Chef Anthony Russo’s New York Pizzeria & Italian Kitchen Inks a Multi-Unit Agreement to Bring New York-style Pizza to the Philippines

HOUSTON (May 2023) – Russo’s New York Pizzeria, the nation’s only chef-driven New York-style, Italian restaurant and pizzeria franchise concept, announces its first location in Manila, Philippines. Chef Russo inked a multi-unit development agreement to open stores with the Le Frank Group. Janica Lao with the Le Frank Group states, “We are looking forward to bringing a taste of little Italy to the Philippines market. We are excited about Russo’s New York Pizzeria’s fresh-made pizza and Italian cuisine.” Russo’s is a unique pizza franchise concept that offers fresh-made menu items made with premium, high-quality ingredients with no commissary.

The restaurant will serve its fresh-made, premium New York-style pizzas and pastas. The menu includes homemade Lasagna, Fettuccine Alfredo, Truffle Mushroom Pizza, Prosciutto & Fig Pizza, fresh soups, and made-in-house burrata cheese. The patrons are also offered gluten-free and vegan options.

Russo’s recently opened new locations in Doha, Qatar and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Additionally, stores in Frisco, TX; Morton Ranch (Katy), TX; Magnolia, TX; and Richmond, TX are currently under construction. Russo’s is expanding rapidly into domestic and international markets.

Russo’s continues to bring chef-driven concepts to new areas as the brand offers franchise opportunities in global markets. Stores are custom-built and offer pizza delivery and casual dining concepts. Store size will range from 1,300 sq. ft. to 3,000 sq. ft. Investments range $295,000 to $950,000.

About Russo’s Restaurants

Founder Anthony Russo opened his first restaurant in 1999. There are 26 corporate and franchise locations throughout the Greater Houston Area, 9 locations nationally and 6 locations internationally. To learn more about Russo’s franchise development opportunities, visit https://russosfranchise.com/.

Business owners have to select the right location for their establishment if they wish to be successful. There’s no such thing as an effective brick-and-mortar (physical business site) that ignores the timeless adage - “location, location, location.” Even in the pizzeria business, perhaps especially in this industry, you must pay attention to where you put your restaurant.

If you’re considering a career as a pizzeria franchisee, you’ll want to know the best strategies for selecting an optimal place of business. This article offers suggestions for how to do that.

Interior of a Russo's NY Pizzeria Location

Investigate the Competition

Every prudent business professional knows the value of surveying the competition. It’s not espionage or cheating, either. This is where you figure out where other pizza restaurants have had success and see if there’s room nearby. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for potential “complementary businesses” in your community such as movie theaters, ice cream shops, and other things that go well with pizza. Those locations may be where you decide to position a new pizzeria.

Find a Place with Easy Access

You don’t want to rent or buy any commercial real estate that’s hard to access with only one road or a notoriously difficult parking lot. Often, the best pizzeria locations are near highway exits, downtown areas, and around other necessities. It also doesn’t hurt to set up shop along public transit routes or places with plenty of pedestrian traffic. Nothing’s better than having access to folks who see your restaurant and casually walk inside for a quick slice of pizza or calzone.

Make the Most of Your Establishment with Attractive Amenities & Decor

This is one area where we offer plenty of support when you partner with Russo’s New York Pizzeria. That’s because we’ve done this a long time, having enjoyed lots of success with three effective restaurant concepts. It goes without saying that you should maintain a clean and beautiful ambiance both inside and outside your restaurant. One way that Russo’s excels at this is by offering patrons a one-of-a-kind dining experience with special novelties. Our best example is when we give customers the chance to watch us make pizza with coal-fired ovens in our larger full-service restaurants. There are many other terrific ways to attract patrons with features and aesthetics as well.

Let this serve as an introduction to what you can do to cultivate the most lucrative pizzeria location. There are many more strategies, which we’d be more than happy to help you explore when you become one of our many franchise owners.

Russo’s New York Pizzeria operates a successful chain of authentic Italian restaurants both in the United States and internationally. We’re eager to expand and invite enthusiastic entrepreneurs to share our success. If you’d like to learn more about franchise opportunities, please contact us anytime at 346-802-4700 or feel free to fill out the form below.

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Never let fear deter you from chasing your dreams if you know you should do something and possess the wherewithal to accomplish it. This is doubly important for entrepreneurs interested in franchise ownership.

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Are you still a little on the fence over whether to start a franchise business?

Often, the trickiest part involves discerning which industry to enter as a prospective business owner. Some parts of the economy are growing while others are stagnating or much more volatile. Here, we’ll make the case for why owning a restaurant, specifically in the pizza business, could be the best career move you’ve ever made.

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If you’re familiar with Russo's New York Pizzeria, and our approach to business franchising, then you know we’re big proponents of starting a franchise in this growing industry. It’s a real winner right now, even amid economic uncertainty.

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Who is the boss at your current workplace? Chances are, even if you’re a supervisor or manager, it isn’t really you, because you have little real authority. That’s just the reality of signing an employment contract, which always means somebody else is in charge.

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If you’re looking for a truly classic pizza experience, nothing beats the flavors of New York-style pizza. This iconic style is known for its large, foldable slices and distinctive thin crust. Whether you’re an experienced pizza aficionado or just getting started, here’s what you need to know about New York-style pizza. 

Burrata Pizza with Pesto


At its core, New York-style pizza is defined by its classic round crust, usually made with bread flour, semolina, and/or cornmeal. This dough is stretched thin and hand-tossed to create the signature, thin crust. New York-style pizza also features a generous layer of tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese, with other toppings like pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, peppers, and olives often added. 

What sets New York-style pizza apart from other styles of pizza isn’t just the ingredients and technique, but also how it’s cooked. New York-style pizza is always cooked in a brick oven that’s been preheated to temperatures of up to 700 degrees Fahrenheit. This imparts a unique char to the crust and helps to give the pizza its unique flavor, texture, and aroma. 

New York Style Pepperoni Pizza

It doesn’t take much to make a good New York-style pizza — just quality ingredients, some serious heat, and a bit of know-how. To make your own New York-style pizza, start by making the dough. You can find lots of great recipes online. Once the dough is ready, stretch it out thin and place it in the pizza pan. Top with tomato sauce, cheese, and any other toppings you like. Put the finished pizza in a preheated brick oven and bake at the higher temperature until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbling. Once done, slice it up into big, thin slices and enjoy! 

Whether you’ve had it dozens of times or it’s your first bite, there’s no denying the timeless classic flavors of New York-style pizza. Follow these steps and you’ll be well on your way to creating a pizza masterpiece in no time.

Chef Anthony Russo Perfects New York-Style Pizza

Chef Anthony Russo with Giant Pizza

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. There was always the opportunity to cook and bake in the Russo home, and many of the ingredients came from the family garden. Just like the one Grandpa and Nona Russo had back in Avellino, Italy.

These Italian experiences stuck with young Anthony long after his family moved to Galveston, Texas, in 1978. His father opened Russo’s Italian Restaurant, which quickly became a local favorite. Just like that, Anthony found a second home in the restaurant kitchen. By the age of 12, he was learning family recipes from relatives who flew in from Naples and Sicily each summer. Making pizza and squachatta (calzones) became a passion.

Mulberry Pizza

Using the family recipe for New York-style, hand-tossed pizza dough, the sauce made from fresh-crushed California tomatoes, and imported Italian cheese blends, Anthony became the sole owner and chef of his first restaurant Russo’s Pizza in the early 80’s. “It was 800 square feet. I had a pizza oven, a dough mixer and two tables. That's it. I could only sit eight people.” A few years later, he created Anthony’s Pizzeria, located in Clear Lake, Texas, and soon moved to Houston.

For almost a decade, Anthony refined his menu using classic Italian family recipes and zeroed in on the perfect New York-style pizza. In 1992, Russo’s New York Pizzeria opened in downtown Houston, Texas and proved to be a success.

For Franchise Information, please visit our website: https://russosfranchise.com/

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Some critics of franchise businesses complain about how franchisees don’t always have much say-so over how to design their business. However, at Russo’s New York Style Pizzeria, this is far from the truth.

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We know that smart franchisees and entrepreneurs want to remain current on what’s happening across the pizza industry. If you take your eye off market changes and consumer trends, then you risk falling behind the power curve. That’s why we want to fill you in on what’s popular among pizza enthusiasts right now.

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Are you one of our franchise pizzeria owners or aspiring to become one?

Perhaps you want to make an owner-related New Year’s resolution. It could be the kind that involves doing something even more spectacular with your franchise business in 2023. There are plenty of ways to do so, but here are a few suggestions from your friends at Russo’s New York Pizzeria.

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*The following data involves historic performance information for Domestic Restaurants corporate- or affiliate-owned, open and operating under effective Franchise Agreements by the same franchisee for fiscal year 2021. There are 35 franchised domestic Russo’s New York Pizzeria Restaurants operating under effective Franchise Agreements as of December 31, 2021. 30 of which had been open for 12 months or longer. The following results include (a) the average Gross Sales for the 24 Domestic Russo’s New York Pizzeria Restaurants that were franchisee owned, open, and operated for fiscal 2021. (b) The cash flows for the FOUR (4) company-owned Russo’s New York Pizzeria Restaurants operated for fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. Because we do not maintain the accounting records of our franchisees, we are unable to make any representation to the reliability of the financial data provided by franchised Restaurants.
This website and the franchise sales information on this site do not constitute an offer to sell a franchise. The offer to sell a franchise can only be made through the delivery of a franchise disclosure document. Certain states require that we register the franchise disclosure document in those states. The communications on this web site are not directed by us to the residents of any of those states. Moreover, we will not offer or sell franchises in those states until we have registered the franchise (or obtained an applicable exemption from registration) and delivered the franchise disclosure document to the prospective franchisee in compliance with applicable law.