By Charlie Pogacar
Victoria “Tori” Tiso had trained under her father, John, at Louie & Ernie’s Pizza for months when, for the first time, she was given the keys. It would be her first solo shift running the legendary shop in The Bronx, which has been owned by her father and uncle since 1987.
It wasn’t a mad lunch rush or an angry customer that tested the young Tiso that day. Instead, it was a biblical-level storm. Rain pounded down, eventually making its way inside the dining room and kitchen. Tiso called her father to seek advice, but he was across town, knee-deep in water in his garage.
Back in The Bronx, waves were crashing against the front window of Louie & Ernie’s. A Sicilian tray floated across the dining room—an image that offered Tiso and one of her cooks some comic relief during the harrowing experience. For Tiso, that moment in time was more than a flood—it was trial by fire.
That chaotic afternoon would come to symbolize something much bigger. For years, Tiso had worked behind the scenes at her father and uncle’s legendary slice shop, learning dough, sauce, payroll, plumbing—every corner of the business. But it wasn’t until that flood that she understood she was ready to chart her own course.
“If we could survive this, we could survive anything,” Tiso said on the latest episode of Peel: A PMQ Pizza Podcast. “That’s when I realized: I’m not a worker anymore. My dad trusts me to make the call.”
Fast forward a few short years, and Tiso runs two thriving pizzerias: Tori T’s Pizzeria on Long Island and 914 Pizza in Westchester County. Both reflect her signature mix of old-school Bronx roots and modern, fearless ambition. For example, she borrowed the recipe for Louie & Ernie’s iconic sausage pie but expanded her repertoire to retrofit Long Island sensibilities—adding Grandma pies and Detroit-style pizzas, embracing social media marketing and bringing the energy of a lifelong athlete to every shift.
Before pizza, Tiso’s life revolved around softball. She played third base in college, coached for over a decade and worked her way up the ladder. Coaching, she said, shaped her management style. “You want your team to be prepared, to execute, to perform under pressure—it’s the same in pizza,” she said. “I’m competitive. I don’t believe in 50%. If I’m in, I’m all in.”
That drive shows. Tiso works seven days a week, splits time between shops and still finds time to tweak her dough formulas and mentor—and learn from—others in the larger community. “I never say I’m tired,” she said. “The day I say that is the day I lose my business.”
Tiso credits her father for teaching her the value of hard work, but her direction—and her daring nature—are all her own. “There’s one Tori T,” she said she likes to remind her team members. “I don’t know if you’ll get another in your lifetime.”
To listen to the full podcast episode, check out one of the following links:
