Inspiring Conversations with Yoon Lee of JIWU(Vito’s Pizza and Ritorante)

Today we’d like to introduce you to Yoon Lee.

Hi Yoon, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
VITO’S PIZZA & RISTORANTE
OUR STORY

My Journey to Vito’s
In 2009, I came to the United States with a simple plan: learn English, gain new skills, and return to Korea. But everything changed when my wife and kids said, “Let’s stay. Let’s build our life here.”

The Donut Years — 11 Years of Hard Work
I opened a small donut shop in Collierville, Tennessee, where I worked alone before sunrise every day for 11 years—mixing dough, frying donuts, and opening the shop by myself. The work was honest, but it pushed my body to its limit. To protect my health, I made the difficult decision to let the shop go. Still, I never forgot the smiles customers had when they tasted a warm donut. Those moments reminded me that bringing happiness through food is my purpose.

A New Beginning with Pizza
For the next two years, I worked in different pizza restaurants—learning dough, sauce, cheese, timing, and technique from the ground up. I wanted to build something real. Something meaningful.

Vito’s — Established in August 2025
In August 2025, I moved to Alpharetta and took over Vito’s Pizza & Ristorante. Vito’s is more than a business to me. It is my second beginning—a place where passion goes into every dish and every guest is treated like family.

My Promise
When you come to Vito’s, you will leave happier than when you arrived.
Thank you for being part of our story. Welcome to Vito’s.

Warm regards,
Yoon Lee
Owner, Vito’s Pizza & Ristorante

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been an easy journey. When I was running my donut shop, I struggled a lot—both physically and mentally. My health got so bad that I eventually had to sell the business. After that, I moved here and started this pizza restaurant. To be honest, business has been very slow.

However, I chose this place for a reason. I tried many pizzas and Italian restaurants, and this place truly had the best taste. That is what motivated me to take over this restaurant.

Although things are still difficult, I believe we are slowly improving. Right now, business is not good, but I truly believe we will overcome this. The reason is simple: every member of our team is doing their best for each and every customer.

I continue this journey with a positive and joyful heart, always trying to share happiness and warmth with our customers. That is what keeps me going.

We’ve been impressed with JIWU(Vito’s Pizza and Ritorante), but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
JIWU is the name of our corporation, and it stands for “Jesus Is With Us.”
Our restaurant’s name is Vito’s Pizza Ristorante.

As you can see from our Google reviews, our customers truly feel the care and sincerity we put into everything we do. With this belief, we always approach our customers with a heart full of gratitude. We deeply appreciate every single person who walks through our doors, and our team constantly thinks about how we can make each customer happier.

We always do our best to provide the highest level of service.

The relationship between my team members and me is very positive and strong. Because of that, we prepare our food with joy and sincerity, so our customers can truly enjoy every bite.

My ultimate goal is for everyone to be happy—our customers, our staff, and myself. To achieve this, we focus on giving our best service so that our customers leave with happy hearts and want to come back again.

That is our true mission.

What does success mean to you?
To me, success is not just about money or numbers.
Success means making others happy.

If I can make my customers smile, feel cared for, and leave our restaurant with a happy heart, that is true success to me. If my team members feel respected, supported, and proud of what they do, that is also success. And when both our customers and our staff are happy, then I can truly say that I am successful.

That is why we do everything with sincerity, gratitude, and love.
Because making others happy is the greatest success of all.

Pricing:

• Vito’s Family favorate($19.95) – large one topping, 6 garic roll and spaghetti
• Lunch($9.99) Two Slice + Drink
• Chicken Lemon Piccata($20.99)
• Penne Alla Vodka($18.99)
• Chicken Parmigiana($19.99)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://vitospizzaandristorante.com
• Instagram: vitospizzaandristorante
• Facebook: Vito’s pizza & Ristorante Alpharetta

Image Credits
take the picture and get from my marketing company