Moorestown High alumnus Vito Russo with the sneakers he wears for the annual contest to find the best pizza in New Jersey, known as Pizza Bowl. His business, Riccardo’s Pizza & Italian Restaurant in Browns Mills, follows in the tradition of his immigrant father.
Before life-long resident Vito Russo graduated from Moorestown High School in 1991, he spent his days after class helping his father and mother with the family business. That’s how he became owner of Riccardo’s Pizza & Italian Restaurant in Browns Mills, known for its tomato pie and hard-to-find Italian delicacies.
“Everything you see here, I owe to pizza,” Russo said of the restaurant that began in 1974. “I remember coming straight from high school to come here, and I never thought this place in Browns Mills – stuck in the woods – would amount to this much.
“I would’ve never dreamt of it.”
Riccardo’s is a place that, as Russo described it, attacks all the senses. Up front is a display of desserts, accompanied by the lingering smell of food being prepared. Custom-made tables complete with pops of color brightening the walls and New York City-style lighting. Outside are rose and jasmine gardens and a fig farm that grows everything from French figs to Chicago Hardy and Italian figs.
Also on the walls are pictures of Riccardo’s customers, all the people with whom Russo has built relationships over the years.
“Some people have movie stars and singers on their wall,” Russo acknowledged, “(but) you’ll never see them again. How about taking pictures of your customers, people that support you, and putting them on the wall?”
Russo with his father, Salvatore, who left his homeland of Sicily in 1971 and opened Riccardo’s three years later.
Russo’s father, Salvatore, boarded a plane for New York in 1971, leaving his homeland of Sicily with $50 to his name. He found a job soon after washing dishes in a small Queens, New York, pizzeria, an opportunity that inspired him to set his sights on opening his own place.
Salvatore celebrated his 25th birthday in 1974 by opening Riccardo’s Pizza & Italian Restaurant. It was his hard work that inspired Russo to follow in his dad’s footsteps, and at 14, he joined the business part-time. When Russo graduated from high school, he joined Salvatore as a full-time partner.
Riccardo’s has received several awards and recognition over the years, including being voted best pizza by two local newspapers and recognition from PMQ Pizza magazine. It also competed in this year’s Pizza Bowl V in North Jersey on Feb. 1. The competition awards the best pizza in the state and supports the Tunnels to Towers Foundation, an organization founded to pay tribute to New York City firefighter Stephen Siller, who died on 9/11.
For information on Pizza Bowl V, search Jersey Pizza Joints on Facebook.
“Every ingredient – down to the tomatoes; the red onions; the fresh, homemade mozzarella; the imported balsamic; balsamic glaze; imported olive oil; our own blend of cheese … It’s all about quality ingredients,” Russo emphasized of his pizza.
“You can get a cheaper ingredient, you can, and I’m sure that it’s going to be okay,” he added. “But why strive for okay? And that’s the difference. We don’t want just okay. Taste is paramount.
“They say that people eat with their eyes, and I believe that.”
