Frank Kabatas started out as a delivery driver in 1997 for East Village Pizza, a renowned landmark pizzeria in New York City. Then, he got fired after just six months on the job. Five years later, he bought the joint—and became one of Manhattan’s best-known pizza guys.

Now Kabatas is giving back to his loyal customers and 1.7 million-plus Instagram followers with an in-store pizza giveaway on August 6. Granted, there’s a catch: Customers will need to give a codeword to get their free slice of any specialty pizza on the menu. Fortunately, the codeword isn’t exactly a secret. It’s not even a word, really: EVP.

The giveaway will last for two hours, from 2 to 4 p.m., at East Village Pizza, located at 145 1st Avenue.

Related: ‘Secrets of a 50 Top Pizza Restaurant’: New panel added to PMQ’s Pizza Forum, taking place September 4-5 in Atlanta

A long line is virtually guaranteed. In May, East Village Pizza was named Manhattan’s best pizza shop in Good Day New York’s “Best of the Boroughs” contest. Other contest winners were Louie and Ernie’s Pizza in The Bronx; Bruno’s Ristorante in Queens; Krispy Pizza and Pizza Wagon (a tie) in Brooklyn; and Lee’s Tavern in Staten Island.

East Village Pizza’ menu reflects aseamless blend of authentic New York-style tradition and culinary innovation with items like cheesy garlic knots and double-stacked pizzas.

In a June 2024 interview with Medium.com, Kabatas, who immigrated to the U.S. from Turkey in 1997, said he took his first-ever bite of pizza at East Village Pizza. However, he said, “I was fired for a mistake I didn’t make.” He then took other pizzeria jobs around the city, including a two-year stint at a Domino’s store. 

“At these establishments,” Kabatas said in the Medium interview, “I learned how to make pizza from scratch, and ultimately how to properly run and market a pizzeria. Five years later in 2003, when I learned East Village Pizza was for sale, I seized the opportunity to purchase it, working tirelessly to make it successful.”

But Kabatas didn’t realize just how hard he’d have to work when he first took ownership of the restaurant. “I had mistakenly thought that if I owned my own restaurant, I would have a chance to relax and enjoy being my own boss,” he noted. “Life quickly taught me a lesson, and soon I was working even harder than I was as an employee. I was working double the hours, getting up earlier, working later than everyone else, and giving my all because now this was my business, and its success depended on me. The takeaway from this was that if you have goals, especially as a restaurant owner, if you want to succeed, you have to keep working hard. You have to keep putting in the work day in and day out and stay committed to your passions, no matter how tiresome or difficult the journey may be.”

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