When Daniel Romano, owner of D’Romano’s Pizza in The Bronx, spotted an elderly woman eating a discarded slice of pizza from the dumpster outside his restaurant, he could have done what many would do: ignore her, perhaps, shoo her away, or even call the police.
Instead, he brought her into his pizzeria and fed her body and her soul—for free.
Romano related the story, which has taken D’Romano’s Pizza viral, to various news outlets, including Fox 5 News.
“I grabbed her by the hand, and I brought her into the pizzeria,” he recalled. After heating up a slice for her, “[We] sat down. She started crying. I said, don’t cry, eat.’ I said, ‘It’s not a problem. I don’t want you eating out of the garbage’. So I came up with the concept: Feed people when they’re hungry.”
After she left, Romano put a new restaurant policy in place. He put up a handwritten sign in his restaurant that promises free food to any person in need. The sign reads:
“To the people eating out of my garbage, I have more love for you than you think. Please come in and tell me you’re hungry. I will forever give you a slice and fresh water to drink.”
That sign has touched off a whirlwind of free publicity and news coverage for D’Romano’s.
Romano is a pizza restaurant veteran with 45 years of experience, many of them spent in his family’s beloved Frank’s Pizza. In the past, he worked at restaurants where the owners refused to let him give away free food to the hungry and homeless, so he paid for the meals out of his own pocket.
Now that he has his own shop, which he opened earlier this year, Romano hasn’t changed his mind about helping people. As he told a reporter for NBC New York, he learned that habit early in life.
“My mother, Carmela Romano—may she rest in peace—she always told me one thing: ‘A desperate person will always make a better decision on a full stomach than on an empty (one).’ If people are hungry and they don’t have money, why not feed them?”
Asked how he can stay in business when he’s giving away food for free, Romano replied matter-of-factly: “I’m here, I’m paying my bills, I’m paying my taxes.”
D’Romano’s serves New York-style slices, vodka, Sicilian and grandma slices, plus pastas, calzones, sandwiches and more.
