Starting out in the restaurant business in 2003, Gallegos said his pizzas needed work at first. Determined to improve, he traveled to New York City to learn the art of making pizza.

“My first attempt at pizza was horrible, according to my [New] Jersey friends,” he said. “So I went to New York, tried about eight or nine pieces as soon as I got there and fell in love. I stayed there and worked in a pizza restaurant, learning how they made their pizzas there. Then I came back here and revamped everything.”

Gallegos has two locations: a Kingwood store that opened in 2007 and a second location that opened in The Woodlands in 2013. The Woodlands location sees more customers than all of his previous ventures.

“The concept has evolved, and now we’re a full-fledged restaurant offering 23 different types of pastas,” he said. “We have so many more items on the menu now. Our pizza is still a best-seller though. We enter national pizza competitions, and our cheese pie placed second [place] in the [USA Caputo Cup Pizza Championship] in New York.”

Besides pizza and pastas, the pizzeria also offers Buffalo wings, which are a popular menu item as well, Gallegos said. The wide variety of food, authenticity and customer service is what keeps people coming back to the restaurant, he said.

“Our attention to detail and our customer service is what makes us stand apart from everybody else,” he said. “I’m still available at both the Kingwood and The Woodlands locations, and the owner involvement and desire for 100 percent customer satisfaction is what makes us different.”

The pizzeria also offers desserts, including cheesecake and tiramisu.

Gallegos said business, especially at The Woodlands location, has continued to improve since opening, with the restaurant experiencing a 16 percent increase in year-over-year sales. The Kingwood store has also experienced yearly gains as well.

The reason for this, Gallegos said, is that when customers eat at RC’s NYC Pizza and Pasta, they recognize that the pizza is handmade, unlike the pizzas one finds at a fast food restaurant.

“Our goal is to not only provide the best food to our customers, but [to provide] over-the-top customer service,” Gallegos said. “It’s a challenge to get people to understand that pizza is not a fast food. The biggest thing I like to convey to potential guests is that everything worth having is worth waiting for.”

Featured pastas

• Pasta del Nonna: chicken, mushrooms, red onions and garlic sauteed in Sugo russo and served with penne pasta ($11.95)
• Shrimp Ryan: shrimp sauteed in signature white wine lemon butter sauce combined with sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil over a bed of fettuccine topped off by fresh mozzarella cheese ($13.95)

Featured pizzas

• Meaty New Yorker 14-inch: pepperoni, Italian sausage, smoked ham, crumbled homemade meatballs and bacon ($18.50)
• California pizza 14-inch: baby spinach, Italian sausage, artichoke hearts, roasted peppers, fresh basil and mozzarella cheese ($18.50)
• Pepperoni pizza ($13.50-$14.25)

*All pizzas are made with homemade whole wheat or white pizza dough.