Placid Catalfina immigrated to the US on December 22, 1920 from Sicily, Italy at the young age of 13 years, along with his family. He sailed into New York Harbor on the Duca d’Aosta ship as a 3rd class passenger and was registered as an immigrant at Ellis Island under the name Catalfamo, which the family later Americanized to Catalfina.
Grandma Josephine was the oldest of seven children and daughter of John & Santa Maria Mesi. Josephine too was proud of her strong Italian heritage. They resided in the Clintonville area of Columbus.
Grandpa Placid & Grandma Josephine were married in 1929 and had three sons, Phillip Anthony, Anthony John (Tony) and John Joseph (Johnny).
In 1959 Grandma & Grandpa opened the first Josie’s Pizza at 952 West Broad in the Bottoms area of downtown Columbus. Josie’s was lovingly named after Grandma Josephine & the bar they also owned next to the pizza shop was named Kelly’s Bar, after Grandpa Placid. As a young man, grandpa Placid took on the nickname of “Kelly” because it was easier to pronounce than Placid or Catalfina. The name stuck and the couple were known as Mom and Pop Kelly to their friends and customers.
Josie’s
Hilltop History
1920
1929 - 1959
Grandpa “Kelly” was seen as the master dough maker at Josie’s & kept a careful eye on the place as he was the “front man” who regularly interacted with the customers. He was known as a very charismatic man & enjoyed talking with customers & getting to know them on a personal level. It is “rumored” that he also ran regular illegal card games for several of the City of Columbus “big wigs” at secret locations near the pizza shop downtown.
When The Catalfina’s opened Josie’s Pizza, they decided to put the pepperoni underneath the cheese. It is believed that they thought it would lock in more flavor and allow the pepperoni juices to marinate into the dough for a traditional Italian pizza experience. To this day, this is how our pepperoni pizza is made at Josie’s. However, we are happy to put the pepperoni on top for our customers who prefer it that way!
1960’s
Grandma Catalfina, worked tirelessly at the shop creating our special sauce, making homemade meatballs & taking care of customers as she worked behind the counter & dining area. She could do it all and is credited, along with Grandpa’s input, with developing our special sauce and dough recipes.
Eventually, Tony and his wife, Lois, and Johnny and his wife, Joyce, took over running the pizza shop so that Grandma & Grandpa Catalfina could retire to Florida. Over the years, many of the Catalfina children and several extended family members have served as employees at Josie’s.
As the business boomed they opened a 2nd location, Josie’s Pizza Hilltop at 3205 West Broad Street 1979.
1970’s - 1990’s
After Tony & Lois’ passing in 1999, their two children, Marc (Becci) Catalfina & Kelly (Chuck) Williamson, operated Josie’s Pizza Hilltop for 22 years, until Marc’s passing in April of 2020.
1999-2020
Today, Josie’s Pizza Hilltop is still owned & operated by Kelly & Chuck Williamson and Marc’s wife, Becci Catalfina.
We are proud to continue to serve the Columbus community as a third generation, family owned & operated small business using Grandma & Grandpa Catalfina’s original Josie’s Pizza recipes.
THANK YOU for being a part of our Josie’s Pizza Hilltop family! ❤️
TODAY
