116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Dua Pie brings New York-style pizza, Italian classics to downtown Cedar Rapids
New option comes from the owner of Napoli’s Italian
Dec. 10, 2025 6:00 am
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CEDAR RAPIDS — Some of The Big Apple’s best classics are now being served year-round in the City of Five Seasons.
Dua Pie, a new opening in downtown Cedar Rapids, brings perfected New York-style classics from pizza and pasta to calzone and stromboli from the family that started Napoli’s in Marion and southwest Cedar Rapids.
After more than a decade running successful Italian restaurants, Napoli’s owner Gony Veseli’s latest venture brings his cousin, Armand Veseli, into the fold.
The casual concept, opened in 375 Third St. SE on Nov. 19, fills the space left by the former Gianna’s Italian Beef.
If you go:
Address: 375 Third St. SE, Cedar Rapids
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. Friday; 12 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Saturday; closed Sunday.
Phone: (319) 200-3379
Website: Find Dua Pie on Facebook
Details: Find New York-style Italian classics including pizza, stromboli, calzones, pepperoni rolls, pasta and hot sandwiches like chicken Parmesan subs in a casual setup. Pizza available by the slice alongside a full display of stromboli, calzones and pepperoni rolls. Full bar open with late night hours for food and drinks on Friday and Saturday.
Delivery available soon via DoorDash.
A family legacy
For the Veseli cousins and their family, making food is second nature. Their latest opening — Gony’s third restaurant and Armand’s first in Linn County — comes on the heels of a legacy decades in the making.
Armand, a native of Albania who learned to cook from his Italian mother, moved to Iowa this year after running similar pizza restaurants with his family in the Dallas, Texas, area. In addition to his Italian roots, his specialty stems from formative years spent in New York when he moved to the United States at 17.
Altogether, their family has been in the restaurant business for over 45 years.
“That’s all I know how to do, I don’t know anything else,” he said.
For years, the cousins have wanted to collaborate together. When the perfect downtown space opened up over the summer, they jumped on the opportunity.
Dua Pie pulls many tried-and-true similarities from the family’s holdings in Texas.
“It’s just something we’re good at, something we enjoy doing,” Armand said. “Cooking Italian food and making pizzas is our thing.”
The food
Dua Pie’s signature can be found among New York-style Italian classics done well with simple quality.
“Dough, sauce and cheese — that’s what makes a good pizza,” Armand said. “You’ve got to have a great dough, crust and a great sauce, and the best cheese.”
Doppio zero flour, a finely milled staple that lends pizza dough a soft elasticity with its powdery texture, is combined with three other simple ingredients for a crust that is thin and crispy, yet pliable for a foldability New York slices are famous for.
Pizza is topped with a sauce that is light, bright and slightly sweet. All of it is enveloped by unadulterated grande mozzarella cheese — the Cadillac of pizza cheeses characterized by its buttery, creamy flavor.
Armand remains mum on most of the ingredients that comprise their signature recipe’s sauce and dough, but says technique is key.
“The dough is very simple, very few ingredients,” he said. “You’ve got to know the timing, and you’ve got to use the best flour.”
Specialty pizzas, available in 14- or 18-inch sizes, come in flavors like margherita with fresh tomato and basil, Chicken Alfredo, barbecue chicken, white pizza with ricotta and Parmesan, or the popular buffalo chicken. Build your own with the standard toppings, or add unique options like meatballs, anchovies, artichoke hearts, feta, burrata or sun-dried tomatoes.
Armand’s pride and joy, the stuffed pizza, brings a novel option to Cedar Rapids’ pizza scene. With a double crust, each slice is filled with a blend of ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan, plus complementary proteins and vegetables like chicken Parmesan, pepperoni or spinach.
Atop the golden crust, all of it is seasoned with a generous helping of herbs.
That heavy hand for a rich herb flavor extends to other signatures that are hard to find in Cedar Rapids, like the stromboli made with provolone and plenty of meat, or the calzone with ricotta and mozzarella.
“You don’t get it anywhere else,” Armand said.
Hot sandwich options include chicken Parmesan and meatball subs, all on bread made fresh in house. In the summer, cold sandwiches will be introduced.
The menu is rounded out by several pasta and chicken wing options that expound upon Napoli’s more upscale portfolio without duplicating it.
“Our job is to maintain quality,” Gony said. “Quality is number one.”
Raising the bar
The downtown space brings a refreshed interior updated by new seating and fresh earth tones under a vaulted ceiling.
Customers order at the counter, where they can preview pizza by the slice or see the seasoning on pepperoni rolls, stromboli and calzones up close. Food is delivered to tables lit by the building’s Edison bulb centerpiece.
In the back, a side bar perpendicular to the pizza counter offers local craft beers, wine and cocktails late on Friday and Saturday nights. There, owners hope to capture a relaxing atmosphere as well as the hungry late night crowd searching for alternatives to Perkins or Taco Bell.
“It’s not about just food, it has to be about the best service, too,” Gony said. “They have to be together.”
Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.
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