First located exclusively at The Rainforest Lodge at Sleeping Giant, Don Tonito’s (launched in 2019) was such a success that managing director Ian Lizarraga and the Collection’s executive chef Rahim Melendez decided that the restaurant was due for an expansion. In 2022, they set out to do just that. They’ve successfully developed two new locations at The Lodge at Jaguar Reef and Umaya Resort.

Now every resort under The Belize Collection banner has something familiar for visitors to complement the elevated Belizean cuisines at our signature restaurants, the Grove House, the Paddle House, and Restaurante Laguna.

Of course, expanding a restaurant into a franchise is more than making the same kitchens in a new area. It also requires training personnel in the delicate art of pizza-making. Chef Rahim took it upon himself to recruit from across The Belize Collection’s kitchens for this venture. Several of Don Tonito’s new cooks had humble origins working as dishwashers at The Belize Collection before being hand selected by Chef Rahim for weeks-long training.

Chef Rahim says he recruited in this manner because he believes that if you’re willing to ‘plant a seed, you can yield great results with care.’ In his own words, a basic pizza is not hard to make, but doing them with a high degree of excellence requires a high degree of attention throughout the process of creating the dough with its fermentation and ensuring the ovens maintain the right temperature.

That attention to detail was one of the kinks Chef Rahim and his team had to work out at the new beachfront Don Tonito’s locations. For instance, the rainforest-inhabiting original cooks its pizzas at 700 degrees Fahrenheit. However, due to the sea breeze facing the new locations, Rahim has had to increase the temperatures to 750 degrees to achieve the same quality visitors have come to expect. Although pizzas originated across the ocean, using wood-burning stoves has been a long-held tradition of Belizean cooks. The locally sourced wood infuses the pizza with the terroir of the Jewel itself.

The pizzas are made of the same high-quality ingredients at all three locations. The flour used is a protein-rich variety custom-made for The Belize Collection by ADM flour mill in Belize City. This blend allows the pizzas achieve the crispiness, elasticity, and earthiness unmatched by other pizza proprietors that often use off-the-shelf flour varieties. The yeast is a variety that holds up to higher temperatures than what’s typically used in residential cooking, withstanding the high heat of Don Tonito’s ovens. Lastly, the cheese used is a variety with a lower fat content compared to local counterparts, minimizing the greasiness of the pizza and allowing for balance between the pizza’s various flavors.

With ovens fueled with locally sourced wild craboo trees, Don Tonito’s pizza pies possess a flavor unlike any other available in the country. Chef Rahim is proud of what The Belize Collection has been able to accomplish. For Ian Lizarraga, Don Tonitos’s reaffirms The Belize Collection’s commitment to what has made it such a success: providing Belizean authenticity. Grab a slice on your next trip.