- May 3, 2024
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It was just a few months ago that Paul Ricci Jr. had to wait for his 21st birthday in order to get a license to sell beer and wine at his first location in Flagler, which he took over at 19 years of age. Now, along with business partner Paul Brum, Ricci has become co-owner of three restaurants in three different cities.
After establishing Tony’s Pizzeria in Flagler Beach, Brum and Ricci opened up another Tony’s in St. Augustine at the beginning of the year, and, a little over a month ago, they bought Napoli Pizza, which is less than a year old, in Palm Coast.
“We’ve already received great support from the community,” Ricci said. “The first day we opened, a lot of the people we know came in to congratulate us. It was fun.”
Ricci and Brum have decided to leave the restaurant’s name intact, instead of changing it to Tony’s Pizzeria, due to the name recognitiong Napoli’s already has in the community.
While all three restaurants serve the same pizza, Napoli’s kitchen allows the owners to expand the menu, where they can serve dinners, such as penne chicken broccoli, various alfredos, lasagnas and other meals.
“I’m happy we get to expand our culinary because I love to cook,” Brum said. “That’s what I’m looking forward to the most.”
Brum joined Ricci shortly after he took over Tony’s Pizzeria. Since then, the two have become 50/50 partners, and they plan to do the same with all future business endeavors, even outside the pizza world.
"We work really well together as the yin and yang,” Brum said. “We kind of look at stuff a little differently, but we always come out with the best decision for the business.”
“We’re not branding ourselves as strictly pizza owners,” Ricci said. “We’d love to get into real estate eventually, but, right now we’re focused on these three restaurants. This is our niche right now, but we definitely want to branch out and do other things.”
As pizza owners, Brum and Ricci take pride in their positions. While Brum is older, they both began in the restaurant business at 15 years old, and, now owners, they enjoy different aspects of being the sole titleholders to their own pizza places.
“Being in the business for so long, people use to come up and ask me if I was the owner,” Brum said. “I had to tell them, ‘No.’ Now, when they ask me, I can say yes, and it’s a good feeling. It makes me feel like all of my hard work paid off.”
“I’m just glad I don’t have to listen to anybody else,” Ricci laughed. “I’m my own boss. It’s more rewarding, at the end of the day, to be working for yourself rather than for someone else.”
Napoli Pizza is located at 4845 Belle Terre Parkway in Palm Coast. Call 225-4569.
Tony’s Pizzeria is located at 428 Beach Village Drive in Flagler Beach. Call 439-9900.
Tony’s Pizzeria St. Augustine is located at 4255 U.S.1 S., Unit 8. Call 904-217-8739.
