Longtime Pizzeria Owner and Founder Reflects on 44 Years of Business

Ben Davi, owner and co-founder of Underground Pizza, was born in Sicily. He lived in a small town called Torretta until he was nine years old. In 1971, he and his parents emigrated to the United States. He spent as much time as he could in Manhattan’s Little Italy, even after his parents bought a house in Astoria, Queens. From his 44-year constant vantage point near Wall Street, he has directly witnessed many historical events, including the 100th anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge, the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, 9/11, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Surprisingly, Davi comes from a family of haircutters: his brother, his two brothers-in-laws, and his three cousins are all barbers. One of his brother’s clients was Joe Pozzuoli, the founder of Joe’s Pizza. Although his brother wanted Davi to also work as a barber, he asked Joe if Davi could work in his shop.

How did you come to open the shop?

My brother said, ‘Joe, hey, you want to take my brother and show him how to make pizza?’ And Joe said, ‘Yeah, on one condition: you work seven days a week.’ I’m 18 years old, I’m not working seven days a week. I said I’m not doing this. I worked for the other guy down the block.

In August of 1980 I started working with a fellow named Andrew, and the place was called Golden Pizza. I worked with him in the village from 1980 to about the beginning of ‘81, then I went to work in what they now call Noho, with two fellas. Then on April 3rd, 1982, I got the opportunity to go down on Wall Street because I was working day and night in the Village crazy hours. The two brothers said, ‘Hey, you want to go into partnership with us?’

I said, ‘Okay.’ Now, I was 20. I said, ‘Where at?’ And they go, ‘Wall Street.’ And let me tell you, Wall Street is not what it is today. It was strictly nine to five, Saturday, Sunday you had off. So I said, ‘Oh I’m taking this opportunity.’

The reason why it’s called Underground Pizza is because it was a basement store. So I went down there, an arrogant 20 year old kid, not knowing what I was doing, not knowing what I was getting into, but I went down and that’s how I got the name Underground, and that’s how I got started.

Can you talk about some of the stuff you’ve experienced while you’ve owned the shop?

I had some good moments, some bad moments. The good moments, for example, I believe it was 1983 when they reopened the Seaport. We were closing at five o’clock, and all of a sudden, it became busy at night.

Another good moment for me was when the Brooklyn Bridge turned 100 years old. There was no social media like there is today, where people go, ‘Hey, the Brooklyn Bridge is turning 100,’ right? Nobody knew until it actually happened, you know? So again, I was getting ready to get home. And also my biggest client back then was AIG, American International Group. They started calling me. And I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ ‘The Brooklyn Bridge is going to have fireworks, we want pizza!’ So that was a good moment, in the ‘80’s.

What’s changed over the years?

The first World Trade Center bombing, in 1993. I used to do business with the Vista Hotel. And that morning, I’d just left them, meeting one of the chefs at that hotel and I walked away from the building, and I was right where Century 21 is, and I heard this big ba-BOOM. And again, being a New Yorker, growing up in New York, tough-skinned. I didn’t know what it was. I kept on walking. By the time I get back to my store, I found out there was a bombing attempt. And I’m like, ‘Oh, oh my God. I just—literally—was in that building.’

The hardest change was, the world was never the same after September 11. And obviously I was here. I was at a different location, on Pearl Street, that’s where I started. And it was a basement store. I just got into work, and all of a sudden, the tragedy happens, and I’m like, ‘Oh my god.’ And at first you don’t know what’s going on. So we had a TV, we turned it on, and they said, ‘A plane has hit the World Trade Center, accidentally.’

And I just thought, I looked at my employees, ‘Accidentally? I just drove through the Holland Tunnel. It was a beautiful day, clear as a whistle. I could see those buildings, the skyline. How does that happen?’ And before I’d gathered my thoughts, the second plane hit. And everything went crazy. People running left and right. People ran into my store for refuge, because the soot that was in the air, the dust....

To me, it was tough, the situation we went through, and how we did it. It was tough. Mayor Giuliani announced that everybody must leave the downtown area. So we had to leave. But my store was full of refugees because at one point we had to close the doors and duct them so no more dust came in. So that was a big pain that we suffered. But I could see after that, we came back stronger as humanity. We never let this bother us. We’re gonna move forward, we’re gonna unite, we’re gonna do business as usual. And that’s what we did. Two weeks later, we’re all back in our stores, minding our business.

How did COVID affect your business?

Remember, this is a financial district, right? So once COVID hit and they shut the city down, there was nobody here. Basically, I was coming because I was central, so I was coming into work every day. But really to no one. There was no business. I had people saying to me, ‘Listen, the city’s not coming back. Take your losses. Go home.’ And I turned around and said, ‘I’d rather die than just give up on something that I built for 40-some odd years and walk away because of a virus.’ And even though we’re speaking today, things are not what they were, but they’re better, more than what they were a year or two ago.

Why do you enjoy what you do?

A lot of times, people ask me, ‘Hey, why do you only have one shop?’ Because I can’t be in two shops. I enjoy every single minute of doing the pizza. Every time I make a pizza, I want to produce a better one than the one I made a minute before. It’s a passion that I’ve built over the years. To me, it’s not a business anymore, it’s a family. The day I lose that passion is the day I will not come in anymore.

Have you thought about when you’d stop?

I am 63, and if God helps me, at around 70 years old, I will turn this place into 50 years of business, and that’s my goal. Will I stop? It all depends on God. If God keeps me healthy, and mobile, like I can move around and do business and be able to travel from Central Jersey...but at least another 10 years, I’m good for—if God permits.