Our Story
BORN IN FRIENDSHIP, ROOTED IN ITALY
Two friends, a wood-fired oven, and a dream of bringing a little slice of Italian life to Madison.
Our Mission
Provide a welcoming and family-friendly atmosphere, where delicious food brings people together.
Our food is inspired by Italy. Our restaurant is a family dining room, open to everyone and full of good vibes, lively conversation, and delicious food.
Our Story
A Cook and a Radiologist Walk Into a Bar.
2011
Alessando Monachello (a cook from Sicily) and Chris Guglielmo (a Radiologist from New Jersey) began frequenting Red Sushi for an after-work bite. Although they didn’t appear to have much in common on the surface, they quickly discovered a shared passion for good food—a key ingredient in their friendship.
2016
Five years later, Alessandro discovered a manufacturer of mobile wood-fired ovens. Alessandro grew up in a country home with wood-fired ovens and knew he could translate his cooking skills into a business making pizza. With Chris on board to help run the mobile operation, It’s Good For You was born.
2021
By the fall of 2021, years of selling pizzas at the Northside Farmers Market had built a loyal community that showed up week after week. When a former beauty parlor on Sherman Avenue opened up, it felt the ideal spot to build a brick and mortar pizzeria.
2023 through today
It’s Good For You opened its pizzeria doors on February 2, 2023, marking a new and exciting chapter. Through the pizzeria, Ale, Chris, and the rest of the team continue to build meaningful connections with the community they love. They’re grateful to everyone who’s been part of the journey so far, and are always glad to welcome new neighbors through the door.
Alessandro Monachello
Co-Owner / Cook / Pizzaiolo
As a boy growing up in Palermo, Sicily, Alessandro (Ale) learned to make pizza in the wood-fired oven at his family’s farmhouse. When he came to Madison in 2006 he didn’t speak English, but he found his footing quickly in the city’s kitchens, eventually working at Osteria Papavero, Madison Club, and Magnus.
Ale calls himself a cook, not a chef. “I do not like the title of Chef, because then people think I am one, but I am not. I do not want to be. I like to cook.” That distinction matters. He cooks because he loves to, and that’s the heart of everything at It’s Good For You.
Chris Guglielmo
Co-Owner / Limoncelloiolo
Chris grew up in New Jersey, the son of a first-generation Italian-American father and a German immigrant mother. A fellowship at UW Hospital brought him to Wisconsin in 2010, after 14 years working in Tennessee. Many of those years were spent in Memphis, where the city’s simple, soulful food culture left a lasting impression. It meshed naturally with Ale’s Sicilian roots, and the two bonded over a shared love of food that doesn’t need to be complicated to be great. When Ale came up with the idea for a wood-fired pizza business, saying yes was easy.
Chris loves how the pizzeria has deepened his connection to Madison’s Northside, where he and his family live. You’ll often find him there with his wife and kids, welcoming guests as if the restaurant were an extension of his own home.
Ready for some delicious pizza?
Browse our menu of rotating seasonal and everyday classic Neopolitan pizzas, or place an online order for pick-up.