In 1965, Francesco Porco and his wife arrived in the country, with their son Joseph and their three daughters. In the fall of 1966, despite language and financial barriers, Francesco eyed an opportunity to make his mark in the new country he called home - Canada. The restaurant owner of "Au Petit Café" offered Francesco a space within his restaurant for the sale of Francesco's specialty pizza and pasta in return for a percentage of his profits. Having been in Canada for less than 2 years, he had little savings, and no collateral, and to start up his business would require a little divine intervention. Imagine for a moment, after purchasing his first orders for cheese, flour and other ingredients, Francesco realized that he had no more money to buy pepperoni, which was crucial for the opening of his business. However God watched over him that day because he found a fifty dollar bill on the ground..... this marked the beginning of Como Pizzeria.
 
Shortly thereafter, business began to bloom and Francesco found himself having to open something of his own at a different location in Old Laprairie in front of the church. It was a small place with only six tables.  He built up a faithful clientele that followed him to his new location. The restaurant was often bursting at the seams.  After 18 months of operation at the new location, Francesco realized it was once again too small for the demand.

Thanks to the intervention of "mama", Joseph comes to work with his father in 1976. His younger brother, Robert, began his apprenticeship in 1981 at the age of 9 years. He worked throughout his studies until it completes its Commerce Degree with a specialty in computer science.

The relay is solid at COMO Pizzeria because Dominic and Paolo, the two sons of Joseph, are also part of the staff. At 60 years, Francesco would therefore semi retires until it reaches 65 years and retires permanently. Trade runs thoroughly of train, so sometimes we had to wait nearly two hours to get into his pizza delivery.

In 1969, Francesco bought a piece of land at the current Laprairie site where he built an 80 seat restaurant. In the summer of 1970 was the official opening and it featured a parade on Sainte-Élizabeth boulevard (now known as Taschereau boulevard) with a complete marching band.

This was seen as an important event for the city at the time and all of the city's major dignitaries attended the parade. From the outset, the larger sized restaurant with its 20 employees was popular and through time the business has continued to grow. It has undergone 4 major renovations with a resulting increase in clientele each time. Given Como's long history in the community, it is now considered by some as an institution in Laprairie.

In 1998, Como continued to serve its delivery territory consisting of 14 municipalities. What once was a territory of a scarce population and little traffic had now reached tremendous population expansion and extensive increase in traffic.  Along with increased population in its area came an increased clientele base for Como.  The drawback for the increase in population in the area was the increase in traffic that came with it. Traffic had now become a problem for Como as it hindered it from giving a good service to the customers that found themselves on the outer limits of Como's delivery territory.  It had reached the point that customers sometimes waited almost 2 hours for their delivery.  Joseph decided in the fall of 1998 to implement the only viable solution in keeping all of its clientele; that was, to open another pizzeria in the Delson area.  Delson was chosen as the spot because it split the Como delivery area into 2 even halves.  Such a plan gave each restaurant 7 municipalities to serve with easy acces to all of them, bypassing most of the traffic.  Joined by his brother Robert as partner, the two brothers decided to venture forth and bank on the already familiar Como reputation in the area and open a large 250 seat dining room. Their hope was that the potential of their business would be fully exploited and met by increased consumer demand.  Construction began in February of 1999 and was completed by June of the same year... Como Pizzeria Delson was born.

From the age of 13 years old, Francesco's eldest child Joseph worked with his father after school and on weekends. Joseph quickly learnt from his father's example, the hard work that was entailed to acheive and maintain a successful business. Francesco's youngest son Robert began his apprenticeship in 1981 at the age of 9 years old. He worked through his studies until he completed his bachelor's degree in Commerce at Concordia University. Also joining the family business and following in their grandfather, father, and uncle's footsteps were Joseph's sons, Dominic and Paolo. They also worked throughout their studies and have since then joined in helping run the two Como sites. With the inclusion of one of Francesco's daughter Brunella, who serves today as dining room manager at Como Laprairie, it is safe to say the operation remains a family affair.

In 1992 at the age of 65, Francesco took his well deserved retirement.

The quality and the flavour of the food are top priorities at Como.  The best ingredients are used, such as the best tasting olive oil, and tomatoes from Italy, premium vegetables and meats.  For the Porco family, it is a tradition to stay close to the production of the meals to ensure that they are created as they were intended to be.  Attentive to the the customers' demands the menu has been tweaked slightly over the years to include new trends in customers' eating habits but in general, customers would attest to the fact that the food at Como tastes like it did 10, 20, 30, and even 40 years ago. Consistency in the same great taste has been one of the key factors to Como's success throughout the years.

Como's administration would like to take the opportunity to thank their entire clientele for their on going support over the last 45 years.  For many of us, Como has been part of our eating for many years and for some Como has been somewhat of a new discovery.  Regardless of whether you are an old or a new customer, you are always invited to come an enjoy great food at one of our two locations. Please make yourselves at home as there is always room for one more member of the Como family.