Ok time to get real. I already addressed the haters so that’s not what this blog is about. But a select few still want to call me a “phony” or call me out as not the true Meatball King. Am I rich? I’m a working class guy who is dedicated more than anyone to their business but I don’t measure my “riches” in money.

Am I world famous? Well, I’d say I built quite a following and am as well-known as the next guy in my business (although one could argue my reach is beyond the U.S. as “My Big Friggin’ Wedding” was aired in Australia and China to name a few.)

Look, I don’t have my food in every grocery store in the country. But I don’t measure my success by that either, retail was only a temporary thing I dabbled in—but even so, I was a meatball pioneer when I was in the retail side. I prefer direct customer contact, which is what I do in the streets with my meatball wagon. It doesn’t get realer than that.

So this blog is dedicated to all my customers (who I consider friends) both in person and online. And all 5,000 of my facebook friends and thousands more fans on all my fanpages, instagram and twitter. Plus the millions who watched me on that reality show week after week in late 2010 and early 2011. Thank you all.

As my 5^th year in business concludes, I’d like to provide one last timeline/recap of what exactly makes me the true Meatball King…some of my memorable highlights over the past five years…all of which I could not do without you all!

Early years…

2008 – Bonnie & Clyde’s Catering is formed (Megin & Johnny) specializing in Italian foods

2009 – Johnny Meatballs is “born,” as the meatballs become the “breakout star” of the Bonnie & Clyde menu

2009 – Johnny’s first event “in the streets” serving guests, not in New Jersey but in Philadelphia’s Italian Market with “Gravy Wars” author Lorraine Ranalli

More “firsts”

2010 – Retail: First commercially product meatballs to hit the New Jersey market made of veal, pork and beef in the form of a reheatable dinner pack “Johnny’s Meatballs In Sunday Gravy,” sold in the freezer cases of Corrado’s grocery stores for 2 years

2010 – Year #2 in the streets (selling meatballs using a combination of crockpots, Sterno racks and a portable oven under a tent)

2010 – National TV debut on Vh1’s “My Big Friggin’ Wedding” where the word “meatballs” was said more than “weddings”! This simultaneously secured the public domain-intellectual property of “Johnny Meatballs” the business, the brand and all non-registered trademarks…

-First to use the phrase “Meatball King of New Jersey”

-First to use the phrase “got balls?”

-First to conceptualize the specialization of an individual as one particular cook/personality of a food product

-First to conceptualize and create meatball merchandise (clothing, hats, etc.) and build a brand around the meatball

2011 – Wrote and recorded “The Meatball Song,” the first to put meatballs to music since “I Lost My Poor Meatball”

2011 – Year #3 in the streets and the debut of “Johnny Meatballs On a Roll – The World’s First Mobile Meatball Cart,” securing Johnny as the original true specialized meatball street vendor and the first person to ever sell meatballs from a converted hot dog cart

2012 – Year #4 in the streets, thousands of meatballs sold at hundreds of events across New Jersey

2013 – Year #5 in the streets, the debut of the all new black & gold “Johnny Meatballs Catering Cart,” continuing the tradition of the first meatball cart appearing at feasts and festivals. Also the first food cart in north Jersey to obtain a permanent daily location for the entire summer at the Hasbrouck Heights Swim Club (over 60 days of lunch service, most meatballs rolled and sold out of the previous 5 years)

So again, I thank you all for another great season. And as I said, I couldn’t do any of the things listed without your support. Am I holding on to the past by referencing my Vh1 reality show days? Well, that was my springboard and after 3 years, people are still coming up to me saying how me and Megin were the stars of that show. But you know what, whether people recognize me from that or from the dozens of TV/radio appearances I’ve done since (News 12, New York 1, Z100 to name a few), or my dozens of youtube videos or coverage in newspapers, websites and social media sites, as much as I consider myself a character and an entertainer, it still goes back to the meatballs themselves.

Yes they may not be in stores around New Jersey or the country, but that’s not why I am the king. It’s not about an accumulation of accounts or wealth. It’s about the human connection. And no other food entrepreneur has that like me. Nobody is more dedicated than me, and that was proven when I named my company me! When Johnny Meatballs was born five years ago, I may not have been the first guy to ever roll a meatball but I certainly should be given credit for growing this craze and for being the pioneer in so many areas which have since been copied.

I’ve made peace with the haters and imposters since my blog where I addressed that topic. It was very therapeutic. That doesn’t mean I still won’t get haters and imposters, I know they will continue to pop up. But just type in Johnny Meatballs in any search engine and you’ll see this timeline for yourself. Photos…videos…articles…it’s a culmination of my body of work, but it’s not done yet folks.

Although this season in the streets is coming to end, I have a lot more to accomplish. Whatever the next chapter in my book is (a food truck, a storefront, back on the streets with my cart next year); you will all be the first to know. I don’t have a traditional website because I am all about constant interaction online and that’s why my social media sites are so important to me. Beyond that, the in-person thrill that I continue to get is priceless—whether I meet a “regular” at my tent or someone who is visiting for the first time.

With five years under my belt, I got a lot more firsts to go…