Marko's
Pizzeria

Marko's Pizzeria is a neighborhood pizza shop in East Gramercy, overlooking the East River and Brooklyn, built around the idea that great pizza does not need to be complicated. The focus from the beginning has been on getting the fundamentals right: flavorful sauce, properly cooked dough, quality ingredients, and pizza people want to come back for regularly.

One of the things that has always mattered to owner Jon Abusamra is the dough. Marko's uses non-bromated, non-GMO flour and bakes its pizzas in a custom Italian electric oven, which gives the shop consistency while still producing the crisp, well-cooked crust it's known for. The menu is intentionally approachable, with classic New York slices and pies alongside favorites like Margherita, Buffalo Chicken, Veggie, Barbecue Chicken, and Bacon Chicken Ranch.

The location is an important part of the shop. Being near the East River gives Marko's a different feel from a typical Manhattan slice shop, with views across the river and a neighborhood atmosphere that works equally well for a quick slice, a family meal, or sitting down with pizza, beer, wine, or soft-serve ice cream.

Jon's background is in finance, and Marko's was his first step into the restaurant business. He didn't come from a traditional culinary background; he saw pizza as an entrepreneurial opportunity and decided to build a business around a product with enormous everyday demand. What started as a business idea became a much deeper education in pizza, operations, ingredients, and customer behavior. Marko's ultimately became the foundation for Jon's second pizzeria, Aria Nova, but it remains its own concept: straightforward, neighborhood-focused pizza built around quality, consistency, and value.