Meet Our Mid-Valley: Mike Galatioto brings New York Squares to Independence

This is part of a weekly series introducing readers to individuals who are passionate about our Mid-Valley community.

Crispy edges, gooey cheese and just a hint of bright red tomato sauce make for a solid slice of pizza. Pepperoni, sausage, olives, garlic and more compliment the pie's solid base.

This is the kind of Sicilian-style pizza owner Mike Galatioto has brought to Independence with his new food truck, New York Squares.

Originally from Queens, New York, Galatioto grew up around traditional Sicilian and other Italian foods. Entering the restaurant industry wasn't on his radar until a year ago, when he moved to Corvallis with his wife, Juby.

Burnout and finding meaningful work

Before moving to Oregon, the Galatiotos worked at New York-Presbyterian Hospital for several years. Mike was on the IT side, while Juby was a medical scribe in the gastroenterology department. They worked through the COVID-19 pandemic and were thrown into navigating a new world.

Mike said he wasn't on the patient-facing side, but watched the loss of doctors and other friends around them to the virus. His IT team was supporting more than 50 other facilities alongside the hospital, so work was constant and stressful. Eventually, the two decided they wanted to leave the state and were debating on the Carolinas. But they decided to visit Mike's sister in Corvallis last year. They fell in love with the area.

The two moved out, both securing jobs in their respective professions, but Mike felt unfulfilled.

"If you knew how much I was making, you'd ask why I walked away," Mike said. "But I said to myself, 'this isn't a way to live life,' and it was killing my soul to live like this."

The dream Mike always had was having a business of his own, but once he decided on pizza, it all just fell into place.

First foray into food (trucks)

Mike joked the closest to being accomplished in food prior to his business was a cookbook he wrote in kindergarten featuring pigs in blankets and peanut butter jelly sandwiches.

Food was a heavy influence on his life, particularly the cooking of his nonna and nonni, Giovanna and Giuseppe Galatioto. A black and white photo of the two hangs in the food cart.

Like many folks during the pandemic, Mike turned to making pizzas in 2020. When they were in Corvallis, he and Juby ate pizza throughout the area and into Portland, but he saw there was room for so much more variety. He said he was making pizza a lot more when he moved because his sister and her friends were ordering them from him for their events. The thought of making it more grew from there.

The name New York Squares is plain, simple and says everything you need to know about the food cart. The Sicilian-style pizza is square, though you can sometimes find it as a round pie. It is known for its thick crust with a texture similar to focaccia, as its name in Italian is sfincione, or "focaccia with toppings." It's not a one-to-one faithful Sicilian because it carries some aspects of New York-style pizza, hence the name New York Squares.

The signature red truck was something they commissioned and got in Portland, before trying to find a place in the Corvallis-Albany area to park it. But nothing really felt right. Mike even explored McMinnville and Monmouth before finding Independence.

He and Juby said the town is cute, friendly and felt like a good fit. Mike said he hit it off with the Parallel 45 Brewing owners, who let him park in the brewery's parking lot. The spot is where you can find New York Squares today.

Mike didn't do everything himself, and credits Juby with helping develop the sauce recipe. She had a great relationship with his nonna before she passed, Mike said. Juby is not always at the food truck, but has been helping out since it is still early in the cart's opening. She works at Mid-Valley Gastroenterology, and the two still live in Corvallis.

'Our intent is just to make good pizza'

"Our intent is just to make good pizza, it means something to me," Mike said. "Fixing networks did not."

Since opening, the Galatiotos are relieved and overjoyed at the community's reception. They admitted their worst fears were no one showing up or people disliking the pizza, but they were proven to be overly worried.

"I decided to take a chance with it, and it's been risky and scary but I'm glad I did," Mike said.

On the menu are slices or full pies, including regular (just cheese), pepperoni, sausage, black olive and grandma, which includes pepperoni and garlic oil. Freshly out of the oven is the perfect time to eat a slice, and there's hot sauce, hot honey, chili flakes and more on the side you can add to the pizza.

Future pies include "upside down" (which is exactly how it sounds), more toppings and Italian dessert specials.

"My Nonna would be so proud, and so happy," Mike said.

For more on New York Squares, you can order pizza from the website, nysquares.com, and for updates check out the Facebook and Instagram page, @nysquares.

Em Chan covers food and dining at the Statesman Journal. You can reach her at echan@gannett.com, follow her on Twitter @catchuptoemily or see what she's eating on Instagram @sikfanmai.ah.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Meet Our Mid-Valley: Mike Galatioto makes Sicilian-style pizza