Hey there! My name is Tony Sciortino. My father is the owner of Riccardo’s Pizza and Restaurant. If you are a customer of ours, you probably know exactly who we are. You may find me behind the counter, running deliveries or running our social media platforms. I am 22 years old and third generation at our family business.
Alright, enough about me! Let’s get right into how it all started for us.
Riccardo’s Pizza and Restaurant began as a chain of restaurants back in 1971. The original owners opened up a number of restaurants in locations such as Beverly, Willingboro, Browns Mills and Camden.
At this time, my grandparents had just moved to the United States from Sicily, or as you might recognize as the tip of the boot of Italy.
After a few years, the original owners of Riccardo’s Pizza and Restaurant decided they wanted out and sold off each location separately.
It is now 1974 and my grandfather saw an opportunity that most people would consider a high risk. He went ahead and bought our location in Beverly, NJ.
After many, many years of hard work and dedication to the business, my grandfather retired, handing the business off to his son Frank, my father in 1999.
Unfortunately, I was not around to see how my grandfather operated and ran the business, but from what I have gathered he set the standards high and expected nothing less than perfection. In fact, if you did not meet or exceed his high expectations, you would not last very long working for him. That is old school Italian at its finest!
It was now time for my father to take over the reins and continue the family legacy. My father had worked countless hours under my grandfather so he knew exactly what was expected and knew the business inside and out.
He continued to set the standards high for his employees, which allowed him to survive severe economic downfalls that nearly shut us down. He battled through and made it out better than ever!
It is at the lowest points in which you are most resourceful and experience the most growth.
To this day, 22 years later, he still runs the business to the high quality standards that were set by my grandfather.
As for me, I assist in running day to day operations to ensure our employees stay on task, handle customer relations, run our social media platforms and all online presence to adapt to the times and I even work on the front lines taking orders and running deliveries. Working for my father for about 8 years now has taught me a thing or two about hard work and commitment.
Overall, Riccardo’s Pizza and Restaurant has been in my family for OVER 47 YEARS!
It has been our pleasure to serve our great community for so long and it is our obligation to continue providing high quality food and service for many years to come.