Rizzo's Pizza — Restaurant in New York

Hi, I grew up in Astoria, I’m 63 years young. I remember this pizzeria since forever, it opened in 1959, same location, now there’s new people running the establishment, I wish them all the best in their business adventure.

The square pizza had always been my favorite, the new people make it similar to the way the original owner did, but like everything else in this world, it’s not exactly the same. My gripe is with the person who answers the phone. I called last night to have a square pie delivered, I had to tell the person my address four times and she still hadn’t understood me. There was a tremendous amount of noise in the background of the establishment, sounded like clanging, pans I guess. Well, I never got my pie, apparently, the delivery guy tried calling me but for some reason I hadn’t heard the phone, my ringer was turned down. I never got a knock on my door, nor did the delivery person ring my bell. When I discovered that I was called, I called back the number but no response, so I called the girl back. I tried to explain and she said I was yelling at her. I wasn’t yelling but I was talking loud as I always do, I cannot hear or see as good anymore. As typical with this young generation these days, everyone is wrong but not ever themselves.

A tip for this person who answered the phone, Start out by saying Good afternoon sir, may I help you? and another tip from an older person to the young lady who answered the phone.

The customer is always right!

I do miss the good old Astoria, when people were kind to one another, we all knew each other, and every store was mom and pop owners.

Thank...

Years ago, I used to work at a GameStop location not all that far from Rizzo’s. It was one of my regular go to lunch spots 😌

They have all the usual staples that most pizza places have as well as some specialty slices which I really enjoy. The pizza and garlic knots are pretty good but what really makes this place is the friendly service and the atmosphere fostered by the crew 😁 The guys are normally silly and friendly (they’ll usually talk to the customers as if they were part of the staff while the shop isn’t busy 😅). When it’s go time however, you really see what the crew is capable of.. They’re professional and quick to serve everyone while making zero mistakes in between it all 👌🏽💪🏽

Overall, Rizzo’s is one of my favorite pizza places in all of queens. They have a pretty diverse menu that everyone should try to work their way through!

Update - Spring of 2021: They're STILL killin it (especially post Cov-SARS19-20).

New tables with a gorgeous soft naturist/simplicitic surface.

The counter space and menu have NEVER looked any cleaner or more visually appealing/concise than in it's current iteration.

Their POS system is up to date and it shows in the level of ease and professionalism with which the staff handle go time during these trying times 😌

All and all, I'm proud of the crew (and enjoy the new...

I feel so bad for waiting long after my visit to write this but I am better with my writing than my verbal compliments at times. Anyways, my bf and I stopped by around 8p after getting frustrated with our winter gear shopping. We were immediately greeted. It also helped that we were politely given suggestions and allowed to ask questions. We looked awkwardly up at the menu because most places want you to know what you want very quickly. The fact that I can get vegan cheese and extra 'sawce' (I seriously say that word like that folks #SchoolOfHardKnocks) was awesome too. My personal custom pizza of vegan cheese and pepperoni and extra sauce was a delight. The sauce was the best I ever had in my 26 years and I am an aficionado of Italian dining for a good while now. The sauce was FRESH, tart but rounded out with a light sweetness. It really does come down to old school recipes, daily prep and selection of tomatoes. The bf loved his specialty slices that had parmesean/ricotta cheese and ricotta with Italian sausage. He too liked the thin crust. This is def my pizza spot. I plan on trying the garlic knots. Grazie mille...