An immigrant's journey from delivery driver to pizza business owner

Frank Kabatas did not arrive in New York City with a plan to become a pizza legend. He arrived in 1997 at the age of 23, fresh from Turkey, with no culinary background and no roadmap — only the drive to build something real in a city that demands everything from those who dare to try. His story, as featured by Spectrum News NY1, is one of the most compelling origin stories in New York's restaurant landscape: a man who started at the very bottom of a business, got fired from it, and then came back to own it.

When Kabatas first walked through the doors of East Village Pizza as a delivery driver, he had never even tasted pizza before. It was a food he had only seen in movies. Yet something about the energy of the place, the smell of dough baking in the oven, the rhythm of a busy Manhattan pizzeria, hooked him immediately. He learned quickly, absorbed everything he could, and threw himself into the work. Six months later, he was let go.

Most people would have walked away. Kabatas did not. He stayed in New York, continued working in the food industry, and kept his eyes on East Village Pizza. In 2003, six years after he first walked through those doors as a delivery driver, he walked back in as the owner. It is the kind of full-circle story that New York City seems almost uniquely capable of producing.

Today, East Village Pizza at 145 1st Ave in Manhattan's East Village is one of the most recognizable independent pizzerias in New York City. Under Kabatas's ownership, the restaurant has grown from a beloved neighborhood slice shop into a media fixture, earning features in the New York Times, appearances on Fox News and Good Morning America, and a social media following of over 1.7 million on Instagram alone.

What Kabatas built is not just a business — it is a reflection of the immigrant experience in New York. He came to the United States without knowing the product he would dedicate his life to. He was fired from the job that would eventually define his career. He persevered through years of uncertainty and came out the other side as one of Manhattan's best-known pizza operators. Spectrum News NY1 captured this journey in a profile that resonated deeply with New Yorkers who understand what it means to build something from nothing in this city.

The pizzeria itself reflects his journey. East Village Pizza is known for its 72-hour cold-fermented dough, house-made fresh mozzarella, and two signature creations that exist nowhere else in the city: the double-stacked pizza, two full pies baked together with extra cheese and toppings between the layers, and the heart-shaped pizza, available year-round for any occasion. These are not gimmicks. They are the result of years of refinement by a man who studied pizza obsessively because he had everything to prove.

Kabatas often says that every stage of his journey — the arrival, the firing, the years of work, the ownership — changed him in ways he could not have anticipated. He credits his success to New York itself: the city's relentless pace, its demanding customers, and its ability to reward those who refuse to quit. For anyone who has ever started over, been told no, or worked a job that seemed beneath their ambitions, Frank Kabatas's story is proof that the starting point does not determine the destination.

East Village Pizza is open daily from 11AM until 3AM, and until 5AM on Fridays and Saturdays, serving the East Village, Lower East Side, Union Square, and surrounding neighborhoods. Whether you are stopping in for a late-night slice or ordering a whole double-stacked pie, you are eating pizza made by someone who learned to love it from scratch — and never stopped.