The company’s growth has been entirely self-financed, including the new $1 million building, as Rodriguez Sr. doesn’t believe in credit.

Rey’s doesn’t deliver and only 20 percent of its business is carryout. “My father has always believed you lose quality when you take a pizza out. We want our customers to come in and enjoy the food.” And that means anytime; every Rey’s is open 24 hours, 365 days a year. “My father’s theory is it costs more to close down for six or seven hours than to stay open. There’s always something to do, and we have a strong midnight crowd.”

Rey’s sells just two pizza sizes: the personal pizza and the 16-inch. “It’s just more efficient, and it’s the way he started. If the system works, you don’t mess with it,” Rodriguez Jr. says.

The Rodriguezes believe their cheese combination helps set their recipes apart. A mix of freshly ground mozzarella, Gouda, and Romano cheeses tops the pizzas and popular spaghetti. Rey’s also serves lasagna and a few classic Cuban sandwiches and desserts, but has kept the menu short and simple. Seventy-five to 80 percent of customers are Hispanic, so culturally appropriate toppings such as chorizo and plantains are on the menu, but otherwise, the pizza is traditional. “It’s not Cuban pizza, it’s pizza,” Rodriguez Jr. says. “And that will make our concept grow wherever we put it.”

The 65-year old Rodriguez Sr. is slowing down, but will always have a presence, especially in the new castle of which this pizza king is so proud. “One thing I can promise you is that my business will never be for sale; that’s a promise I’ve given to my father,” Rodriguez Jr. says. “What he’s spent a lifetime building, I will never let be torn down.”