By Susan R. Wenner
Herald Publisher/ Editor
How fitting that Thomas Morgello and his wife moved locally from Queens, New York to become part of Bronx House Pizza in Lake Mary. It seems they brought a taste of their roots to share with Seminole County.
Although Morgello’s dream was not necessarily to run a restaurant as he had envisioned a different career path planned for his life. His father worked for the New York City board of education and his mother worked retail for most of her life. He soon realized that things just fell into place after working in the industry as a delivery driver at another pizzeria and worked his way up from position to position until becoming a manager. He transferred to Bronx House Pizza in 2021, where he became a kitchen manager and now a partner here with Rachel Wolfe at the Bronx House Pizza in Lake Mary location in 2023.
He says it was “through hard work and dedication, he worked his way up to ownership and for me it is just knowing it does not matter where you start, it matters where you finish.”
Morgello cited that he and his wife love the residents of Seminole County as they are the true heart of this business and without them this would not exist.
“They are amazing people and we are blessed to have them,” he said. “We always want to give back to the community and by being able to provide a reasonably priced amazing product to the community especially during the crazy ups and downs of this economy.”
Morgello noted that Bronx House Pizza considers each other as family. The passion to always improve and get better at the craft is one of his goals. He also loves customer interaction and being able to get to know the regular customers. “It is kind of like a family away from home,” he said.
“This company was started by two masterminds that excel in this business,” he said. “Bruno Difabio, who is also known as pizza science, as he is just a master at his craft with numerous accolades in this field and his best friend, Michael Bennici, who is as hardworking and dedicated as they come. They started Bronx House Pizza with a vision and collectively over the years have helped grow this company to over 10 stores and built the stores with employees who over the years have just put blood, sweat and tears into this brand to make it one of the top independent pizza chains in the country.”
He added, “We have had Fox News come out here several times and just having your family and friends see you on there because of your business is a surreal feeling. As they know the backstory of your life and it’s a very proud moment for them.”
Owning a business can be interesting as Morgello noted because everyday is very similar and different at the same time. “You never know what each day could bring you and as many owners know that there is always something that could throw you a curveball each day.”
Taking some time to share about specials, Morgello gave some information about Tuesdays treat, a large cheese pizza for $12.99 if you purchase it through the Bronx House Pizza app or online website but along with all of the signature pizzas, like the New York style pizzas and Detroit style pizzas, the eatery offers many amazing pasta dishes and heroes.
“One of our new sandwiches, the Crazy Joey, has been super popular and is a fried chicken cutlet topped with our homemade spicy vodka sauce, burrata and pesto drizzle,” he said. “Our prices are definitely competitive with the surrounding area, in this day and age, the cost of goods and labor is only going up. So we have to always analyze our menu and ensure that we keep our prices that way.
As far as standing out among the competition, Morgello stated, “This is always a tough question, because to stand out from others it's always just about the pride and passion you put into each product. We have extremely talented pizza makers in this company who have years and years of experience. This is not a job for them, it is an art, and they put their work out there on a daily basis. I love hearing a customer praise the food knowing that you did put love into each one.”
Bronx Pizza Lake Mary is open 7 days a week, Monday to Saturday from 11a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 12 to 8 p.m.and is located at 4205 W. Lake Mary Blvd. in Lake Mary. The phone number is 407-323-9222. They can also be reached by email at [email protected]
