Constantino’s Italian restaurant opening in former home of The Feasting Fox on South Grand in St. Louis in June

There’s new pizza coming to the party. Constantino’s, which zooms in on the cuisine of southern Italy, will open at 4200 S. Grand Blvd. at 5 p.m. on June 8 in the spot formerly occupied by The Feasting Fox, a German restaurant. According to its moniker, it will be “pizza you can’t refuse.” Add to that claim, “the best Neapolitan-style pizza you’ll find in all of Missouri,” and we may have a winner.

When we stopped by this morning, preparations – which have been underway for a year and a half – were close to completion. There’s a brand new kitchen, which includes a monster 6,000-pound pizza oven; the tables and chairs were in place, and one of the walls had been freshly painted with Constantino’s logo. This, by the way, features large a picture of owner Mike Cahill’s mom. Meanwhile, his great great grandmother’s recipes, according to chef Dan Wilder, will be used for most of the dishes here. 

The menu’s main focus is hand-tossed Neapolitan pizza known for firmer dough.

“Everything will be made in house,” said Wilder who, most recently, owned his own business selling smoked pulled pork from a trailer around the city. By “everything,” he means traditional pastas like fettuccine Alfredo, lasagna; and spaghetti and meatballs. Elsewhere on the menu are calzones, burgers and sandwiches, salads and chicken wings.

Constantino’s occupies the building on the corner of Grand Boulevard and Meramec Street where The Feasting Fox had been in residence since 1935. It sounds like the feasting will continue. 

In addition to live bands every Friday and Saturday night, Constantino’s will host “Bike Night” every fourth Thursday.

The restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to midnight on Sunday. Brunch will be held on Saturday and Sunday from 8 to 11 a.m.