Every so often, a place opens near home that makes you rethink what "amenities" really means. It's not just parks and school ratings and walk scores, though those matter plenty. It's also knowing there's a restaurant ten minutes away where the person behind the counter built the oven himself. That's the case with Emilio's Wood Fire Pizza, and once you hear how it got there, it's hard to think of it as just another pizza place.

The address on the sign says Nutley. But if you ask the family how this all started, the story runs straight through Bloomfield — through a backyard, a bored afternoon, and eventually a phone call from the Bloomfield Health Department that nobody was expecting.

A Family, a Backyard, and a Very Good Bad Idea

Rafael Ruiz — most people just call him Raf — was partway through a five-year electrical apprenticeship when the pandemic shut down his work. He was close to the exam that would have made him a licensed contractor. Instead, he found himself at home with time on his hands and a father, Edgar, who designs industrial machinery for a living and doesn't sit still well either.

The two of them were talking one day, bored, when Edgar suggested building a firepit in the backyard. Raf's mother, Lisa, had a better idea: build a brick oven instead. So that's what they did. Using nothing more than online research and a fair amount of trial and error, the family spent about three months constructing a dome-shaped, wood-burning oven right in their yard.

The Oven Nobody Planned to Build

Raf had worked part-time in a pizzeria years earlier, so he assumed the hard part would be building the oven itself. It wasn't. "The hard part was learning to make good dough and bake well," he's said of that stretch. Family and friends became the taste-testers, and the whole household pitched in — Edgar tending the fire, Lisa topping the pies, Raf stretching the dough.

Word Travels Fast in a Small Town

Once the pizzas were good, the family started posting the progress online and offering them to neighbors for ten dollars a pie. The first weekend, they made forty or fifty pizzas and sold out. Within a couple of weeks, it had grown into two hundred pies on a Sunday, made and sold straight out of the family's yard.

That kind of volume doesn't stay a secret for long, and this is where Bloomfield enters the story directly. Word of the weekend pizza operation reached the Bloomfield Department of Health, and the family got a choice: pay a fine, or make it legitimate. They chose the second option, and it changed everything. They built a proper pizza oven on a trailer, arranged to have the dough made in a friend's restaurant kitchen, and registered as a business. From there, it was street fairs, private parties, and a steadily growing following.

From a Trailer to a Storefront

The pop-up business eventually became something bigger: a storefront at 170 Chestnut Street in Nutley, just over the Bloomfield line, where Emilio's operates today. Along the way, Raf credits some familiar names in the local food world for pushing him forward, including guidance from a Nutley native who runs a well-known local sandwich shop, and a friend who runs a media company and told him, simply, to be himself online and post the process, not just the finished product.

Where the Name Came From

The name isn't a marketing invention. Emilio was Raf's great-grandfather, and Emilio happens to be Raf's own middle name as well. One night, while the family was making pizza in the yard, his fiancée told him he should open a pizzeria and call it Emilio's. Later that same evening, his sister said almost the identical thing, without having heard the first conversation. Two people, one random idea, the same night — Raf took it as a sign worth following.

Then and Now

It's worth pausing on how far this business has traveled in a fairly short time. The table below lays out the shift from weekend hobby to standing neighborhood restaurant.

Why a Story Like This Matters to Families Nearby

I write about neighborhoods for a living, and I've learned that the amenities people remember aren't always the ones on a listing sheet. They're the coffee shop where the owner knows your order, the park where your kids learned to ride a bike, and yes, the pizza place with a story you can actually tell your neighbors. For families in Bloomfield, Nutley, Glen Ridge, Montclair, Belleville, and the rest of Essex County, a place like Emilio's is one more reason a neighborhood feels lived-in rather than just lived near.

If you're weighing a move to this part of Essex County, or you're already here and looking for one more reason to love it, stories like this one are worth knowing. They tell you something about the character of a town that no spreadsheet ever will.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Emilio's Wood Fire Pizza in Bloomfield or Nutley?

The restaurant's address is 170 Chestnut Street in Nutley. Its origin story, however, belongs to Bloomfield — the family's backyard pizza operation was reported to the Bloomfield Health Department, which is what pushed the business to become official.

Why is it called Emilio's?

It's named for owner Rafael Ruiz's great-grandfather, Emilio, which is also Raf's own middle name. Two family members suggested the name independently on the same night, and he took that as a sign.

Is Emilio's Wood Fire Pizza BYOB?

Yes. Guests are welcome to bring their own wine or beer.

What style of pizza do they make?

Twelve-inch, Neapolitan-style pies made with a biga, a slow pre-ferment that gives the crust a light, airy texture rather than a dense one.

Summary

Emilio's Wood Fire Pizza began as a pandemic-era backyard project in Bloomfield, grew large enough to draw the attention of the local health department, and turned into a licensed, family-run restaurant just over the Nutley line. The name honors a great-grandfather, the dough follows a traditional Neapolitan method, and the whole story is a reminder that some of the best local amenities start with someone's family simply trying something new.

This article is provided for educational purposes only and should not be considered financial, legal, tax, or mortgage advice. Market conditions change over time, and every situation is unique. Consult the appropriate licensed professionals regarding your specific circumstances. Restaurant details, including hours and menu offerings, are subject to change; please confirm directly with Emilio's Wood Fire Pizza before visiting.