Jimmy Max Restaurant Blog, Jimmy Max Specials, Bar Weekly Events

James J. McBratney was just 12 when a family tragedy could have derailed his life. But today, McBratney, a product of Staten Island public schools, is a successful business owner and financial adviser best known as the proprietor of Jimmy Max Restaurant. He opened the restaurant in 1989 in the borough’s Westerleigh section after he dropped out of college. Through the business, whose pizza was heralded by Barstool Sport’s Dave Portnoy in his “One Bite” reviews, McBratney has supported countless community endeavors and charities. He went back to college and earned a degree in business in 2005 from the College of Staten Island, which led to a sideline position as a financial adviser. He then earned a master’s degree in church management from Villanova University, which he uses to assist his parish pastor. McBratney is the father of five, and his wife, Kathleen, is a newly retired UFT member who was the longtime chapter leader at PS 31. His accomplishments were recognized by Port Richmond HS, which inducted the 1979 graduate into its Hall of Fame.

During my 7th-grade year at IS 51 in May 1973, my father was murdered in Snoope’s Bar on Staten Island by John Gotti — yes, that John Gotti, who went on to become head of the Gambino crime family.

I was a Staten Island Advance carrier, and I delivered the newspaper the next day with a photo of my father’s dead body sprawled above the fold. Then, every time they did a follow-up story, they’d resurrect the photo.

For a 12-year-old, it was devastating. I stopped going to school. It was too public, too embarrassing. Since I had already missed a month of school due to an appendectomy in January, I was in danger of being held back. But Bernie Campbell, the 7th-grade assistant principal, and my physical education teacher, Larry Ambrosino, were really instrumental in keeping me focused and getting me to go back to school and move on to 8th grade.

My public school education had already begun to shape me by this time. After going to pre-K at PS 20, I went to PS 21 for grades K to 5. My 5th-grade teacher was Janet Sheie — who got married during the school year and became Mrs. Olson. I was the teacher’s pet. If a job needed to be done, she always chose me.

I also received the American Legion Award for patriotism and scholarship that year, one of my proudest possessions, and won the science award. Mrs. Olson recommended me to be in the SP (special progress) program for middle school. I am certain her faith in me helped shape me.

After middle school, I went to Port Richmond HS, where I was a starting catcher for the baseball team for three years and co-captain as a senior. I was also the student body president my senior year.

Phillip Pignatelli, my social studies teacher, was a philosophical thinker and recommended many books. The one that really had an impact on my life was “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl, which described Frankl’s experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. The message was that you can choose your response to any set of stimuli. You can respond negatively or positively, and you always have that choice — even in a concentration camp. I just reread it recently.

Frank Ptak, my baseball coach, put me on the varsity team as a sophomore. I was a boy competing against young men. Talk about a confidence booster!

From the time I was 13, I had worked making pizza and then tending bar at Denino’s restaurant, which was owned by Carl Denino, a cousin of my grandfather, John Denino. When I was 27, I decided to open Jimmy Max. I used my life savings and my grandfather took out a $50,000 home equity loan to get me started. I also used all his recipes for our menu.

But two months after we opened in 1989, an 18-month sewer and water-main project stopped traffic on our street. I got the idea to start the Jimmy Max Pizza Seminar and reached out to one of my old middle school teachers, Anthony Minardo, who had become principal at nearby PS 30. He told his staff about it.

I did a lesson on the history of pizza and would demonstrate how to make a pizza to groups of students, and every child would go home with a piece of dough in a small pizza box with the name Jimmy Max and our address and phone number.

Well, the kids invariably told their parents, who then brought the families in. It has led to lifelong customers and friendships, and we still do the seminars. I’ve done 10,000 or more.

I promise you, that’s the reason I’m in business today.

— As told to Joe LoVerde