A ‘Philly’ cocktail bar from Tacconelli’s opens in South Jersey — but hold the pizza
“I’m trying to build the cocktail bar I want to go to,” says South Jersey’s Vince Tacconelli, fifth generation of the storied pizza family.
Vince Tacconelli didn’t set out to open another Tacconelli’s — or even a bar — in South Jersey. He saw a gap, and it wasn’t pizza.
“If you’re in the Maple Shade area on a Thursday night at 8 o’clock, there’s nowhere to get a proper cocktail,” said Tacconelli, 33, a fifth-generation member of the pizzeria family. “We always end up going into Philly.”
The repeated frustration has led Tacconelli to a new business venture. “I’m trying to build the cocktail bar I want to go to,” he said.
Bar Tacconelli — an Italian-leaning cocktail lounge and bottle shop with late-night hours — opens Wednesday about four minutes from the Maple Shade pizzeria he owns with his father, Vince. The concept is aimed at locals who might otherwise cross the bridge.
The opportunity, he said, came together “pretty organically.” Christine Zubris, a friend who owned Route 38’s Versi Vino, a strip-mall wine bar between the Cherry Hill and Moorestown Malls, told him that she was stepping away after five years.
“I kind of jokingly said to my father, ‘Let’s take it — let’s get our first liquor license,’” he said. “At first, we laughed. But I kept putting it out there. And sure enough, it fell onto my lap.”
Tacconelli partnered with Greg Listino, whom he met through restaurant-equipment supplier Rosito Bisani, and Listino’s wife, Stacey Lyons, who operates Attico cocktail bar in Center City. The three of them had joked for years about opening a bar, Tacconelli said. “Next thing you know, they’re on board.”
They took over the 60-seat space this spring. Lyons designed it with a soft industrial look: an exposed black ceiling with visible ductwork warmed by sculptural pendant lights casting an amber glow. Along one wall, a run of plush, channel-tufted banquettes in muted green sits beneath heavy drapery, while sliding barn-style wood doors lead to a semiprivate room.
The 12-seat bar has been expanded from the Versa Vino days and now includes a drink rail with room for eight.
Lyons leads the extensive bar program. Italian wines join eight beers (including a pilsner created by Haddonfield’s Kings Road) and a cocktail list organized into four sections: “Essenziale” and “Frizzante” cover classics and easy, bubbly spritzes, while “Dal Giardino” introduces more culinary, Italian-inspired creations and “Rustico” leans into spirit-forward, amaro-driven cocktails. There’s also an eight-bottle wine dispenser next to the racks of wines for sale.
Tacconelli runs the compact kitchen. There is no pizza, aside from wedges of Sicilian tomato pie — a deliberate choice given the proximity to the pizzeria. “I don’t want to take away from that,” he said. “It actually helps us. Instead of rushing people out, we can say, ‘Head over to the bar — we’ll call ahead, get you a drink.’”
Tacconelli’s Maple Shade location opened in 2003 on Lenola Road, across from Moorestown Mall, and moved in 2014 to its current home on Main Street. Father and son — the fourth and fifth generations — opened a Haddon Township location in 2023. Those South Jersey restaurants are owned separately from the landmark Tacconelli’s, which began baking pizzas in 1948 in Philadelphia’s Port Richmond section.
At Bar Tacconelli, the food skews small and shareable: baked oysters, chicken cutlet with lemon-parmesan arugula, meatballs, shrimp cannelloni, grilled prawns in salmoriglio, and capocollo bombette — the Pugliese fried meat roll stuffed with caciocavallo and pancetta. Most dishes land in the mid-$20s; lamb chops, four for $24, are an outlier.
The pricing is intentional. “I don’t want this to be an occasion place,” he said.
It’s open from Wednesday through Sunday, with late-night service — potentially until 1:30 or 2 a.m. — aimed at another local shortfall.
“When I get out of work at 9:30, I have nowhere to eat,” Tacconelli said. “I want a place you can come, hang out, have a Negroni, get something real to eat.”
Live music, DJs, happy hour, and late-night menus are planned. Tacconelli also saw the liquor license as strategic — keeping it out of a chain’s hands — but the broader goal is to give South Jersey diners a reason to stay put.
“There are a lot of young professionals around here who don’t want to go into Philly every time,” he said. “I want to be a destination for them.”
Bar Tacconelli, 461 Route 38, Maple Shade. Hours: 4 to 11 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Fridayu and Saturday, 2 to 10 p.m. Sunday.