‘Don’t cry. Eat’: Bronx pizzeria owner’s sign for people eating out of his trash goes viral

Fox 5 New York

Daniel Romano, the owner of D’Romano’s, a pizzeria in The Bronx, one of New York City’s five boroughs, has gone viral after an act of kindness that left a woman weeping.

Romano said he saw an elderly woman pull a half-eaten slice of pizza out of his trash can. He then walked over, threw it back in the garbage and handed her a fresh one he’d made that day.

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The woman started to cry. Romano’s response was “Don’t cry. Eat,” the Bronx Times reported.

Afterwards, the pizzeria owner posted a handwritten note on his storefront reading, “To the people eating out of the garbage, I have more love for you than you think. Please tell me you’re hungry, I will give you a slice of pizza.”

The impromptu sign brought in unexpected customers

The sign has brought in new customers, many who said they decided to walk in after seeing it online, the local outlet reported.

“Every day is a little busier,” Romano said. He added that the sign in the window was never about going viral. It was about making sure hungry people didn’t feel like they had to resort to eating out of the garbage.

“If we throw away so much anyway, why not feed people?” he said.

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Still, word of what Romano is doing has spread far beyond the Throggs Neck neighborhood of The Bronx, with strangers nationwide calling to pay for slices for those in need.

“I have people from Texas. I have people from Arkansas. I have people from Alaska… from all over the world, Hawaii, calling me,” he told Fox 5.

Romano has spent the majority of his life in the restaurant business. He previously owned two restaurants on Long Island before retiring at the young age of 50. But he came out of early retirement to take over the pizzeria located on East Tremont Avenue earlier this year.

One act of kindness highlights US food security woes

Romano’s viral story highlights issues surrounding food insecurity across the country and The Bronx itself.

On a microlevel, The Bronx is New York City’s poorest neighborhood. In 2024, the poverty rate stood at 29% compared to 18% citywide, according to NYU Furman Center research. And about 40% of Bronx residents rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, more than any other borough in the city.

Across the U.S., 13.7%, or roughly 18 million Americans, are suffering from food insecurity, according to the USDA Economic Research Service. Millions of others are coping with low food security and very low food security.

Low food security is defined by the agency as food-insecure households that avoid substantially reducing food intake by participating in Federal food assistance programs, visiting food banks and eating less varied diets. Very low food security households, on the other hand, witness food intake reduce at times of the year because of insufficient money for food.

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This article originally appeared on Moneywise.com under the title: ‘Don’t cry. Eat’: Bronx pizzeria owner’s sign for people eating out of his trash goes viral

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