Russo's New York Pizzeria

The Russo family opened "Russo's Italian Restaurant" in 1978 after moving from New York to Texas. Russo's Italian Restaurant was a fine dining establishment that used recipes passed down through generations from the Russo family. Anthony Russo is a first generation Italian. Both parents immigrated from Sicily and Naples, Italy, to New York in 1962. At the early age of 12, Anthony spent a lot of time with his family and other influential Italian chefs in the kitchen learning how to prepare fine Italian meals and New York style pizza. His dad's phrase was: "If you can't make it fresh, don't serve it!". In the early 90's, Anthony opened up his first restaurant in Clear Lake, Texas called "Anthony's Pizzeria". Anthony's goal was to bring the real New York style pizza down to the Texas marketplace. He knew that great New York style pizza could be made anywhere by using quality ingredients, his family recipes, and a whole lot of passion. By using his culinary experience, Anthony was able to blend the simplicity of the Pizzeria with the freshness of the Fine Italian Restaurant. It was at this time that the New York Pizzeria concept started to materialize. Anthony's was able to serve high quality food while providing a quick and casual dining experience. The New York Pizzeria concept was introduced in 1992 in the Houston market in an area where the majority of customers were from New York City and they truly appreciated the New York style pizza, giant pizza slices, and calzones in Texas.