The restaurant business has one of the highest failure rates of any industry. Open a restaurant today, and there’s a 60% chance you’ll be closed within three years. Partnerships? Even more fragile. Most business partners don’t make it past five years before someone walks away, burns out, or cashes out.
Mike and Richy have been working side-by-side for over 40 years.
That’s not luck. That’s not convenience. That’s something rare in any business, but especially in restaurants—where the hours are brutal, the margins are razor-thin, and stress has a way of turning friends into strangers. Forty years means they’ve made it through everything the restaurant industry throws at you: failed locations, economic downturns, changing tastes, health inspections, equipment breakdowns, and every other crisis that comes with slinging pizza for a living. And they’re still standing. Still together. Still behind the counter at Wise Guys.
Mike and Richy weren’t business partners who became friends. They were friends first—the kind that lasts. When you’re part of the New York Italian-American community, friendships mean something. They’re built on shared experience, mutual respect, and loyalty that runs deeper than a handshake.
They met sometime in the early 1980s, long before Mike opened his first shop. When Mike was ready to make his move in 1990—when he was ready to open Arthur Avenue Imports Italian Deli in Fort Lauderdale—Richy was there. Not as an employee. Not as hired help. As a partner in every sense that matters.
Mike had the vision and the drive. Richy had Mike’s back. That’s how it started, and that’s how it’s been for four decades.
There’s a family photo from those early days at Arthur Avenue Imports. Left to right: Matty, Brother Ralphy, Uncle Tommy, Mike, and Richy. Look at that lineup. Brothers. Uncle. And Richy. That tells you everything you need to know about where Richy stands in this operation. When you’re in the family photo, you’re family.
Arthur Avenue Imports, Fort Lauderdale, 1990. Richy was there, learning the business alongside Mike, establishing the standards that would define everything that came after.
Goodfellas Deli, Rockledge, 1999. Richy was there when Mike opened his second location, proving the concept could work in Brevard County.
Multiple locations throughout Brevard County over the next two decades. Every time Mike moved, every time he opened a new spot, every time he took a risk—Richy was right there with him.
Now, Merritt Island. Still together. Still making pizza the way they’ve always made it.
Most business partnerships crumble when things get hard. When money gets tight, when the lease comes due, when equipment needs replacing and the bank account is empty—that’s when you find out what a partnership is really made of. Mike and Richy have survived those moments more times than either of them probably wants to count. They’ve also survived success, which can be just as dangerous. When a business starts doing well, that’s when partners start disagreeing about expansion, about money, about who deserves what. Forty years means they’ve navigated both extremes without walking away.
In the restaurant business, you see your business partner more than you see your own family. You’re there before dawn prepping dough. You’re there past midnight cleaning up after a Saturday rush. You work holidays when everyone else is home. You work through sick days, family emergencies, personal crises. There are a million reasons to quit. A million reasons to fight. A million reasons to go your separate ways.
So why has this partnership endured when so many others fail?
Trust. When you’re working side-by-side for 40 years—when you’re handling money, making decisions, representing the brand—trust isn’t optional. It’s everything. Mike trusts Richy to execute his vision without compromise. Richy trusts Mike to lead them in the right direction. That’s the foundation.
Shared values. Mike’s core philosophy is simple and non-negotiable: product quality, presentation of the food, cleanliness. Those aren’t just words on a wall. They’re standards Richy shares down to his bones. When you walk into Wise Guys, you’re seeing two men’s commitment to those principles, enforced by four decades of shared expectations.
Complementary skills. Mike is the voice and vision—the guy who knows what Wise Guys needs to be and isn’t afraid to say it. As Mike puts it: “this is my way or the highway, 35 plus years in the business I know how to make this work!” That confidence comes from having Richy there to make it happen. Mike plans the moves; Richy keeps the current operation running flawlessly. Mike builds relationships with customers; Richy makes sure every order that leaves the kitchen is perfect.
Work ethic. Mike’s philosophy is “24/7, no days off.” That’s not hyperbole. That’s the reality of building something that lasts. Richy matched that commitment from day one. You can’t maintain a partnership for four decades if one person is grinding while the other coasts. They’ve both put in the work, year after year, without complaint.
Loyalty. In New York Italian-American culture, loyalty isn’t just a nice idea—it’s the code you live by. When Mike needed someone he could count on to be there every single day for 40 years, Richy showed up. When Richy needed a partner who wouldn’t cut corners or compromise on quality, Mike delivered. That’s loyalty tested by time and proven by results.
Forty years means they’ve made thousands upon thousands of pizzas together. They’ve stretched dough through equipment breakdowns and heat waves. They’ve worked through Thanksgiving, Christmas, family emergencies, and personal losses. They’ve celebrated the wins—the first dollar on the wall, the line out the door on a Friday night, the regular who comes in three times a week for 20 years. They’ve endured the failures that don’t make it into the success stories.
They’ve watched trends come and go. California pizza. Gourmet pizza with bizarre toppings. Artisan this and artisan that. Through all of it, they stuck to what they know: authentic New York-style pizza, done right. Thin crust with just enough crunch and just enough chew. Not too much sauce, not too much cheese. Fourteen minutes, golden crust, perfect every time.
Mike’s quote—”35 plus years in the business I know how to make this work!”—that confidence doesn’t come from reading articles or attending seminars. It comes from standing behind a counter for four decades with a partner who’s there to execute the vision without deviation, without shortcuts, without compromise.
Mike is the face of Wise Guys. It’s his story, his vision, his philosophy that defines the brand. And Mike would be the first to tell you: that’s how it should be. Someone has to be the voice. Someone has to be the decision-maker.
But every successful business has the person behind the scenes. The steady hand. The one making sure that while the boss is planning tomorrow, today doesn’t fall apart. Richy is that person.
While Mike talks to customers and plans the next move, Richy is making sure every order is perfect. While Mike builds the brand, Richy maintains the standards that make the brand worth building. When the questionnaire asks about the “longest-tenured team member,” the answer is obvious: Richy. Forty years isn’t just tenure. It’s partnership. It’s brotherhood. It’s family.
When you order from Wise Guys, you’re benefiting from this partnership in ways you might not even realize. You’re getting two sets of eyes on quality control—Mike’s and Richy’s. You’re getting decades of working together so seamlessly they can anticipate each other’s moves without a word. The consistency you love? That’s not an accident. That’s 40 years of synchronized craft.
Mike and Richy both live by the same quality philosophy: “We look at every pie or item before it leaves the shop to make sure it looks delicious.” Every single order. Every single time. That level of attention doesn’t happen with high turnover or shifting standards. It happens when two people have spent 40 years building something together and refuse to let anything substandard walk out the door.
The restaurant industry chews people up and spits them out. Most workers last months, not years. Managers come and go. Even successful operations struggle to keep good people because the work is hard, the hours are brutal, and the pay often doesn’t match the effort.
But Mike and Richy? Forty years and counting. That stability is rare. That stability is valuable. And that stability is fundamental to why Wise Guys delivers the same quality today that it delivered last year and the year before that.
Mike’s vision for the future is clear: “For Daughter Stephanie to take over and run the business.” When Stephanie takes over, Richy will be there. She’s not just learning from Mike—she’s learning from the partnership. She’s learning what it means to commit to something for the long haul, to maintain standards no matter what, to build something that lasts.
The next generation doesn’t just inherit a business. They inherit a model of loyalty and longevity that’s increasingly rare in any industry, let alone the restaurant business.
Forty years in the restaurant business is a lifetime. Mike and Richy have done it together—every location, every challenge, every success, every setback. That partnership is what makes Wise Guys what it is. It’s the reason the pizza tastes the same today as it did at Arthur Avenue Imports in 1990. It’s the reason customers can count on quality. It’s the reason this place has lasted when so many others have closed their doors.
When you walk into Wise Guys at 117 East Merritt Avenue in Merritt Island, you’re not just getting pizza. You’re getting the product of a 40-year brotherhood. You’re tasting the result of two men who showed up every day for four decades and refused to compromise.
That’s rare. That’s real. That’s Wise Guys.
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