{"id":44,"date":"2025-11-28T21:12:58","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T21:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riccardos.pizza\/?page_id=44"},"modified":"2026-03-07T17:54:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T17:54:41","slug":"history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/riccardos.pizza\/Home\/history\/","title":{"rendered":"History"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Our family<\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Short History<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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of how it all started<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Russo family story is one of passion, perseverance, and a deep love for authentic Italian cooking. What began with Salvatore Russo\u2019s dream of bringing the true flavors of Italy to America grew into a family tradition built on hard work, pride, and dedication. Today, that legacy continues as the Russo family proudly serves their community, welcoming every guest like part of the family<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t

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My name is Vito Russo, his Son and current chef and owner. Our shared love of food and cooking after 36 years has propelled Riccardo\u2019s into a very successful local Restaurant and to this day, we still greet our customers with a smile. It is with great pride; yet humbleness, that I have the opportunity to share with you my story of Riccardo\u2019s Restaurant.<\/p>

I want our story to be forthright, truthful and as humble as the man that opened its doors, Salvatore, my Father. It\u2019s a story that comes from my heart and one that I\u2019ve managed to put together the best I can from my some of my fondest and not so fondest memories that I\u2019ve experienced while working with my father since I was a child of 13 years old. I will try to relay the story the best I can from my recollections and my father\u2019s memories.<\/p>

In 1971 my father, Salvatore Russo boarded a plane set for NY. After leaving his homeland of Sicily, Italy for the \u201cAmerican Dream\u201d, he landed in JFK Airport with $50 dollars to his name. He arrived on a 2 week Visitor\u2019s Visa as a skilled cabinet maker and set his sights on finding a job. After tireless searching, he realized that there was no work to be had as a cabinet maker in the Sates so he found a job washing dishes in Queens NY in a small pizzeria. Progressing from there he eventually was trained as kitchen help and would also deliver pizzas on a bike.<\/p>

Salvatore would spend 7 days a week working full time in that pizzeria, where he also lived and would sleep at night in the basement. My father would become a skilled cook and pizza man as the years progressed and though he was young, he had drive and a dream. Working hard, Salvatore saved his money and set his sights on opening his own pizza place. On July 12th 1974, my father, Salvatore Russo, celebrated his 25th birthday by opening Riccardo\u2019s Pizza. It was located at its present location on 567 Lakehurst Road next to the old Cumberland Farms from which he rented and directly across from the Country Lakes entrance which still had dirt roads at the time. Riccardos Restaurant was the only pizzeria in town at the time. The \u201coriginal\u201d Restaurant was built and secured on a $12,000.00 dollar loan which was acquired by my father. It was only 900 square feet, held 15 customers at best at four tables, with one small pizza oven, a grill (which was only 1 1\/2 feet long) and a wooden counter top (where hoagies were made) and a small refrigerator.<\/p>

Most of the time he worked alone as a \u2018One Man Operation\u2019 making all the food by hand, from scratch, using only the finest ingredients and it showed. His pizza and good Italian food became well known, along with his warm smile and pleasant demeanor, to which he still has to this day! A large pizza, at that time, could be purchased for $4.50.<\/p>

Working long grueling hours, sometimes all by himself from 11am-12pm weeknights and 11am-1am weekends, he was never home. Even as a child, I don\u2019t recall him being home that much. It was always understood in my house, as a child, that he was working at the pizzeria. I never questioned it and I never asked why. I remember seeing my father before I left for school every morning. And even though he was always sleepy and groggy from the previous night\u2019s work, he always managed to smile at me telling me to have a good day at school. He was always gone by the time I came home, but he was a dedicated father who worked 24\/7. I looked up to him and wanted nothing more than to be like him when I grew up. While the other children wanted to be policemen, firemen, doctors and lawyers when they grew up, I wanted to be a chef. I wanted nothing more than to wear my fathers white cook\u2019s uniform and be just like him. After much pleading, he would eventually buy me my own white cook\u2019s uniform with my name in embroidered on the chest. (The kind you see on blue collar worker\u2019s uniforms encircled with my name). As a child, (around 10 years old) my Dad would reluctantly take me to Riccardo\u2019s on the weekends when I would beg him.<\/p>

My first jobs consisted of washing dishes and helping him make dough, sauce and grate cheese. He would prop me up on a chair so that I could reach the counter and he\u2019d show me how it was done. Thereafter, I would soon graduate to standing on phone books until I was finally able to reach the counter tops by myself. I was proud of myself, but more importantly, I was happy to spend time with my Dad. He was my idol and I wanted nothing more than to make him proud of me.<\/p>

I started making pizzas at the age of 11. There was however ONE \u2018Pizza-making rule\u2019 for me. Because I was so young, I was NOT allowed to make pizzas in view of any customers. And even though I was a skilled pie maker he would explain to me that I \u201cwas still too young and that it would not look \u201cright\u201d that his loyal customers see a young child standing on phone books making their pizza.\u201d Salvatore would get compliments on\u00a0 his pies even though I made them myself. He would wink at me and praise me for a good job.<\/p>

I joined my father part-time at the age of 14. He would send someone to pick me up at school in the afternoons and I would join him for work. We worked together everyday after school and managed to do my homework at Riccardo\u2019s in between making pizzas and working. As I got older I would deliver pizzas while he would work the inside. We worked as a team. When I graduated high school, I joined my father as a full-time partner. We worked tireless hours as Riccardo\u2019s grew with the times. In 1991, we installed call waiting & began accepting credit cards, to which my father still was reluctant to introduce!<\/p>

On Friday, April 24th 1992 at approx. 7 pm Riccardo\u2019s caught fire and we literally watched Riccardo\u2019s go up in flames. I recall begging my father to leave as he fought with me. After much pleading my father and I evacuated the premises as we watched our \u201cwhole life\u201d go up in flames. I don\u2019t think there are words to explain how I felt as we stood across the street and watched helplessly as the firefighters battled the three alarm blaze. The fire still remains to date as one of the biggest fires in all Browns Mills. The memory of my father\u2019s face will probably be embedded in my mind for the rest of my life.<\/p>

It would be two years later until the restaurant reopened. In 1993, my father and I purchased the property where Riccardo\u201ds stands today. We purchased the property \u2018as is\u2019 and began to rebuild Riccardo\u2019s. On January 24 1994 we reopened Riccardo\u2019s and the town of Browns Mills would embrace our comeback and show their appreciation. The \u2018new\u2019 Riccardo\u2019s stood 2400 sq feet strong and to this day holds 100+ people. It was built with a dining room & the menu was expanded. It was a far cry from the original Riccardo\u2019s which only held 15 people!<\/p>

The years have since come and gone and Salvatore is now 60 years old. He\u2019s half the man he used to be when he first opened the doors of Riccardo\u2019s in 1974. The years have taken a great toll on his body from working 7 days a week for many years and his face shows it. Though my father doesn\u2019t make pizzas anymore and he doesn\u2019t cook, we still; however, use the same recipes from the very first day Riccardo\u2019s opened its doors. He\u2019s earned his spot in the pizza hall of fame, if there is ever to be one.<\/p>

I\u2019ve since taken over daily operations of Riccardo\u2019s, but you can still find him behind the counter as he still comes to work with me as much as he can. He doesn\u2019t work 7 days a week anymore, but still helps me out. I now am 40 years of age and have 2 young boys of my own. I hope to someday instill upon them the hard work ethic my father has instilled upon me. I don\u2019t know what my boys want to be when they grow, but I hope that they look up at me with the same eyes that I did for my father when I was a child. My father and I still talk about all the years we spent together working at Riccardo\u2019s. We still laugh and carry all the memories that God has managed to bless us with. We\u2019ve shared together a lifetime of memories that will never be able to be taken away from us. I can\u2019t remember a single day not spent with him at Riccardo\u2019s. And even though he\u2019s getting older, he still remains the same idol to me, that I looked up at as a child.<\/p>

Salvatore still has the same smile and warm demeanor about him. Riccardo\u2019s is celebrating 40 years of business July 12th, 2014 and we thank the town of Browns Mills with that grace everyday as we stand in front of that pizza oven. It takes a special person to be a pizza man and it is not it is not a job of glory. It doesn\u2019t get you a TV show and it wont make you rich and famous, but it did; however, give me the opportunity to spend many a years with my Dad as we built Riccardo\u2019s Pizza together\u2026.And for that, I wouldn\u2019t have it any other way.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Our History<\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Timelines of Pizzeria<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Big American Dream<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Salvatore arrives to America with only $50 but with big dreams<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Opening of Ricardo's Pizzeria on his 25th Birthday<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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A small pizzeria and only one in the neighborhood, was only 900 square fee and accommodated only 15 guests.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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A fire recorded as the worst in town, destroyed the pizzeria and devastated the family for 2 years.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Riccardo's Pzzeria & Restaurant reopens.<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Russo family purchases the current building as is and rebuilds it<\/strong>, transforming it into the restaurant guests know today.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Best Voted Pizzeria in NJ<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Riccardo\u2019s grows into a 2,400 square foot restaurant serving over 100 guests<\/strong>, with Vito Russo continuing the family legacy and traditions started by his father.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t

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