From Messina, Sicilia,
to Ivanhoe Road
Some bakeries follow recipes. Ours follows a family.
The Mirabile family has been feeding Cleveland since the 1930s — three generations of bakers and cooks whose recipes trace straight back to Sicily. In 1990 they opened Messina Pizza & Bakery on Ivanhoe Road, named for the Sicilian city where the family story begins.
Thirty-six years later, the same ovens turn out the same handmade Italian bread, Sicilian-style pizza, cassata cakes and cookie trays every morning at six. Nothing here comes off a truck. You can watch your pizza being made while the bread proofs behind the counter.
The shop itself is a piece of Collinwood history: terrazzo floors, handmade wood cabinetry, vintage family photographs on the walls, and a pew rescued from the old Holy Redeemer parish for you to sit on while you wait. In 2020, Messina's was honored as a Cleveland Italian American Heritage Month business.
But ask the family what they're proudest of and the answer is simpler: being your bakery. Six days a week. Since 1990.
Le Radici — The Roots
The Mirabile family begins cooking and baking for Cleveland, carrying recipes from Messina, Sicily.
La Bottega Opens
Messina Pizza & Bakery opens at 1071 Ivanhoe Road — terrazzo floors, wood cabinets, and a wood-cased oven.
L'Onore — The Honor
Named a Cleveland Italian American Heritage Month business, alongside sister restaurant Mirabile's.
Still Baking
36 years on. Same family, same corner, same bread — and the ovens are lit before sunrise, six days a week.
