By Jason Haselkorn
A Brockport alum is returning to his college town to serve calzones to the community where he spent his most memorable years. For Michael Latona, opening a D.P. Dough franchise in Brockport was about returning to that small town feel while serving students from his alma mater.
The creators of the franchise, Dan and his mother Penny, sought to revolutionize college students’ midnight snacking. Pizza places are found everywhere, but the same cannot be said for calzones baked in fresh, warm dough.
Brockport’s franchise is operated by Latona and other Brockport graduates who are happy to be back in town.
“It’s nice to be a part of something bigger than yourself, and it’s nice that we can offer late night food close to campus, especially because most of us went to Brockport,” Latona said.
It took many long days and nights to get the place up and running, and now Latona and his coworkers are open and ready for business.
“Business has been great so far, and we’ve only really advertised through word of mouth. We’ve had three supervisors working busy hours, around four weeks of 80 hours each,” Latona said.
So far, the business has relied solely on people in the community spreading the word about their opening, and so far, it’s been working. The owners plan on growing their marketing strategy once they get their feet under them.
They offer over 20 types of calzones and a signature calzone they call “the “construction zone” which is a calzone customers can personalize to their liking.
D.P. Dough is unique in that they are open later than most local restaurants, and in the COVID-19 pandemic, students finally have somewhere to fulfill that late night craving. The restaurant also offers delivery for those not in walking distance.
Brockport student Isaac Yorkey has missed having a local restaurant open late into the night.
“We’ve been without a late night restaurant for a while now. Being able to take a short walk there or have something delivered late is something I’m glad to have back, and I’m sure everyone else can relate,” Yorkey said.
A look inside D.P. Dough. Photo by Jason Haselkorn
Although they are famous for staying open later than most other places, the “pizza alternative” is open from 11a.m. –1a.m. on weekdays and Sundays, and 11a.m.- 3a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Another Brockport student, Hayden Kenton, has been a frequent customer since its opening in Brockport.
“I think I’ve already tried about six or seven different types of calzones. There’s a lot of variety on the menu,” Kenton said. “My favorite is either the Buffer Zone or the Danger Zone, but you really can’t go wrong.”
Life has come full circle for the owners of D.P. Dough’s Brockport location. Their place of business is just a short walk from the campus they graduated from.
