Daddy Greens (Closed)
UPDATE: This business has closed.
We keep a lookout for code words that suggest a business might be Black-owned. Take Daddy Green’s, a pizza shop in Bed-Stuy named after the pizzeria owned by Bruce Leroy’s dad in The Last Dragon. “I know that movie front to back,” says Kolawole Ologundudu, who co-owns the place with childhood friend Rodney Davis.
When Ologundudu and Davis, both in their mid-30s, started making plans for a pizzeria, they thought about their favorites from childhood. ”We wanted to have a real neighborhood vibe,” Ologundudu says of Daddy Green’s, whose hallmarks include a revolving art show curated by artist Oriel Ceballos, a hip-hop and Afrobeats soundtrack, and an awesomely late-80s-looking menu board.
“Especially in a neighborhood that’s turning over the way this one is, we wanted a place that holds on to the things that are important to New Yorkers. We’re providing a service that the community needs while also being aware of the community.”
Daddy Green’s pizza is made in the traditional New York style: thin, hand-tossed crust with a measured sauce-to-cheese ratio. The shop adds extra snap to its crust with a sprinkling of sesame seeds, and also offers toasted sandwiches, pastas and salads. But Ologundudu doesn’t overthink the grab-and-go street food.
“Good pizza doesn’t have pretense,” he says. “It’s just good pizza.”
“Good pizza doesn’t have pretense. It’s just good pizza.”
This business has relocated to 1552 Fulton Street, 718-484-2142, daddygreens.nyc
