Along with its relaxed atmosphere and quality food, Luna Pizzeria and Italian Restaurant remains the heart of Old Town Clovis. Luna Pizzeria is a must for anyone looking homemade Italian recipes at affordable prices.

The grand opening was in 1969 by original owners Franco and Carmela Liberta. They overcame great difficulties and persevered through the doubts that their restaurant would succeed, and managed to open and run a restaurant without any employees and very little money. With the amount of success that they had, they asked customers to begin working for them on the spot.

Franco and Carmela also included their three children in the process of running the restaurant, and it is currently run and owned by their son, Bert Liberta.

“Luna’s got started back in 1969 by my mom, dad, aunt and uncle,” Liberta said. “We were the first Italian restaurant and it took off really good. The thing that makes our restaurant unique is that we do a lot of our stuff from scratch recipes. We also special order a lot of our things from Italy.” Along with running a successful business, Bert Liberta believes in doing fundraisers and helping out the community.

Luna’s got started back in 1969 by my mom, dad, aunt and uncle. We were the first Italian restaurant and it took off really good. The thing that makes our restaurant unique is that we do a lot of our stuff from scratch recipes. We also special order a lot of our things from Italy. — Bert Liberta, Owner

“We do a lot of fundraisers for the community,” Liberta said. “I’ve done things for the autism program and the diabetes foundation. Back when they built Lamonica Stadium, we did a big fundraiser for them. I do stuff all the time for fundraisers, and I help people fund-raise for community things.”

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I visited Luna with my family, and within the first minutes of being inside the Italian themed restaurant, I could tell that Luna was well run. It was very clean and all of the employees were very nice. Right as we sat down, our waiter approached us and asked what we wanted to drink.

I went with what I knew I would like and ordered an iced tea. The menu had much to offer varying from different pasta, pizza and sandwich choices. I went ahead and ordered fettuccine alfredo along with a house salad. While waiting for our food, our waiter brought bread to my table. The bread was delicious. It was soft and smelled fresh as if it were just made.

Minutes later, my salad arrived. I was a little disappointed with the content of it. While the salad tasted well made, it was a little plain to me and I would have liked to see more ingredients. It took a while to get our entrees, probably a little longer than we would have liked, but it was worth it. The fettuccine alfredo was to die for. The ingredients were mixed together perfectly and the pasta was covered nicely in a creamy white cheese. The noodles were cooked to perfection and they were soft and delicate.

Overall, my time at Luna was great. The relaxed atmosphere, the kindness of the employees and the delicious food make any trip to Luna memorable. I would definitely recommend Luna Pizzeria and Italian Restaurant to anyone looking for a local Italian experience.

Luna Pizzeria is located at 349 Pollasky Ave. in Clovis. The restaurant is open Monday through Saturday for lunch and dinner. They do not operate on Sundays. Weekday hours are as follows: Lunch is served 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Dinner is served 4-9 p.m. Saturday 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Visit the Luna Pizzeria website for more information.

This author can be reached via Twitter: @nick_leblanc1 or via email: Nick Leblanc.

For more food reviews, read Uncle Buddy’s smokin’ in Old Town Clovis.

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