Pizza and the American dream: How one family fulfilled and maintains their father’s dream and legacy

Francesco Sorce of Gino’s Real New York Pizza makes 60 pounds of meatballs at a time. He mixes 25 pounds of lasagna to cover the day’s demand. He loves what he does, and he says his father, Francesco “Gino” Sorce, taught him all of it.

“My father was trying to create a legacy,” Francesco Sorce said. “He taught the family everything. He wanted us to follow in his footsteps.”

Francesco Sorce Sr. passed away at 70 years old Dec. 22, 2014, but his family is fulfilling his wish.

“My father always wanted the American Dream,” Francesco, 37, says of his namesake. “He came to America with $20 in his pocket.”

Francesco explains that his father learned to cook in Sicily with his mother and always wanted to owe a restaurant, so he opened a pizzeria in Astoria, Queens, New York, in 1969. Gino eventually relocated his restaurant to Long Island, but in 2006 chose to sell it and retire. At the same time, his daughter and son-in-law, Rosaria and Brian Wunderlich, moved to Myrtle Beach with their daughter, Sage, then 15 months old.

The senior Sorces missed Sage so they moved to Myrtle Beach, too, but after 45 years in the business, Gino was restless. It happened that a former pizzeria in North Myrtle Beach was on the market and Gino bought it. Thus started the Gino’s Real New York Pizza presence along the Grand Strand.

“He was a go-getter,” says his widow, Nancy Sorce, manager of the North Myrtle Beach Gino’s. “Nothing stopped him.”

Francesco says his father asked for his help in running the business, and since the job he held at Jet Blue allowed him the flexibility to fly to Myrtle Beach and assist, he answered the call.

His father, though, wanted the entire family to participate, and in 2008 he opened Gino’s Real New York Pizza in Forestbrook and convinced Rosaria, a dental hygienist, and Brian, a firefighter, to manage that location. Although they had added Aidan, now 8, to their family, they agreed.

“I grew up in the business,” Rosaria says. “I was prepared. It’s fun. It’s a tough business, but we make it work as a team.”

In the meantime, Francesco continued flying between New York and Myrtle Beach until he and his wife, Katrina, and their two daughters, Isabella, now 5, and Francesca, now 3, moved to Myrtle Beach in 2012 and joined the family business.

Two years ago, Gino’s in Carolina Forest opened with the Wunderlichs as managers, and in March 2014 Gino’s in Garden City made its debut with Alan Husain, a long-time friend of Francesco’s, as manager. The Sorces’ other son, Carlo, chose to remain in New York where he owns a demolition company.

“We are family,” Husain says. “Gino was a father to me, and Francesco was my mother’s other son. Gino was the one who said to me it was about family first and foremost. He wanted his kids to make a life for themselves.”

When Francesco approached Husain about managing the Garden City restaurant, Husain began training.

“I learned from the bottom up,” he says. “You have to be conditioned for it. You do it with your heart and your love.”

Francesco always wanted to open his own business but majored in psychology at St. John’s University in Jamaica, N.Y., where he met Katrina, also a psych major. After graduation, Katrina chose to work in operations management at J. Crew Group Inc. in New York but was willing to be part of the pizzeria business in Myrtle Beach. She is now operations manager for the Gino’s restaurants.

“I was so scared [to join the business],” Katrina says, “but his father said, ‘Anybody can do it as long as you put your heart in it.’”

The family believes the restaurants offer what people want.

“The quality of the ingredients and the dough recipe, the crunch of the crust all contribute to our product,” Francesco says.

“And the sauce,” Katrina adds.

“Everything is homemade in here,” Francesco says. “I’m confident saying our pizzas are better than those in New York.”

“Many people come here from Astoria,” Alan says. “[Gino’s] was the neighborhood pizzeria, and people [here] say it tastes the same. Gino got it right.”

Customers obviously like Gino’s menu. The day The Sun News was at the Forestbrook location, customers wandered in a few minutes before the 11 a.m. opening time. By noon the lines were almost out the door. At North Myrtle Beach around 12:45 p.m., most tables were occupied and people were taking orders out.

A noticeable hallmark is attention to customers. In North Myrtle, Nancy made sure requests and questions were answered. Several customers greeted her by name.

“My family from New York, Ithaca, came here, and I said, ‘You guys need some New York pizza,’” says Dan Babuka of North Myrtle, a loyal customer. “This is a great place.”

Francesco spreads his arms to encompass the Forestbrook restaurant. “My father did this for us.”

“It is the most beautiful experience to make people happy,” Husain says. “I look at [customers] as the purpose for my being here. I’m very proud to be part of the family.”

“My father’s dream goes on,” Rosaria says.

“We are carrying on my husband’s legacy,” Nancy says. “I want to make sure we continue the way he wanted it.” She pauses and takes a deep breath.

“He was funny, honest, open. Real Italian,” she says. “He was a great person. He was a remarkable man.”

This story was originally published September 19, 2015 at 8:32 AM with the headline "Pizza and the American dream: How one family fulfilled and maintains their father’s dream and legacy."