Lawsuits

Grimaldi’s and Juliana’s Will Now Make Pies (and Hopefully) Peace

High time for pie time.
High time for pie time. Photo: Courtesy of Grimaldi’s

The injunction filed in court in September by Grimaldi’s owner Frank Ciolli designed to prevent coal-oven pizza rival Patsy Grimaldi from opening his brand new Juliana’s may have had extra pepperoni, a judge in Queens County Supreme Court ruled last week, but had little merit. Ciolli paid just $500,000 for the rights to the Grimaldi name back in 1998, and that included a preemptive agreement with Patsy Grimaldi barring the pizza magnate from opening a new pizzeria within three miles of Ciolli’s businesses. Ciolli, or course, spun Grimaldi’s off into an empire, but his noncompetitive clause with Grimaldi expired in 2008, DNAinfo reports. Ciolli had argued that Juliana’s opening in the former location of his business — and virtually next door to the current Grimaldi’s — was a violation of his “commercial goodwill.” But now Juliana’s is up and running, and in his ruling, Supreme Court Judge Augustus C. Agate said the proximity of the rivals’ shops is actually just “healthy competition.” [DNAinfo, Earlier]

Grimaldi’s and Juliana’s Will Now Make Pies (and Hopefully) Peace