Operations
Why East Village Pizza’s owner is taking his dough recipe from NYC to Dubai
Frank Kabatas, the owner of East Village Pizza, is taking his New York-style pizzeria — built on a personal journey that started with him being fired as a delivery guy — to Dubai after perfecting his craft with 72-hour proofed, homemade dough and a strict commitment to quality over two decades.
December 4, 2025 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group
The owner of East Village Pizza, Frank Kabatas, an immigrant from Turkey who bought the Manhattan shop in 2003, has a unique journey from being fired as a delivery guy to taking over the business, where he honed his craft and even claims to have made Buffalo Chicken Pizza famous in New York City.
Now, after building his New York-style pizzeria on a foundation of 72-hour proofed, homemade dough and a strict "no frozen stuff" rule, he is looking beyond the Big Apple to launch his next location in Dubai.
Kabatas immigrated to New York City in 1997 and his first job in the U.S. – and first slice -- was at East Village Pizza as a delivery driver and prep worker. He was fired after about six months, which led him to work at other pizzerias, including a Domino's on Long Island and managing a Domino's in Manhattan for a year and a half.
In May 2003, he heard East Village Pizza was for sale. He jumped at the opportunity.
"I did not know if I was going to be a pizza man," Kabatas said. "My family has nothing to do with pizza, not even a bakery. By the time I bought East Village Pizza I had some experience, but not much. I could basically say I grew up with my experience in East Village Pizza after I bought it."
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Frank Kabatas spins dough in his Manhattan pizzeria. Photo: East Village Pizza |
On the menu
The pizza is decidedly New York style and the restaurant has only pizza and garlic knots. Though Kabatas had bought East Village Pizza, he changed the recipes, including the dough, sauce and ingredients. "Not that they were not making good pizza, they were making good pizza, but I changed it to my experience that I could make it better, which I did. Thank God people liked it," Kabatas said.
He makes everything possible in-house, including the dough, sauce and even grates the cheese on-site.
"The dough, it's 100% homemade. We make it here," Kabatas said. "The dough process is a little bit different. I could not say it's daily. We make dough every day, but we don't use it the same day because it needs a processing time, 72 hours proofing time. But we make everything, all the ingredient ingredients that we use basic, we make it here.
"It's very simple. First, I know what I am making. And the second, it's 100% healthier, 100% trustable because If I'm making my dough, I know what's in it, I know how I am going to process the dough. You could buy it from outside. There are people who are making dough out there for wholesale, but I don't do that."
The restaurant makes about 10 kinds of pizza, with the top sellers being a Margherita with fresh basil, a classic New York cheese slice, a pepperoni and Kabatas' Buffalo chicken pizza. "I would definitely say Buffalo Chicken. I am the guy who actually made the Buffalo Chicken Pizza famous again in New York City," Kabatas said. He doesn't make salads or sandwiches, preferring to keep his menu simple.
Kabatas bakes his pies in his trusty Baker's Pride gas oven which is admittedly old but imparts a flavor other ovens don't. He says he doesn't like conveyor ovens, and if you're making pizza in New York City, you simply don't use that kind of oven.
The restaurant has seating for about 18 or 19 people, but it's mostly carryout as people come in for a slice and leave.
New York City is one of the pizza capitals of the world, and as such, there's plenty of competition, even within a few blocks of his own restaurant. Kabatas said there's plenty to set East Village Pizza apart from other pizzerias.
"What makes me apart from other pizzerias? Passion, ingredients, the temperature that I cook, and the cooking time. That would make big difference," he said.
"There is a minimum and maximum cooking time. Let's say if your dough is 70% hydrated, you could cook it in 10 to 12 minutes, or 8 to 12 minutes. If it's 60-65% hydrated level, you could use like 15 minutes. And also, of course, it depends on what toppings you have on your pizza. If you are cooking a vegetable pizza, that means like there's like four or five toppings. I really don't suggest more than three toppings on a pizza, that takes a longer time. The reason that we don't want more than three toppings on the pizza, you don't get the taste of the dough, the cheese, the crust, you just get to eat the toppings like a salad!"
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East Village Pizza keeps about 10 pizzas on hand. Photo: East Village Pizza |
Operations
Kabatas admits running his store has been the biggest challenge, as he didn't have much experience when he bought East Village Pizza.
"I made good pizza when I got East Village Pizza, but I didn't know to run a pizzeria. I didn't know how to run a store. That actually was a big challenge for me. That's what I said at the beginning, I grew up with East Village Pizza with all my skills and experience," he said.
The restaurant employs nine people, and Kabatas maintains a strong team culture by being honest with staff, clearly defining roles and responsibilities, holding weekly meetings to listen to feedback and empowering employees with responsibility.
East Village Pizza has its own delivery and they also use third-party delivery.
The POS system is Clover, and Kabatas is able to see all the sales, what's selling and what's not. That helps him to run the business smoothly.
He's also considering using an AI call service. "Especially in a busy time like prime times, it takes about five minutes to get an order over the phone, which I don't take right now orders over the phone. I direct the customers online. Instead of talking over the phone and spending like two, three minutes, I want to use the AI. So, when the customer calls, the AI is going to tell them, 'Hey, thanks for calling East Village Pizza. If you are calling to place an order, please order online at eastvillagepizza.net.'"
Future plans
Kabatas is opening a second store, but it won't be in New York City. Instead, he's licensed East Village Pizza to a partner in Dubai.
"New York City has one East Village Pizza and I believe it's enough. And we're trying, we're going to try to have the big cities in the world, like Dubai, and maybe in Turkey, Istanbul," he said.
"The concept is going to change a bit, but the pizza and the ingredients and the system of making the pizza is going to be 100% same. The concept means like the store is going to look a little bit different there than in New York City, because the one that I have here has been 30 years in the making and I can't really do constructions around it. We just had to keep it nice, clean (and) strong, that's it. We can't touch it much."
About Mandy Wolf Detwiler
Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the managing editor at Networld Media Group and the site editor for PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com. She has more than 20 years’ experience covering food, people and places.
An award-winning print journalist, Mandy brings more than 20 years’ experience to Networld Media Group. She has spent nearly two decades covering the pizza industry, from independent pizzerias to multi-unit chains and every size business in between. Mandy has been featured on the Food Network and has won numerous awards for her coverage of the restaurant industry. She has an insatiable appetite for learning, and can tell you where to find the best slices in the country after spending 15 years traveling and eating pizza for a living.
