Woodlands Restauranteur Wins at 2023 International Pizza Expo

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- The International Pizza Expo brings thousands of Pizzeria Professionals together annually for three days to compete in the Largest Pizza Event in the World from Las Vegas, Nevada. March 28-30, 90 teams competed in the Traditional Division at the Pizza Expo. RC Gallegos, owner of RC’s NYC Pizza & Pasta in The Woodlands, and U.S. Pizza Team since 2018, competed with his kitchen manager, Juan Ponce.

The objective of the event was to provide a showcase for competitors who excel at the core skills of hand-crafted pizza production in a professional setting. Each team has two pizza makers, and they were allowed 20 minutes to produce three hand extended American/NY style pizzas from start to “hands off” to judges including preparation and cooking. All ingredients, pans, utensils, and special equipment must be taken to the competition floor.

The pizzas entered included one cheese pizza, one pepperoni pizza, and one combination pizza with three toppings presented cut and ready to eat in a 14-inch diameter. Judging was based on the build, execution, taste, appearance, efficiency, and cleanliness. Each judge submitted two scores per entry with one score for the individual area of responsibility and the second score for overall teamwork and professionalism.

RC’S NYC Pizza & Pasta won 2nd place in the Traditional Pizza Competition in the Southwest Region. Juan Ponce won 2nd place with his pepperoni pizza. RC Gallegos & Juan Ponce together competed in the Tandem Team Competition, American Division and won 2nd Place, achieving one of the two perfect 40 scores by one of the three judges.

'This year was by far the largest Expo I have ever participated in and fortunately I had the opportunity to compete side by side with one of my team members from the restaurant and WIN,” shared RC. “This was so rewarding, and I could not be more pleased. The pizza industry is extremely elevated from what it was 15 years ago with fierce competitors and great tasting pizza”.

RC opened his first RC’s NYC Pizza & Pasta Porter in 2003 on FM 1314 in a 600 square foot building and has additional locations in the Woodlands and Kingwood. Every pizza recipe has been created by RC himself. His first competition was in 2009 at the Pizza Expo in Las Vegas where he placed first place for his classic cheese pizza. He went on to place 3rd in 2011, and 2nd in 2013 at the Las Vegas Pizza Expo. 2015, RC placed 2nd at the Caputo Cup in New York City and in November 2018 RC Gallegos was offered a spot on the US Pizza Team (USPT). At the World Championship in Naples, Italy in September of 2019, RC Gallegos was named 8th best in the World. He went on to win 2nd place in the Tavern Stye Pizza at the National Pizza and Pasta Show in Chicago last summer in August 2022. You can’t go wrong with RC’s NYC Pizza and Pasta!

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