“Go sit down!” Four words, delivered with the weary precision of a man who has heard every possible way to order a salad wrong, and they have carried a Syosset pizzeria from a loyal neighborhood following to a feed with well over a hundred thousand Instagram followers. Phil’s Pizzeria & Restaurant, at 265 Jericho Turnpike, has been feeding Nassau County for nearly four decades, and its newest chapter proves that a good slice and a good sense of humor travel further together than either does alone.
Where most restaurant stories begin with a founding date and a signature dish, this one starts with a counter, a notepad, and a steady supply of customers who are, in the owner’s own words, impossible to invent.
A Counter That Became a Stage
The skit series began as a way to make sense of the day job. Owner Anthony Laurino, who has run the shop for nearly two decades according to the Long Island Press, told the New York Post that the restaurant business is stranger than outsiders imagine. As he put it in the Post’s September 2025 feature:
“This industry needs a reality show. I tell everybody, ‘you’re not going to believe what happens at work.’”
Anthony Laurino, owner of Phil’s Pizzeria, as quoted by the New York Post (Sept. 22, 2025)
The material arrives unprompted. Laurino described keeping a notepad beside the counter so nothing gets lost: “I started keeping a notepad next to the counter to write things down as they happen — and we get new material each day.” Examples from the Post’s reporting include a house salad ordered without lettuce and grilled chicken requested without grill marks, requests that sound like riddles until a pizzeria turns them into comedy.
Every video is filmed inside the family-owned dining room, as Greater Long Island reported in September 2025. The cast is the family and the crew: Laurino, his wife Vincenza Laurino, and manager Anthony Corrao, who appear in the Post’s account of the inaugural clip, which drew more than half a million likes.
Four Million Views and One Famous Catchphrase
Then came August 7, 2025. A single TikTok from the shop passed four million views, per Greater Long Island, and the catchphrase “Go sit down!” entered the Long Island lexicon. Here is that clip, embedded straight from the shop’s own account:
Not every video leans on a punchline about a kitchen. The one below, a water-spray bit that opens with a polite greeting and a do-over, shows the format at its most compact: one setup, one reversal, no wasted seconds.
Television noticed too. FOX 5 NY’s Jodi Goldberg sat down with the shop for a segment on the phenomenon:
The humor lands because it protects something. Each sketch is, underneath, a defense of the people behind the counter, which may be why viewers who have worked a register or a kitchen share the clips with a kind of grateful recognition.
By the Numbers
- Location: 265 Jericho Turnpike, Syosset, NY 11791 (Nassau County)
- Age: described as a “nearly 40-year-old Syosset mainstay” by Greater Long Island
- Ownership: family owned; Anthony Laurino has run it for nearly two decades (Long Island Press)
- Menu breadth: “We have like 40 different varieties… from mac and cheese pizza to upside down Sicilian,” Laurino told News 12 in 2022
- Instagram: more than 180,000 followers as of April 2026 (Going Local Long Island)
- Honor: Best Takeout on Long Island, Daily Voice Readers’ Choice 2025
- Portnoy score: 7.5, from a review posted in April 2026
A quick note on the shop’s age. The restaurant’s website describes the family as having “over 35 years of experience in the restaurant industry,” a statement about experience rather than a founding date, so this profile sticks with the phrase used by local press: nearly four decades.
When a Barstool Fund Check Became a Lifeline
The online fame arrived after a harder stretch. During the pandemic, News 12 Long Island reported that Phil’s was added to the Barstool Fund, the relief effort that directed money to small businesses struggling through shutdowns. Laurino said the call was brief and the message was clear:
“He told me, ‘We’re going to take care of you. Don’t worry about it. We’re here for you.’”
Anthony Laurino, recalling the call from the Barstool Fund, via News 12 Long Island
Laurino was committed to keeping his staff paid, News 12 reported, and the shop came through. The size of the help was never published in the sources reviewed for this profile, so no figure appears here.
Years later, the gesture came full circle. When Barstool founder Dave Portnoy reviewed Phil’s in a video posted April 16, 2026, he gave the pie a 7.5 and added, as quoted by Daily Voice:
“When we see these places that we helped that you helped and everybody gave money, that they’re not only still in business but they’re thriving..shoutout to Phil’s.”
Dave Portnoy, via Daily Voice (April 17, 2026)
Going Local Long Island noted the Barstool Fund logo printed on the shop’s pizza boxes, a small, permanent thank-you for a moment the business has not forgotten. The same week, Laurino was at the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas, the industry’s largest annual gathering.
The Menu Behind the Memes
Fame can flatten a restaurant into a single joke. Phil’s resists it by being, first of all, a pizzeria with range. Laurino’s own description to News 12 of roughly forty varieties, running from mac and cheese pizza to an upside-down Sicilian, reads like a map of everything a Long Island dining room is asked to produce on a Friday night. News 12’s search for the best pizza on Long Island brought the shop into that conversation, and the Daily Voice readers who voted it Best Takeout on Long Island in 2025 were, presumably, not voting for a video.
The restaurant also notes on its website that reservations are a must on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, a rare instruction for a pizzeria and a useful one for anyone arriving on a weekend after watching the clips. Foot traffic has followed the feed. The Long Island Press quotes Laurino on the effect: “It definitely is bringing in traffic for sure.”
The shop’s own Instagram feed is the quickest way to see the room and the product side by side:
A Neighbor Who Shows Up for Other Pizzerias
Generosity runs in both directions at this address. Patch and News 12 covered a fundraiser Laurino hosted to help Hi-Class Pizza in Bellerose when that family-run shop was in need. A restaurant that was once rescued by strangers, it turns out, tends to pass the favor along.
Plan Your Visit
- Address: 265 Jericho Turnpike, Syosset, NY 11791
- Phone: (516) 364-6900
- Hours: Monday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. (per the restaurant’s website; confirm before heading out)
- Website: philspizzasyosset.com
- Order online: philspizzasyosset.com/syosset/order-online
- Instagram: @philspizzasyosset
- TikTok: @philspizzasyosset
- Weekends: reservations are a must Friday, Saturday and Sunday
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Phil’s Pizzeria in Syosset family owned?
Yes. The restaurant describes itself as family owned and operated, and local press describes Anthony Laurino and his family as running it.
What is the Phil’s Pizzeria “Go sit down!” video?
It is a series of comedy skits filmed inside the restaurant that draw on real customer encounters. The most-watched TikTok passed four million views, according to Greater Long Island.
What did Dave Portnoy score Phil’s?
A 7.5, in a review posted in April 2026, reported by Going Local Long Island and Daily Voice.
Does Phil’s offer online ordering?
The restaurant’s website links to an online ordering page. No third-party delivery link was found on the site when this profile was written.
Sources
- Greater Long Island, “Go Sit Down”: Syosset Pizzeria Going Viral (Sept. 25, 2025)
- New York Post, Long Island pizzeria goes viral with saucy videos (Sept. 22, 2025)
- Going Local Long Island, Dave Portnoy Reviews Phil’s Pizzeria in Syosset (Apr. 17, 2026)
- Daily Voice, Portnoy raves about 2 pizzerias, including Syosset business he helped keep open (Apr. 17, 2026)
- Long Island Press (Apr. 27, 2026)
- News 12 Long Island, Barstool Fund adds Phil’s Pizza in Syosset
- News 12 Long Island, News 12 searches for the best pizza on Long Island
- Patch, LI restaurants team up to help pizzeria in need
- Phil’s Pizzeria & Restaurant, About
- Phil’s Pizzeria & Restaurant, official website
- FOX 5 NY on YouTube, Long Island pizzeria owner goes viral over skits
