Sbarro

In 1959, Gennaro and Carmela Sbarro opened a salumeria Italiana—an Italian grocery store—in Brooklyn. They sold fresh mozzarella, imported cheeses, sausages, and salamis, and later added ready-to-eat foods, such as pastas, salads, and sandwiches, but their biggest seller was pizza. Pizza by the slice wasn’t a new concept in New York, but it was unknown in other parts of the country. They focused on their pizza and opened additional locations in the New York City area and then throughout the Northeast. Unlike other fast food operations, Sbarro featured 35-foot cafeteria-like counters, rather than tables, at their outlets, making them more like the familiar urban pizza parlor.