THE DISH: Rudy's New York Pizza

By Meghan Kotowski (1076)
meghan.kotowski@gwinnettdailypost.com

As of Thursday, November 15, 2012
© Copyright 2013 Gwinnett Daily Post

Staff Photos: Meghan Kotowski Rudy's serves, from bottom left clockwise, spaghetti and meatballs, calzones, grilled chicken subs, Greek salads and capressa pizzas.

The restaurant is decorated in beer logos, black and white photos of New York City and images of legendary performers.

On The Menu

Bruschetta — Homemade panini topped with tomatoes, fresh basil and garlic, then sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Served with a side of marinara sauce, $7.50

Rudy’s stuffed pizza — Double crust, stuffed with your choice of six toppings and served with marinara sauce on the side, $23.20 for large

Fettuccine alfredo — Grilled chicken breast tossed with homemade fettuccine and alfredo sauce garnished with broccoli, then sprinkled with Parmesan and oregano. Served with choice of a small garden or Caesar salad, $11

Meatball sub — Homemade meatballs covered with marinara and mozzarella. Served with a side of chips, fries or a side salad, $7.75

Map

Rudy's New York Pizza

Rudy's New York Pizza

3780 Old Norcross Road, Suite 306, Duluth

770-813-5585

rudysnewyorkpizza.com

Open since: May 2006

Owner: Adrian Higgins

Location: Rudy's New York Pizza is in the same parking lot as the Reynold's Crossing Kroger shopping center. The restaurant is next to Foot Spa.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays

Atmosphere: The inside of Rudy's is one large dining room with tables and booths, plus a small bar tucked away in the back.

The walls are covered in beer logos, like Miller Genuine Draft, Yuengling and McSorley's, black and white photos of New York City, and pictures of legendary singers. You know, Bob Marley and Bruce Springsteen. Right now, the rafters are decorated with Christmas lights and oversized ornaments.

But this isn't a dive bar -- it's a family restaurant.

"We're very family oriented," general manager Eskender Getachew said. "We sponsor the Duluth High School football team and cheerleading. We're involved in a lot of the little league and hockey teams in the area."

Farther to the back of the restaurant, plaques from the youth teams plaster the wall as well as drawings created by tiny patrons.

Those who don't want to dine in can order to-go or a delivery order (within a five mile radius from the store), plus catering is available for large parties, corporate functions and other events.

"The catering has been pretty successful so far," Getachew said. "We've been doing catering for a lot of the dealerships in this area."

Menu: The menu has everything from pizza to salads to calzones to pasta. Yes, it even has a dessert menu.

"Everything we do is made in-house," Getachew said. "We make our dough, our sauce, we clean our chicken in-house and slice the pepperoni here, we try to make it as fresh as possible."

Even the vegetables are fresh -- Getachew stops by the local farmer's market to purchase tomatoes, lettuce, romaine and all of the other leafy veggies needed for Rudy's recipes.

"We've very careful about what we serve to our customers," he said. "The reason people love it is the freshness and quality of products we use."

Besides taking care of the produce, the kitchen is known for its house dressing, made in-house. It's gained so much popularity that they now sell it by the Mason jar.

Rudy's also offers a kids and lunch menu with a handful of options.

Things you might not know: Rudy's hosts trivia Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday nights and bingo on Wednesdays.

Gwinnett Daily Post