HAZLET - Marco Russo, owner of Ray’s Real Pizza in Hazlet, came to America at age 9 to attend his brother's wedding, but after being in the United States for just a month, his family decided to stay and pursue their own American dream.

“I came here with my mother, father and two other brothers to be apart of Giuseppe’s wedding, we soon found that we liked America very much, and so, we made the choice to stay here and make a better life for ourselves,” Russo said. “My two brothers that were already in the States had opened up a pizzeria in Brooklyn. With our whole family here together, we had the opportunity to open up more locations around the rest of Manhattan.”

“We started opening up more pizzerias,” Russo said. “Even though I was very young, I started to help out at age 13. It was great experience. I always liked this business and interacting with people. I wanted to learn and I was eager to do so. I started selling Italian ice inside the pizzeria and little by little, I graduated to working behind the counter and learning the business. By the time I was 15, I was running my own location in Brooklyn.“

Between 1983 and 2003, the Russo family would open seven different pizzerias around New York City.

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“It was a space we were comfortable in,” Russo said. “My two oldest brothers had experience with running a pizzeria and they definitely passed down their knowledge to me and the rest of my family. I saw them doing something they were passionate about and I wanted to be included. It was our family business and I took it upon myself to contribute in my own way. I just wanted to be apart of something great.

“The process was well worth it,” Russo said. “I was not interested in school, so I knew this would be my life’s work and I was comfortable with that. I wanted to commit my efforts to this project. I knew it was something I could grow. We had a lot of employees and the overall establishment was worth all of the hard work. We put our blood, sweat and tears into it.”

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Moving to New Jersey

In 2003, the Russos were at the height of their success and were doing great business with their pizzerias all around Manhattan, but rising New York rents were becoming unsustainable.

“The business was doing well overall, but the rent was just too much,” Russo said. “No matter how successful you are with a business, you need to put the money back into it to grow it continuously. When our landlord was raising the amount of money we were paying every month, it was more feasible to just close down the locations completely. It was a long time in the making and we had a lot of fun and great experiences, but in the end, we made the right decision to move on.

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“Although we closed down our pizzerias around the city, we still had some gas left in the tank,” Russo said. “We were still hungry to do more and we still had the potential to serve the public, but just in a different location this time. Later in that same year, we moved to New Jersey and found a place in Hazlet. This time, it was myself and my two older brothers that opened up a pizzeria and named it after my grandfather Ray. We named it Ray’s Real Pizza.”

All three brothers had an even slice of the pie until 2016, when both of Marco’s older brothers decided to retire and let Marco run the business by himself.

“I was truly honored to take the reins from my brothers and run the business with a strong commitment to serving great food and maintaining customer service to the highest level,” Russo said. “At the time that I had the opportunity to take over the business from my brothers, they both asked me if I wanted to just shut it down, but I felt just the opposite. I liked the area and the people and I just felt right at home. There was no place I would rather be. It was bittersweet.

“After taking over the business officially, I really invested a lot of time into making the business the best it could possibly be,” Russo said. “I had the background and the experience from my earlier years and I was in my element. I was able to take all of my positive energy from my past and insert it into this business. Little by little, we got our name out there and started to really draw in clientele from the locals and people that came from a distance. Everything really came together.”

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'It’s not just a pizzeria'

Although Ray’s Real Pizza is mainly a pizzeria, it does serve other cuisine.

“We have a full-blown menu with our restaurant,” Russo said. “We do pork chops, fish and old-fashioned Italian pasta, in addition to our pizza. We do special orders for many of our customers and they really appreciate those specialty dishes. It’s not just a pizzeria, it’s more than that. We do our part to serve our customers and the community. It’s all about our connection with our customer base.”

Russo believes he has a bright future ahead of him.

“I want to keep going from where we are right now,” Russo said. “I would like to get my kids to one day take over the business and keep it running, but that decision is up to them. I’ve really enjoyed running the business up until this point and I think we will be a success, no matter what, but for now we will stick to what we know and that is serving our customers with a smile on our faces.”

Ray's Real Pizza

Owner: Marco Russo

Location: 3429 Route 35, Hazlet

Phone: 732-203-1600

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesdays to Fridays; 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays; noon to 10 p.m. Sundays

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Ray's Real Pizza in Hazlet NJ owes origin to a wedding invitation