens which weigh 7,000 pounds and are handcrafted from sand, with a wide variety of toppings.
In June 2022, the company was forced to repay $300,000 in back wages to 63 employees after tips were collected and then reused to pay other employees. Management says that it was a miscalculation of employee wages.
Cugino Forno was listed as the Best Pizza in North Carolina in a Yelp survey in February 2022.
Cugino Forno Pizzeria maintains a corporate office in Greensboro, North Carolina.
