South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Ukrainian immigrant finds American dream at pizzeria
After arriving in US, she became a cashier at Sarpino’s. Now she’s opening her own franchise.
It was just a few years ago, 2018 to be exact, that Kateryna Tserkovniuk moved to South Florida and landed a job as a cashier at Sarpino’s Pizzeria in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
The native of Ukraine worked her way to store manager, then regional manager, and now is poised — four years later, at age 26 — to open her own Sarpino’s franchise in Pompano Beach in early 2023.
“There are a lot of opportunities here that you don’t have in the Ukraine,” says Tserkovniuk. “Actually, before I got my documents, I was still thinking that I would move to Ukraine with the knowledge I have and maybe open a restaurant there.
“But when war started, I decided it was not a good time. And what I can do to support Ukraine is open my own restaurant and fundraise money, hire refugees.”
Tserkovniuk made her way to the United States in 2016, to master the language while working in hospitality — first spending some time in upstate New York, then briefly staying in Los Angeles and west Texas before getting hooked on sunshine while vacationing in Fort Lauderdale.
“I loved it,” she recalls. “It felt like paradise.”
Now she lives in North Lauderdale, conveniently close to the future Pompano Beach location for Sarpino’s in the Beachway Shopping Plaza, at 814-816 N. Federal Highway.
“We are mostly to-go and pickup. We do free delivery and that is where we have the most business,” she says. “In my Sarpino’s, I will donate part of the money to Ukrainian refugees, and if someone wants to support that, you can come order with us.”
Even before the eatery’s opening, Tserkovniuk has been helping to spearhead donation drives for the war effort in her native country through the St. Nicholas Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Cooper City.
“We wanted to search for the ways to help everywhere, because we felt that we are far away but we still want to do something,” she says. “I was put in charge of phone calls from people
trying to get more information — looking for housing, looking for where they can get money for food and hygiene and stuff like that. So we just organized our team and we’re doing everything we can to help them.”
She says other Sarpino’s franchise owners have offered help as well.
One owner, she says, pledged to “donate one dollar from each order and
that helped a lot. He would write a check and I would take it to the church and we would buy food, we would buy hygiene [products], people come to pick it up for free. That was a big thing.”
Working in restaurants since she was 16, Tserkovniuk moved from her home in Chernivtsi to attend university in Warsaw, Poland, where she graduated with a bachelor’s
degree in business management and recreation shortly before making her new home in the United States.
What was it about Sarpino’s that made her want to stick with the company, going from job to career?
“At my previous restaurants ... you feel that you cannot move anywhere up. It’s family businesses. You started as a cashier and you’re not going to go
anywhere further,” she says.
Sarpino’s was different, she says. “Since the beginning, they told me what I can do in like six months, and then in a year, and how everything depends on me. The support I was getting from the general manager, anything I wanted to learn, they will teach me, they will show me. And then I started thinking, ‘Oh, I can do more than that.’ I wasn’t afraid of new tasks.”
Scott Nelowet, director of franchise sales at Sarpino’s USA, says that the company is set up to allow people from various backgrounds to rise up through the ranks. Sarpino’s has 44 franchise locations throughout the United States, including three in South Florida (Fort Lauderdale, Coral Springs and Miramar).
“Sarpino’s USA has always been about building an inclusive culture. That’s something that is woven into our DNA,” Nelowet says. “We have a history of restaurant employees turning into franchisees, and now these thriving owner-operators are becoming some of our brand’s best advocates. Kateryna is a perfect example of this. Her determination and hard work are paying off.”
What’s next for Tserkovniuk? She’s already scouting real estate for her second Sarpino’s, somewhere in Boca Raton.
Below, learn more about Tserkovniuk in excerpts from a Q&A session with the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Q: What is your personal favorite dish from the menu? A:
It’s not just my personal, but in general, the new thing which came out and just [made] a big boom is the vegan chicken tenders ... Anybody can eat it, kids, adults, non-vegan people. It’s really, really good.
Q: So, why Pompano Beach? A:
I really like the area ... It’s very touristy. It’s close to my house too. We were actually searching everywhere, but the priority was near the beach, where there were a lot of hotels. I think we were really lucky to find this place.
Q: Didn’t you just recently go back to the Ukraine? A:
I just went there to see my family ... and I brought some things for soldiers. At the same time, [the church] support the army and we fundraise money for military drones, [night-vision] goggles, warm clothing for winter, winter boots. I had to make sure it got to the eastern region where they need it. And I spent time with my family while I can because it’s stressful, not knowing what’s going to happen next and you don’t know if you will be able to see all your family together.