Russo's grew from an Italian-American family kitchen into a chef-founded restaurant brand built around New York-style pizza, authentic recipes, fresh-to-order food, and the joy of bringing people together at the table.
Explore Our StoryChef Anthony Russo is the founder and chef behind Russo's New York Pizzeria & Italian Kitchen. He grew up in a New Jersey family shaped by Italian cooking traditions and founded Russo's New York Pizzeria in Houston in 1992. The system began offering franchises in 1999.
His role connects the Russo's franchise system to its New York-style pizza, Italian menu, family recipes, culinary training, and fresh-to-order restaurant standards.
The son of first-generation Italian immigrants, Chef Anthony Russo grew up in a New Jersey home where the kitchen was the center of family life. Cooking and baking were part of every day. His passion for food grew through the garden-inspired traditions his grandparents passed down from Avellino, Italy.
After the family moved to Galveston, Texas, in 1978, Anthony spent years around restaurants and worked in his father's restaurant. By age 12, he was learning family recipes from relatives visiting from Naples and Sicily. Italian-American classics and New York-style pizza became both his craft and his calling.
That background still appears in a menu built around authentic family recipes, fresh-to-order food, and large New York-style pizza slices with a thin, foldable crust. Guests looking for the restaurant can view the official Russo's New York Pizzeria Galveston location.
Those traditions now shape Russo's recipes, hospitality, culinary training, and respect for every guest and team member. Franchisees receive more than operating systems: they are entrusted with a family name and the standards behind it.
Russo's has offered franchises since 1999. The full-service concept combines chef-led food standards with dine-in, takeout, delivery, and catering, supported by training, site-selection guidance, marketing resources, technology systems, and ongoing operations assistance.
The approved full-service model generally uses an ideal footprint of 1,800 to 3,500+ square feet, subject to site and market requirements.
Explore the Russo's pizza franchiseCurrent U.S. candidates should have at least $250,000 in liquid capital and $550,000 in net worth.
Review franchise investment requirementsThe initial franchise fee is $35,000. The estimated total initial investment ranges from $439,350 to $1,490,000.
See the verified pizza franchise cost guide*According to Item 19 of the Franchise Disclosure Document for fiscal year 2025, the top 50% of U.S. franchised Russo's stores averaged $1,164,000 in Net Sales. Individual results vary. Review the current FDD for complete details.
Russo's mission is to give every guest a memorable dining experience prepared fresh-to-order with premium ingredients, authentic techniques, and the consistency expected from a chef-founded restaurant brand.
Russo's provides franchisees with training, site-selection guidance, marketing resources, technology systems, and ongoing operations assistance. Review territory status and investment information, then speak with franchise development about carrying the tradition forward.
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