Today we’d like to introduce you to Pino Piroso.
Pino, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
When I moved to this country in the ’70s, I started working in a family member’s restaurant as a busboy. I didn’t speak a word of English but I quickly developed a passion for the restaurant business and worked my way up to management positions. When I moved to South Beach in the early ’90s, I realized there was no affordable pizza by the slice shops offering high-quality fresh ingredients like the pizzerias in Rome. I opened the first Pizza Rustica in 1996 on the corner of 9th and Washington with my small savings along with a modest loan. We worked very hard those first few years and the pizzeria became very popular and successful.
In 1998, just two years later, we were named Best Pizza by the Miami New Times and I remember this was a very proud moment for myself and the team. We opened Pizza Rustica Lincoln Road in 2003 and we currently have eight Pizza Rusticas in South Florida and a couple more outside the state.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have some struggles along the way. To stick around for 23 years, we had to adapt our recipes and concept to meet the changing times. I remember when we opened on Lincoln Road in 2003, the first week we thought we must have been crazy to bring this pizza by the slice shop to world-famous Lincoln Rd with its of course world-famous high rent. At that time, we added menu items such as salad and paninis which helped bridge the gap and are now a big hit across the brand.
Please tell us about your business.
Pizza Rustica serves handcrafted pizza made with the highest quality ingredients at an affordable price. I still work in the business every day, tasting the sauce, prep and final product to maintain the high-quality standards we set for ourselves. As we have grown, we are still a local, family-owned business that respects and appreciates all of our customers.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
There have been so many great moments. If I had to pick one, I mentioned how proud we were when we were selected in 1998 by the editorial staff of the Miami New Times as Best Pizza just two years after we opened our doors. As great as that was, I think the high point was in 2004 when we were voted by the people, our customers in the Readers’ Poll as the best pizza in Miami. We are also proud of the amazing and dedicated team that has made Pizza Rustica thrive, some of them have been with us for well over a decade.
Contact Info:
- Address: 863 Washington Ave and 667 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, FL 33139
- Website: www.pizza-rustica.com
- Phone: 305-674-8244
- Email: pino@pizza-rustica.com
- Instagram: #pizzarusticamiami
- Facebook: @pizzarusticafans
- Twitter: @thepizzarustica
Suggest a story: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
