Iconic Joe’s Pizza Sues Another Knockoff Pizzeria, This Time One in Park Slope

New York City’s iconic West Village slice shop Joe’s Pizza has sued a former employee who opened a copycat chain in Brooklyn. Called Joe’s Pizza of the Village, it’s been open in Park Slope for over a decade but recently changed the signs at the shop to closely resemble the original Joe’s logo.

That sign change spurred the original Joe’s — which now has four locations across NYC — to sue the blatant copy pizzeria to remove the new signage, as well as pay unspecified damages, Grub Street reports via TMZ. The full complaint is below.

Victor Zarco, who owns the ripoff location, worked at the original Joe’s for 17 years, starting off as a cleaner and eventually working his way up to make the pizza. By 2004, he had saved enough money to open his own pizzeria in Park Slope, which he named similarly because “Joe had become such an important name in my vocabulary,” he writes on the restaurant’s website. He declined to comment about the suit.

This isn’t the first time the original Joe’s has sued a copycat. Back in 2015, the pizzeria sued a business called Little Joe’s Pizza, which courts ruled had to change its name.

• Famous Joe’s Pizza Sues: Quit Ripping Off Our Piece o’ Pie! [TMZ]
• New York’s Best Slice Shop Is Suing Copycat Pizzerias [Grub Street]
• All Coverage of Joe’s Pizza [ENY]