WILLISTON – A purveyor of pizza that began making pies a decade ago now has a third location in Chittenden County.
What is the place?
Folino’s, which specializes in thin-crust, wood-fired pizza, started in Shelburne in March 2012. A second Folino’s opened in downtown Burlington in January 2018.
Now there’s a third location. Folino’s unveiled its newest site Dec. 17 in the ever-growing Finney Crossing development off U.S. 2 at Taft Corners, in the same plaza as the Healthy Living supermarket.
If you’ve been to one or both of the other Folino’s locations, you pretty much know what to expect: a wide variety of pizza choices, ranging from a classic margherita pie to more adventurous choices such as buffalo cauliflower and a spicy model known as Fire Kracker Shrimp. Folino’s also doles out salads and smoked chicken wings.
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The Williston locations differs from the other two in that it’s not a bring-your-own-bottle eatery. The new spot has a liquor license that was granted the day before New Year’s Eve, according to general manager Bobby Seaman, and is now selling beer and wine. He said Williston will also offer lunchtime hand-carved Italian-style sandwiches, hopefully by spring, that are not available at the other locations.
What’s the story behind it?
Seaman worked briefly in the Shelburne location and helped open the Burlington site four years ago. After the COVID-19 pandemic hit, however, he left Vermont to farm in North Carolina.
Then he got a call from Folino’s owner John Koerner asking if he’d like to help open a new pizza place in Williston. “I said, ‘Shiny new equipment? OK,’” Seaman said.
The Williston location so far has catered to locals as well as workers in the many offices in and around Taft Corners. “So far the community has been hugely supportive of us,” according to Seaman. “We’re excited to grow with the area, too. It seems like there’s something being built every day.”
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and increasing case counts caused by the fast-growing omicron variant of the virus have so far not had a significant impact on business at the new Folino’s location, according to Seaman. He has noticed that the Williston site has had fewer sit-down customers than he might have anticipated.
“It’s definitely more takeout (business) than we expected,” Seaman said.
Folino’s Hours and location
Folino’s, 129 Market St., Williston. 4-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, noon-8 p.m. Friday-Sunday. (802) 764-0359, www.folinopizza.com
Contact Brent Hallenbeck at [email protected] Follow Brent on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck.
