Category: Business

In the year 1905, Italian immigrant Gennaro Lombardi opened the first American pizzeria in New York City. Pizza at that time was only found in the Italian neighborhoods of America. At the end of WW II, thousands of American soldiers returning from Italy helped push the demand for more pizzerias into new districts and neighborhoods, where more of the general public learned to fall in love with the “pie.”

One such soldier was a young man from Brookyn by the name of David Ross who had a dream of being the first Jewish American to open a pizzeria. His family called him a meshugine, which is Yiddish for “crazy person.” But after baking a simple cheese and pepperoni pie from a recipe given to him from an Italian lady—perhaps his lover—while stationed in the boot, their skepticism rapidly faded. In fact, David’s mother liked the combination of flavors so much, when asked how she liked it, she responded with “shut up and eat!”