PMQ Pizza Media - August 2023

M.

Italian Pizza Guide Says This Is the Best Pizzeria

in the U.S.

For the second year in a row, Anthony Mangieri’s Una Pizza Napoletana in New York topped a list of the country’s best pizza shops from 50 Top Pizza. pmq.com/top-50-pizza-2023

Employees Want to Unionize This Single-Unit Pizzeria

Supported by Workers United, a drive to unionize staffers at Barboncino Pizza in Brooklyn could have a ripple effect throughout New York City.

pmq.com/barboncino-pizza-unionization

Can ChatGPT Dream Up Your Next Top-Selling Pizza?

Al Vallorz, the owner of Tony & Alba’s Pizza and Pasta, put an AI-inspired specialty pie on the menu in June, and customer reaction was positive.

pmq.com/chatgpt-pizza-recipes

Domino’s Has New Plan to OutDeliver Its Competitors

Domino’s Pinpoint Delivery tech is a step up from the chain’s Hotspots feature, leading the driver straight to the customer, wherever they may be.

pmq.com/dominos-pinpoint-delivery

Does This

2,000-Year-Old Fresco

Depict a Distant Ancestor of Pizza?

A still-life fresco painted on the wall of an ancient Pompeiian home looks a lot like a modern-day pizza, but experts say it can’t be. So what is it?

pmq.com/pompeii-pizza-fresco

John Arena and Chris Decker Partner On New Venture in California

The Metro Pizza veterans, along with rising star Michael Vakneen, will “continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible with pizza” at Truly Pizza.

pmq.com/truly-pizza

PIZZA MEDIA

ADVANCING THE PIZZA BUSINESS COMMUNITY

PUBLISHER

Steve Green, sgreen@wtwhmedia.com ext. 123

CO-PUBLISHER

Linda Green, lgreen@wtwhmedia.com ext. 121

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Rick Hynum, rhynum@wtwhmedia.com

ART DIRECTOR

Eric Summers, esummers@wtwhmedia.com

SENIOR COPY EDITOR

Tracy Morin, tmorin@wtwhmedia.com

DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH

Blake Harris, bharris@wtwhmedia.com ext. 136

TEST CHEF/USPT COORDINATOR

Brian Hernandez, bhernandez@wtwhmedia.com ext. 129

REPORTER

Chris Green, chris@pmq.com

FOOD PHOTOGRAPHER

David Fischer, david@pmq.com

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Shawn Truss, shawn@pmq.com

ADVERTISING

SALES DIRECTOR

Linda Green, lgreen@wtwhmedia.com ext. 121

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Jerry Moschella, jmoschella@wtwhmedia.com ext. 137

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INTERNATIONAL PIZZA MARKET

Italy: Enrico Fama Fama.Enrico@gmail.com

Russia: Vladimir Davydov Vladimir@pmq.com

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SLICE HOUSE

EVENTS & PROMOTIONS

SUMMER/FALL 2023

Industry Events

Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo: August 6-8

Taking place at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, this event will bring together thousands of hospitality professionals for three days of exhibits, education and special events. Topics of interest will include the hottest menu trends, state-of-the-art design and decor, bar and beverage solutions, marketing and social media, new technologies, and financing, leasing and development. Learn more at specialtyfood.com

National Pizza and Pasta Show: August 22-23

Returning to the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois, this show will feature exhibitors specializing in pizza, pasta and Italian foods as well as restaurant industry products, technology and equipment. Attendees will also get moneymaking ideas from 25 seminars, plus five master workshops, live cooking demos and tours of some of Chicago’s most iconic pizzerias. Learn more at nationalpizzashow.com

QSR Evolution Conference: September 6-7

Produced by conference, taking place in Atlanta, is the only event focused solely on the needs of quick-service restaurant operators. Topics will include FastCasual Growth—Startup to Sustainability; Growth and Franchising; Labor, Leadership and a Changing Consumer; and Technology, DriveThru and an Omnichannel World. Keynote speakers include Andrew Cathy, CEO of Chick-fil-A, and other industry leaders. Learn more at qsrevolutionconference.com

Pizza Tomorrow Summit: November 8-9

Movers and shakers of the pizza world will once again converge in Orlando, Florida, for the Pizza Tomorrow Summit, taking place in the Orange County Convention Center. Explore hundreds of exhibitors showcasing a wide range of products as well as a robust conference program, live cooking demos and a U.S. Pizza Team competition. The Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show will be co-located with this year’s event, making it bigger and better than ever.

Learn more at pizzatomorrow.com

Promote This!

August: National Sandwich Month

Like a pizza crust, two slices of bread are the starting point for all kinds of culinary wizardry. In fact, most pizzas can be transformed into moneymaking sandwiches. If you already have a sandwich menu, spice it up with artisanal breads and unique condiments. Create bundle deals pairing your best sandwiches with soups or salads for the lunch crowd. And think about offering a graband-go cooler with premade sandwiches for guests in a hurry.

DON’T FORGET THESE NATIONAL FOOD AND BEVERAGE DAYS IN AUGUST 2023!

National Panini Day

Friday, August 11

National Soft-Serve Ice Cream Day

Saturday, August 19

National Hot and Spicy Food Day

Saturday, August 19

National Bacon Lovers Day

Sunday, August 20

National Cuban Sandwich Day

Wednesday, August 23

MAKING FRIENDS AT LOST PIZZA

The school year ended on a heartbreaking note for freshman Wes Besancon of Ocean Springs, Mississippi: None of the other kids would sign his yearbook. Wes is on the autism spectrum, and, as his mother lamented in a Facebook post, he has been “trying to navigate a life where socializing dominates the day. He has tried different things just to get other children his age to talk to him….He just wants to make friends.” When Eric Braden, the general manager of the Lost Pizza store in Ocean Springs, read that post, he says, “We knew that we had to do something.” So Braden threw a yearbook signing party for Wes at Lost Pizza from 5 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, May 24. Now, the pages of Wes’ yearbook are packed with warm wishes scribbled out by dozens of his classmates and local adults alike. “It was an amazing day for this young man as well as many other people in our community,” Braden tells PMQ. “There were at least 150 to 200 people, total, throughout the three-hour event.” That included local sports mascots, cheerleaders, police officers and community leaders. The event was covered by a regional TV station and proved so successful, Braden wants to do it again next year. “We have made the decision that this will be an annual event that Wes will co-host with us,” he said.

A CHEESE TO PLEASE ANIMAL LOVERS

Renowned chef Nancy Silverton has found an animal-free mozzarella she believes in. And in June, she showed it off with two new recipes at her Los Angeles location of Pizzeria Mozza. To develop the product, manufacturer New Culture replaced an essential dairy protein in cheese—called casein—with its own animal-free version that’s produced using precision fermentation. Silverton worked with New Culture to craft an animal-free Margherita pie and a Sicilian-inspired caponata pizza topped with eggplant, tomato confit, pickled onions and caper berries. The pizzas, which will officially go on the menu in 2024, were showcased in early June in a four-course meal event that also included arancini and eggplant Parmesan. In a press release, Silverton said Pizzeria Mozza always tries to accommodate guests’ dietary needs. “However, we don’t always have the right solution,” she noted. “I’ve always been of the school of thinking that just because it’s a substitute doesn’t mean it needs to be anything less than spectacular.”

To showcase her new animal-free mozz, renowned chef Nancy Silverton hosted an event featuring a four-course meal for VIPs.

Lost Pizza’s “School Is Out for Summer Yearbook Signing Party” filled Wes Besancom’s yearbook with signatures and warm wishes from new friends.

Pizzeria Mozza touted its animal-free mozzarella by unveiling two new pizzas created by co-owner Nancy Silverton.

Wes Besancon has made (literally) hundreds of new friends, thanks to an uplifting event at Lost Pizza that brought an entire community together.

THE GOLD STANDARD IN MOZZARELLA

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Vantaggio D’Oro is available in traditional whole milk, and part skim loaf and shreds and is sold exclusively through the BFC distribution network. To learn more about this premium cheese or contact a local distributor, visit VantaggioCheese.com

VILLAGE IDIOT GETS SMART

Don’t let the name fool you: The owners of Village Idiot Pizza in Columbia, South Carolina, are no dummies. With three locations in the University of South Carolina’s hometown, Kelly and Brian Glynn recognize that pizza is a no-brainer for a college market. Now they’re ready to start franchising, and they’ve got their eyes on other college towns, both in South Carolina and across the Southeast. Village Idiot, a family-friendly sports bar and pizzeria, was founded in 1990 and has become a go-to brand for both students and locals as well as out-of-town sports fans who flock to Columbia for SEC football, baseball and other sports. And the Glynns, who bought the restaurant in 2003, believe a brand like that can be transplanted just about anywhere in the sports-crazy South. “We are not just set on SEC towns, but our brand will be strong in those areas due to recognition from USC,” Kelly told PMQ. Potential markets for Village Idiot don’t even necessarily need a major university, she added. “Smaller college areas could have the desired performance, as long as there is a community that can support us during school breaks.”

HIGH-FLYING PIES

Pagliacci Pizza, a Seattle-based chain with 25 locations, is taking delivery to a higher level: sky-high, in fact. As part of its Envision Zero sustainability initiative, the company will launch pizza-packing drones to deliver pies across the greater Seattle area in 2024. Along with Pagliacci’s existing team of drivers, the drones will operate during peak lunch and dinner delivery hours. The drones were developed by Zipline, whose technology has already been used to deliver medical supplies in Rwanda. Each Zipline drone should be able to carry two 13” pizzas as well as side dishes. With the drones, Pagliacci hopes to expand its delivery zones and ease pressure on its drivers, all while reducing its carbon footprint, says Matt Galvin, Pagliacci Pizza’s co-owner. “Over a decade ago, we committed to sustainability by taking bold steps to reduce our carbon footprint, including purchasing green power, buying locally, and developing robust composting programs,” Galvin says. “As we work toward carbon neutrality, Zipline’s drones will enable us to scale our deliveries sustainably, with up to 97% fewer emissions than cars.”

Kelly and Brian Glynn, shown here with their twin children, met when they both worked at Village Idiot Pizza and bought the restaurant in 2003.

Village Idiot Pizza serves up a bounty of pizzas, calzones, salads and appetizers to the college crowd in Columbia, South Carolina.

Zipline co-founders Keller Rinaudo Cliffton and Keenan Wyrobek display a drone that will be used to deliver pies for Pagliacci Pizza.

A Zipline drone can drop off a pizza to areas as small as a patio table or the front steps of a customer’s home, the company says.

Hello, AIperator

BY TRACY MORIN

Between COVID-related changes in Americans’ dining habits, nationwide labor shortages, and tech advancements that are evolving and improving every day, operators are demanding more sophisticated phone ordering systems than ever before. “Even before the pandemic, pizzerias and other carryout/delivery phone order-driven restaurants were rapidly upgrading their phone systems,” reports John Scully, founder of PizzaCloud, a phone systems provider in Columbus, Ohio. “And, of course, during the pandemic, the need for a flexible, full-featured phone system jumped way up. Now, with ongoing labor issues, owners need even more from their systems.”

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being tapped for pizzeria phone systems. How might it help your operation?

The AI Revolution

As technology continues to develop, many are looking to artificial intelligence (AI) to meet those needs. In a world where consumers are increasingly accustomed to interacting with chatbots and automated answering services to handle their inquiries, it would seem like a natural progression. “Five years ago, there would have been a very small number of people willing to interact with AI to place a food order,” Scully says. “Today, a much higher percentage are willing to do that.”

But what is AI, anyway? It’s a term we throw around so much that many people have lost track of its meaning (if they ever knew to begin with). Simply put, AI refers to intelligent machines that solve problems and perform tasks for us. For phone systems, it often means taking flesh-and-blood employees out of the equation. “Everyone is looking at AI, also called digital assistant, virtual call center, or, as I say, ‘the robot overlords selling us pizza,’” Scully says. “But what does that really mean? The best analogy is very simple: Think of it as a high-end third-party web ordering system, but instead of hands on a keyboard, the customer is speaking with it. Just as web ordering steps the customer through adding items, specifying options, upselling and possibly taking payment, the AI platform does the same thing, then pushes the order into the POS system.”

AI’s Limitations

Before you go leaping onto the bot bandwagon, keep in mind that AI still has plenty of limitations—at least for right now. In the first place, many people do still want to interact with human beings, and many operators prefer this option, too—if for no other reason than ensuring accuracy. “When it comes to the ability to upsell and improve the guest experience, human conversation is still an important piece,” explains Ray Pasquale, CEO and founder of Unified Office, a phone systems provider in Nashua, New Hampshire. “But conversational AI has gotten smarter, and it can do certain things well. For example, it can pull up a customer’s previous order and say: ‘I see you ordered X last time. Would you like to reorder?’” However, Pasquale stresses that you don’t want orders to be taken incorrectly or get lost altogether—and you definitely don’t want to lose a sale because a customer got frustrated with the AI’s automated “voice” and hung up.

“When it comes to the ability to upsell and improve the guest experience, human conversation is still an important piece. But conversational AI has gotten smarter, and it can do certain things well.”

— Ray Pasquale, Unified Office

©2022 Lactalis American Group, Inc., Buffalo, NY 14220. Galbani is a ® of Egidio Galbani S.r.l.

Today’s consumers are increasingly accustomed to interacting with digital solutions like bots, making them more open to AI-based phone ordering at foodservice operations.

Scully agrees—in his work with AI companies, he has seen a few common issues arise. Some, for example, “want to have something like ChatGPT read your menu and take orders,” he says. “Can it interact with callers? Yes. Will it make a ton of mistakes, resulting in bad orders, annoyed customers and furious owners? Yes.”

Other pitfalls he mentions include companies who do a custom build for each chain, sometimes investing 300-plus man-hours into creating the AI’s set of rules. “This tends to work well, but these companies usually have 25 to 50 locations,” Scully says. “You have five restaurants and want to use their AI? Nope!” Finally, he has seen companies that want too much

MORE CAPABILITIES

John Scully, founder of PizzaCloud in Columbus, Ohio, notes that in today’s labor market, it’s a rare restaurant that has plenty of staff on hand. Thus, a phone system’s main task is often to reduce the number of calls ringing into stores. “In the first year of COVID, people wanted call queuing, auto-answering, and the ability to say things like, ‘Thank you for calling Super Pizza. If you have arrived for curbside pickup, press one. To place an order, press two. To hear what we are doing to keep you safe, press three,’ etc. So pressing one might ring only to a cordless phone carried by the runner, while pressing two rings the phones at the counter.”

Then there are other simplifying solutions, such as textenabling the phone system so your greeting can say, “To receive a text message with links to our online ordering, press one. To speak to staff, press two.” “That way,

money—up to $2 per order or 7% of the order (which can add up to far more). Scully points out that you can hire a human call center, with U.S.-based agents, for $2 per order. If AI isn’t a money saver, it’s difficult to recognize its value.

Finding Solutions

Regardless of these challenges, operators can take smart advantage of AI for their phone systems. Pasquale’s company, for example, has used AI to create something called Sentiment Analysis, a way to help maximize revenue and monitor customer satisfaction. “Say you receive 1,000 to 2,000 phone calls a month and there’s a dispute about an order,” Pasquale

callers who press one get a message with links to online ordering, or to download your app,” Scully explains. “The goal is to push people to order online, and it is very effective. I’ve seen locations move 10% to 20% of callers from phone to web orders in three to four months.”

Finally, there are options like virtual call centers, which can handle up to 90% of inbound calls with a heavy focus on upselling—so just as you see a higher average ticket on web orders than on phone orders taken in-store, you can see a higher average ticket using AI. This is useful for things like customers repeating a past order, checking on order status, or checking on pickup and delivery wait times. “None of those are show-stoppers if they’re not available,” Scully admits. “But they make a better experience for the customer—and fewer calls sent into the store.”

explains. “You can log into a portal, pull down the Sentiment tab, and choose keywords like happiness or anger. It’s 80% accurate in finding the calls you’re looking for.”

United Office keeps adding more capabilities, such as realtime analysis, which can help create a score for a particular employee during a shift by determining how satisfied customers sounded. “Of course, in 2021, you couldn’t find humans to work, so we implemented different techniques of ordering, bots being one of them,” Pasquale adds. “For example, we do have a rollover option, where if the phone keeps ringing with no answer, you get a bot. And we’ve added drive-up window strategies, to make that process a lot more efficient.”

One of the hurdles that PizzaCloud is attempting to overcome involves natural language processing. This means that machines can interact with human callers (customers) in a more fluid way, one that more closely emulates a real human being. And, since orders are going into a POS system, that’s another factor that needs to be considered when adding AI phone capabilities. Scully investigated 10 different companies to locate the best AI natural language processor company available, and is partnering and tightly integrating with POS companies that want to bring AI to their customers.

“In many cases, the POS companies are enhancing their Application Programming Interface (API)/data connections to

give us the information we need to handle a higher percentage of calls well, and they are working with us to allow us to use automation to pull not just the menu but the ‘business rules,’ coupons, specials and everything else needed for the virtual call center to not make mistakes,” Scully says. “Would you use an inexpensive third-party web ordering system if one out of 10 orders was a disaster? No. Cost is important, but quality and accuracy are critical.”

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Tracy Morin is PMQ’s senior copy editor.

Smart Talk

In an exclusive Q&A on PMQ.com, chef Erica Barrett talks about the Dough Boy menu, creating a drive-thru, her experience with Shark Tank and other features that make her pizza concept unique.

Futurist THE

BY RICK HYNUM

Erica Barrett’s husband used to tell her she could never make a living as a chef. Not surprisingly, he’s her ex-husband now. And Barrett today is not only a highly acclaimed chef with numerous TV appearances under her belt; she’s also the mastermind behind two restaurant concepts in the Deep South, including one of the country’s more innovative and potentially profitable pizzeria franchises: a “smart” restaurant called Dough Boy Pizza.

That’s what happens when you tell Barrett she can’t do something.

Using kiosks, a commissary and minimal labor, Erica Barrett, the founder of Dough Boy Pizza, believes she’s building the quickservice pizza shop of tomorrow.

A self-made entrepreneur who has appeared on Shark Tank and The Profit, Barrett currently has two Dough Boy locations—one in Atlanta and one in Birmingham, Alabama—and has deals in the works for more stores in several states. The company is tech-forward yet chef-driven, Barrett says, and as far as she’s concerned, it’s “the pizzeria of the future.”

Not to mention that her high-tech, quick-service approach to pizza making is a lot easier than the cuisine that gave Barrett her start: Southern-style cooking at her acclaimed restaurant, SOCU Southern Kitchen and Oyster Bar, with locations in Mobile and Birmingham. “It takes us all day to make Southern food,” she said. “Collard greens take two hours. Braised oxtails take four. Marinated chicken is 24 hours. I decided, if I do another restaurant concept, it needs to be easy. I don’t need to prove to anybody anymore that I can cook. I know

that I can cook. Now I need to do something smart that’s gonna make me money.”

Measuring Up

As for Barrett’s culinary talent, that naysaying ex-husband was probably the only person who ever needed convincing. She was a high schooler when she started cooking for money, making and selling chicken fingers, hot dogs and fries to customers at her mother’s hair salon in Mobile, Alabama. She’d learned to cook from her grandmother—a Head Start cafeteria employee and caterer—as well as from her stepfather. “I was a really picky eater when my mom married my stepdad,” Barrett recalls. “Everything that I thought I didn’t like to eat, I learned to love to eat. He taught me the basics of building flavor and making sauces, which we call gravy in the South. Everything is gravy.”

“I decided, if I do another restaurant concept, it needs to be easy. I don’t need to prove to anybody anymore that I can cook….Now I need to do something smart that’s gonna make me money.”

— Erica Barrett, Dough Boy Pizza

A Dough Boy Pizza employee only has to know how to top a pie, put it in the oven and box it up after the bake.

BRIAN HERNANDEZ

Barrett went on to earn her degree in business finance from Clark Atlanta University. She worked in management and human resources at large corporations like Target, Paychex and ADP. But she preferred a hot stove to HR.

“Early on at Target, I started to enter cooking contests,” she says. “And I don’t mean to brag, but every home-cook contest in corporate America that I entered, I won first place. I was working at Paychex when I entered a contest sponsored by the Food Network and Lea & Perrins for $10,000. That was my first professional contest, and I won. And I said, man, you know, I kind of measure up. I should take this seriously.”

Barrett started out with a catering company called Fab Food ATL. “It was short-lived, maybe two years,” she says. “But that’s when I started to create some of the dishes that I serve at my restaurants now.” Frustrated with the number of pricey ingredients needed to make pancakes from scratch, she created her own packaged mix through a company called Southern Culture Kitchen. After appearing on The Profit in 2018, she scored a licensing deal with Marcus Lemonis, who helped her expand the business. Today, her pancake and waffle mixes are available in grocery stores, with unique flavors like apple cobbler, banana pudding, birthday cake and bourbon salted pecan.

But, all along, Barrett really wanted to go to culinary school—an idea that her then-husband staunchly opposed. “He said, ‘Chefs don’t make any money. You’re not gonna make more than 30 grand a year. You’re not going to culinary school. [Paying] $90,000 for two years doesn’t make sense to earn that salary for the rest of your life.’ So I didn’t do it.”

Not at first, at least. But in 2016, Barrett finally decided to follow her dream. She moved to New York and enrolled at the International Culinary Center. “I’m that type of person,” she says. “I like to live with no regrets.”

“He Gave Me a Restaurant”

And when you live with no regrets, serendipity often lends a helping hand. That’s how Barrett came to own her first SOCU Southern Kitchen and Oyster Bar location in Mobile. It started with a pop-up she hosted at a restaurant that

BRIAN HERNANDEZ

BRIAN HERNANDEZ

Erica Barrett says Dough Boy Pizza is a high-tech yet chef-driven concept.

was closed down at the time. Her friend and fellow restaurateur, Chakli Diggs, had the lease on the 4,000-square-foot space and, impressed with the success of her pop-up— which drew 400 people—offered to turn it over to her.

Barrett recalls the conversation with Diggs: “He was, like, ‘You want a restaurant?’ I was, like, ‘Yeah, I want a restaurant.’ He said, ‘Well, hey, I’ll mentor you. Write a business plan. I’ll introduce you to the landlord, and I’ll give you all the equipment and all the furniture inside of it.’ I’d been wondering how I was going to open a restaurant. This man is literally giving me a restaurant. Nobody gives you a restaurant, but he gave me a restaurant. And when it was time to sign the lease, he gave me a $10 bill of sale and said, ‘Hey, it’s yours. Everything inside is yours. You can have it.’ And he walked away.”

That was in 2018. By 2019, SOCU was up and running in Mobile to wide acclaim. In 2021, developers in downtown Birmingham invited Barrett to open a second location at the Pizitz Food Hall. “That space used to be an old Italian restaurant, and there was a pizza maker in there. And I got obsessed with pizza. I’m, like, man, this is an expensive piece

“Labor at Dough Boy, on average, is 11%. Crazy number, right? Our food cost is around 32%. We’ve outsourced almost everything outside of pie assembly.”

— Erica Barrett, Dough Boy Pizza

M. GERARD PHOTOGRAPHY

of equipment. What can I do with it? I do Southern food. I don’t know what we’re gonna do with pizza.”

But the challenge proved irresistible. With encouragement from the food hall’s owners, Barrett started developing her own dough for a pizza concept. Originally, she envisioned a wood-fired pizzeria, but the space sits on the third floor of a historic building, and the foundation couldn’t support the weight of the oven. “So there goes my dream of having this really nice award-winning Neapolitan pizzeria,” Barrett says.

But, again, don’t tell Erica Barrett she can’t do something.

Solving the Labor Problem

If there was one lesson she learned from COVID-19, it was that pizza keeps selling even when the whole world has shut down. “I’d realized that the pizza industry was growing even during the pandemic, as other sectors of food were suffering,” she says. “Everybody was ordering pizza.”

And making restaurant-quality pizza was getting easier and easier, as she learned while exploring the technology pavilion at the National Restaurant Association Show. “They were asking, what does the restaurant of the future look like? How do we create restaurants of the future that solve labor issues, consistency of food and all of that stuff? And I said, well, I need to solve all of these problems, too.”

With Dough Boy Pizza, she just might have figured it out. The concept opened in August 2022 in the same Birmingham food hall where her SOCU restaurant is located. Like a fast-

casual eatery, it’s all about speed and efficiency. But, unlike a typical fast-casual pizzeria, Dough Boy can operate with just a single employee.

No cashiers. No one making dough. No culinary skills—and very little training—required.

At Dough Boy, customers place their orders via kiosks, and the entire restaurant is run on digital screens that can be updated in real time. “If the customer’s putting in their own order, there are a couple of advantages,” Barrett says. “You get automatic consistency, and the machine will upsell them every single time: ‘Would you like to add a drink or a combo?’ You don’t have to remind an employee to say that. It’s gonna do it every time. So you can increase sales by 30% by just doing that.”

And if the customer’s order gets screwed up, she notes, it’s their own fault. “It’s not, ‘he said, she said.’ It’s whatever you put into this computer. I’m gonna make what you told me to make. We rarely have orders come back.”

Barrett’s business model also solves the problem of food consistency. She imports all of her Neapolitan-style dough from a commissary in Italy, while the sauce is made at Southern Culture Kitchen, her own company. Once an order is placed, Dough Boy employees merely have to assemble the pie on a premade crust, pop it into one of four compact, ventless ovens that reach up to 650°F, and box up the baked pizza for the customer, who gets notified via a text message when it’s ready.

“Our franchise fee is $25,000. And then a typical buildout is between $25,000 and $40,000. So, all in, you’re probably looking at about $60,000 to $80,000, which are low numbers.”

— Erica Barrett, Dough Boy Pizza

M. GERARD PHOTOGRAPHY

M. GERARD PHOTOGRAPHY

The Public Enemy No. 1 is one of nearly 20 specialty pies on the menu at Dough Boy Pizza.

It’s as “smart” as a restaurant can get without actual robots. “Full automation is, from a chef’s perspective, too sterile for me,” Barrett says. “I would still like to see a human assemble my food, to know that it’s real, to know that it’s good. I don’t wanna see a machine put pepperonis on my pie. It feels too industrial, and you lose the connection with the customer.”

Dough Boy also offers delivery through third-party providers. “So we’ve literally taken all the hard stuff away,” Barrett says. “We don’t have to worry about delivery drivers; let Uber Eats and DoorDash do that. We don’t have to worry about making crusts; let our Italian commissary do that. We don’t have to worry about customers putting in their orders; let our selfordering do that.”

In fact, Barrett adds, “Labor at Dough Boy on average is 11%. Crazy number, right? Our food cost is around 32%. We’ve outsourced almost everything outside of pie assembly, and that’s why our franchise is growing so fast.”

Embracing Change

Barrett’s first franchisee was Ryan Cameron, a popular radio host in Atlanta. He opened his Dough Boy store in The Gallery in Decatur, Georgia, in February 2023. And Cameron’s fame has ignited a firestorm of free publicity for Dough Boy through social media influencers who love his show and rave about the pies. Meanwhile, other entrepreneurs have stepped forward to become franchisees, with 15 deals in the works, according to Barrett. Two more stores are planned for Alabama, and locations are coming to Denver, Washington, D.C., and New York.

Barrett says a Dough Boy Pizza franchise is highly affordable for a newcomer to the restaurant business. “Our franchise fee

is $25,000,” she says. “A typical build-out is between $25,000 and $40,000. So, all in, you’re probably looking at about $60,000 to $80,000, which are low numbers. The kiosks are financed through Toast, so there’s no up-front cost with that. And we lease our ovens from our dough supplier, so the same company that’s making our dough also offers the ovens, free of charge.”

Additionally, the ovens, Barrett points out, don’t need a vent hood or grease trap. “It’s a completely ventless restaurant. So you can literally put our pizza shop anywhere, with no barriers.”

Barrett is especially excited to help business owner wannabes build the pizzeria of the future. “We’re able to help a lot of entrepreneurs get into the restaurant industry without losing the shirt off their back, and, of course, we help with equipment financing and financing their pizza shop. So I feel good about helping people make their way to financial freedom….and invest their money in something that’s going to build generational wealth.”

BRIAN HERNANDEZ

BRIAN HERNANDEZ

Customers at Dough Boy Pizza place their orders through kiosks, which are programmed to encourage upsells.

Beyond The Dough

Presented By

One million mistakes?

I spent almost two hours on the phone with Joe Carlucci. He and I share a very similar mindset.

Other than his love for the Yankees (GO, RED SOX!), I really love Joe. He’s always trying to improve. He’s always talking about his vision.

But THIS was big: He was talking about empowering his people!

And he said this: “I want my people to make a million mistakes. Just don’t make the same one a million times!”

I loved it. It’s true.

When your people make mistakes: PRAISE them for trying!

SHOW them the correct way!

EXPLAIN why it should be done that way!

WATCH them do it correctly!

PRAISE them AGAIN for LEARNING! REPEAT one million times!

To learn more about Perfect Crust’s pizza liners and other products, visit perfectcrust.com or email Eric Bam at Eric@perfectcrust.com

About Eric Bam:

Eric is the VP of Sales & Marketing for Perfect Crust Pizza Liners and Incrediblebags.com. Eric is a goal driven optimist that uses his positive attitude to lift up those around him. He’s a father to Nycholas, Alayna and Ruby. He’s a public speaker and show host. You can find him on all social media @TheEricBam.

To succeed as a restaurateur of tomorrow, she notes, “You have to be on the cusp of innovation. The pandemic taught us that we can’t be stuck in our ways. We have to adapt to trends and what’s going on economically and socially in the world….And one thing that I’m not afraid to do at any given time is to change, because the world is changing, and everything around me is changing. If I don’t change with it, I get left behind by somebody that’s willing to accept new human behavior. And that’s what a pizza shop of the future, a ‘smart’ pizza shop, really stands for. We understand where the world is going. We want to be a part of that wave.”

“If the customer’s putting in their own order [via kiosk], there are a couple of advantages. You get automatic consistency, and the machine will upsell them every single time....So you can increase sales by 30% by just doing that.”

— Erica Barrett, Dough Boy Pizza

Rick Hynum is PMQ’s editor in chief.

BRIAN HERNANDEZ

LEAN,MEAN MIXING MACHINES

Spiral vs. planetary: Which mixer is best for your operation? And how can you get the best out of each type?

BY TRACY MORIN

In a busy pizzeria, a few key investments are the true cornerstones of your kitchen. One of those musthaves for serving pies to the masses is the commercial mixer. This piece of equipment earns its place as a workhorse in any operation, whether you’re using it to mix pizza dough only, or to also tackle other necessary tasks, like mixing meatballs or cake batter, grating cheese, or slicing veggies.

In fact, those kinds of determinations are exactly what will most impact your mixer selection. “In a nutshell, the choice between a spiral and planetary mixer depends heavily on your kitchen’s primary mixing needs,” says Norah Clark, Honolulubased pastry chef and owner of YummyTasteFood. “Both spiral and planetary mixers have their own unique advantages and are used for different types of mixing tasks in the kitchen.” Let’s dig into the differences, capabilities, pros and cons of these two important pizzeria partners.

Pros and Cons

As Clark notes, choosing between spiral and planetary mixers depends on what you’re looking to mix. “Spiral mixers, named for their spiral-shaped agitators, are champions when it comes to kneading dough—the rotating bowl and spiral hook simulate hand kneading, resulting in a superior dough texture—but they aren’t as versatile as their planetary counterparts,” she explains. “On the other hand, planetary mixers, named for their motion (which resembles planets orbiting the sun), come with various attachments, like a flat beater for mixing cake batter, a wire whip for cream or egg whites, and a dough hook. This makes them ideal for kitchens that need to perform a variety of mixing tasks, but they might not give you the same perfect dough that a spiral mixer can.”

Louie Bossi, owner of Louie Bossi’s Ristorante, Pizzeria and Bar, with two locations in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, Florida, believes that, in his type of full-service operation,

every kitchen needs a planetary mixer, but not every kitchen needs a spiral mixer. “A spiral mixer is essential to making a good pizza dough and artisan bread; it’s a gentler mixer, with the bowl and the hook turning at a faster speed and with less heat and friction, giving you an airier dough,” Bossi says. “A planetary mixer is a workhorse that holds from 10 quarts up to 80 quarts. We use it for more bulk kitchen recipes, such as meatball mix and all other non-fragile recipes. The cons are that the spiral mixer doesn’t fit as much, and it’s harder to clean, while the planetary mixer is rougher, causing more heat and friction, but it lasts forever.”

Melissa Wasserman Baker, owner of FoodQueries.com and chef at Mateo’s Pizza in Cairo, New York, agrees that spiral mixers are ideal for the heavy-duty dough mixing required for recipes like bread and pizza dough. That’s because the spiral-shaped agitator and rotating bowl both help ensure thorough and consistent mixing, which results in a welldeveloped gluten structure. However, spiral types tend to be larger, requiring more space in the pizzeria kitchen. “Planetary mixers, on the other hand, offer versatility and precise control,” Wasserman Baker adds. “With a stationary bowl and a revolving agitator, they’re suitable for various mixing tasks, including doughs, batters and lighter mixtures. They’re especially great for delicate recipes like cakes and mousses, providing excellent aeration and control.”

“A spiral mixer is essential to making a good pizza dough and artisan bread.”

— Louie Bossi, Louie Bossi’s Ristorante, Pizzeria and Bar

While restaurant and pizzeria owner Louie Bossi advocates a spiral mixer for dough, he uses a planetary type for recipes like meatballs at his full-service operation.

Choosing and Using

Casey Bumpsteed, food writer, chef and editor of Ceramic Cookware Review in Durban, South Africa, admits that the world of mixers can be intimidating, thanks to the myriad of types and brands available today. But she says it’s a matter of evaluating your priorities at the pizzeria. “It feels fantastic to knead a dough just right for that perfect loaf of bread, and that’s where the spiral mixer comes into play—its unique spiral design mixes dough in a way that is gentle yet efficient, keeping the gluten structure intact for that perfect rise. The flip side is, it’s a one-trick pony and limited to just dough.” However, Bumpsteed calls the planetary mixer “the Swiss Army knife of the mixer world,” since it can knead, whip, mix—you name it. Just make sure to inquire about the mixer’s available attachments to ascertain what will best fit your needs. “The variety of attachments you can use makes the planetary mixer versatile and flexible for an array of

tasks, making it a mainstay in any well-equipped kitchen,” Bumpsteed says. “However, it doesn’t quite have the same finesse for dough as a spiral mixer. I once tried to make a batch of croissants with it, and they came out a bit tougher than I’d have liked.” In other words, if breads, doughs and pastries are your main gig, you can’t beat a spiral mixer. But if you’re into a wider range of culinary adventures, a planetary mixer might be your best bet.

Once you’ve landed your ideal mixing machine, how can you get the most out of your spiral and/or planetary models? Bumpsteed notes that both of these mixers require a bit of a learning curve. “With spiral mixers, remember: Slow and steady wins the race,” she recommends. “A lower speed helps develop the gluten structure in the dough more efficiently. On the other hand, with planetary mixers, it’s all about adapting to the task at hand. Lighter tasks like creaming butter and sugar? Go for a higher speed. Mixing a dough? Dial it back to prevent overworking.”

Ultimately, she advises, take into account the fact that, like with any piece of kitchen equipment, it’s important to understand and respect the machine’s capabilities and limitations. “There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to mixers (or cooking, for that matter),” Bumpsteed says. “What works for one person may not work for another. Most important is the joy of learning, experimenting and finding what works best for you.”

Tracy Morin is PMQ’s senior copy editor.

“Planetary mixers…offer versatility and precise control…. They’re especially great for delicate recipes like cakes and mousses, providing excellent aeration and control.”

— Melissa Wasserman Baker, Mateo’s Pizza

REBEL ROBOTS

From delivery to ghost kitchens, dining service executives at the University of Mississippi are taking pizza automation to the next level.

BY RICK HYNUM | PHOTOS BY BLAKE HARRIS

Lunchtime in the cafeteria isn’t the dismal experience it used to be for college students. Gone are the days of creamed corn and mashed potatoes slopped onto a plate beside a brownish lump of some meat-like substance. Like pizzeria customers, today’s students want more and better options.

A pizza making robot from Picnic will play a key role in an innovative ghost kitchen being developed at the University of Mississippi.

Take the University of Mississippi, for example, known far and wide as Ole Miss. Everywhere you go on its Oxford campus, there’s somewhere for hungry young scholars to eat. A Starbucks store in the library. A Steak ’N Shake in the basketball arena. A Panda Express, a Qdoba Mexican Grill and a Chick-fil-A in the Student Union.

But the Rebel Market, Ole Miss’ main dining hall—no one says “cafeteria” anymore—is where you’ll find the really good stuff: the pizza. And it’s made in part by a robot.

“Ole Miss continues to lead the college hospitality space in technology,” says Chip Burr, Ole Miss Dining Services’ resident district manager. “One of our tenets is to be innovative. We want to be one of the most innovative campuses in the Southeast and maybe in the United States. So we always look at emerging technologies as an opportunity.”

At first glance, Ole Miss, honored by national publications nearly every year as one of the prettiest campuses in the country, doesn’t seem like a high-tech hot spot. A leisurely stroll around the grounds takes you through the shady and spacious Grove, past rows of fragrant magnolia trees and flower beds teeming with tulips and daffodils.

But you’ll have to share the sidewalks with a couple dozen delivery robots from Starship Technologies, ferrying coffee, sandwiches and bagels from building to building.

In early 2020, Ole Miss became the first SEC campus to offer robot delivery.

At that time, the university had a Papa Johns location, too. It’s gone now, but college students’ love of pizza blooms eternal. Burr, his executive chef, Michael Brainard, and their team quickly recognized the opportunity. Now they’re developing a new pizza operation that could serve as a model for other colleges and universities—and maybe even pizzerias—around the nation.

The Picnic Solution

It all starts with that aforementioned robot. In January, Burr and his team brought in an automated Picnic Pizza Station, making Ole Miss one of six universities nationwide using the technology. By the end of that month, students in the Rebel Market were

feasting on pies fired up in a flaminghot brick oven, with toppings ranging from pepperoni, sausage, peppers and onions to pineapple, ham and diced chicken. In addition to the cheese and sauce, the machine can pile on up to five toppings per pizza, Brainard says.

Brainard, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, knows his pies, too. Earlier in his career, he worked at Farley’s Pub, which offers wood-fired pizzas in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and later served as kitchen manager at an Uno Pizzeria & Grill location. He was executive chef at Texas A&M for three years before taking on that same role at Ole Miss.

Pizza was already on the dining hall menu before the Picnic robot was

“We want to be one of the most innovative campuses in the Southeast and maybe in the United States. So we always look at emerging technologies as an opportunity.”

— Chip Burr, University of Mississippi Dining Services

Michael Brainard (left) and Chip Burr are developing a pizza operation at Ole Miss that could serve as a model for other universities—and maybe even pizzerias—around the U.S.

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We've seen an increase in efficiency with the Picnic Pizza Station. What used to take three people now only requires one, which allows us to free people up to do other critical things in the kitchen.

- Executive Chef, Higher Education Dining Services

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installed. But now Brainard is happier with the pies he dishes out, slice by slice, to Ole Miss students, faculty and staff. “If you’d asked me five years ago, I’d have been just as wary [of pizza automation] as everyone else,” he says. “But having the technology to help us do this and speed the process up has been a great addition. The biggest thing, I will say, about it is the consistency of the product that we get. You can have 10 of the best cooks in the world and they’re each still gonna [make the food] slightly differently, whereas, with this machine, it is 100% the same every time. It has a scale that weighs how much cheese goes on, how much sauce goes on, and then it counts the pepperoni to our exact specs. Every pepperoni’s a penny or two, so it adds up quickly. Having that consistency helps with your food cost, and it helps with the quality of your product, because it’s always the same.”

The Bigger Plan

But the Picnic robot is just one facet of a bigger and more ambitious plan. For the Fall 2023 semester, Burr and Brainard plan to develop a ghost kitchen that will serve the entire campus. “We were part of a beta test this fall and spring for ghost kitchen products on campus,” Burr says. “So we learned quite a bit in terms of how to execute and some of the mechanisms that are required for ordering.”

That beta test focused on burgers and chicken tenders, but pizza, shareable and communal by nature, is the real go-to food for study buddies and late-night cramming sessions. Burr says Rebel Kitchen is the working title for the virtual pizzeria, which will operate out of the Rebel Market building and specialize in pizza delivery. “It’ll be interesting, because it’s a cross-utilization of two automations—Starship’s delivery robots and the Picnic Pizza Station—allowing us to deliver by robot the pizzas that are made by a pizza robot.”

But what about those students who want instant satisfaction? Rather than sit around and wait for a Starship

robot to roll up to the sorority house or dormitory, impatient types will have another high-tech pizza option: pizza vending machines.

In addition to the ghost kitchen, Burr’s team plans to introduce Pizza Forno vending machines to Stockard Hall and Martin Hall, a pair of towering residence halls that share a first floor. Each Pizza Forno machine can hold 70 premade 12” pizzas; the pies, which will be made by hand in the ghost kitchen, are stored in a refrigerated section, and when a customer places an order, a robotic arm moves it into a convection oven for a fast bake.

“We’re excited about that partnership as well and to be able to offer yet another way to feed our students,” Burr says. “Certainly we need all the ones we can get.”

Rebel Market is also working with local and regional growers to source ingredients for its entire menu. In fact, it became the first certified green restaurant in Mississippi, achieving level 1 certification from the Green Restaurant Association in June 2016.

Burr and Brainard want to keep Ole Miss Dining Services on the leading edge any way they can. “Part of my responsibility… is to focus on innovation and to concentrate on areas where we can find efficiency and consistency for our students, our faculty, and our staff,” Burr says. “When we find emerging technologies like pizza vending, Starship robot deliveries or Picnic, we’re going to try it.”

Rick Hynum is PMQ’s editor in chief.

“You can have 10 of the best cooks in the world and they’re each still gonna [make the food] slightly differently, whereas, with this machine, it is 100% the same every time.”

— Michael Brainard, University of Mississippi Dining Services

PORTION PADL

The patented Portion PadL is one of the most popular portioning tools for cutting pizzas into equal slices. A pizzacutting board designed to cut pizzas into equal slices, each Portion PadL is custom-made to your pizza size, shape and slice applications. It’s simple to use and ensures that every pizza is cut equally, which reduces food waste and increases profits.

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REVEL ENTERPRISE

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PIZZACLOUD

PizzaCloud’s text-enabled phone system can push callers to order your pizza online. For example: “Thank you for calling. To receive a text message with links to online ordering and a 10% off coupon, press one. To place an order or speak to staff, press two.” When the caller presses one, they receive a text message from the store with any message you want. PizzaCloud clients see as much as a 30% swing from calls to web orders after a few months.

888-840-7627, PIZZACLOUD.NET

PizzaCloud: Creating a Better AI OrderTaking System

PizzaCloud has always strived to use the features of its advanced phone system to help increase pizzerias’ revenue and reduce labor costs. Four years ago, PizzaCloud added call center capabilities and today is running 14 different call centers, ranging from five to hundreds of seats. The smaller ones are run by multiunit operators, and the larger ones outsource, where a call center company provides the staff and the PizzaCloud platform is routing the calls, providing reporting, etc.

But in today’s labor market, the call centers have the same staffing issues as store owners. Call centers are more efficient, but, at the end of the day, you must have enough staff to cover the traffic. So PizzaCloud decided to finally build a “Virtual Call Center,” meaning an AI platform speaking with the callers, answering questions and taking orders. They started by looking at the existing AI ordertaking platforms and found profound issues with all of them.

• High cost. Sometimes the cost is ridiculous—7% of the order or a flat $2.50. That’s way more than the average owner wishes to spend.

• Poor quality. Bad natural-language processing means the system simply fails to understand the caller’s request. Many of the companies would say, “After a few months your customers will learn how to talk to the system.” Wow— wrong attitude! The system needs to adapt to the callers, not the other way around.

• No ability to do normal prompts for repeat customers. For example: “Hello, David. I see your last order was two large pepperoni pizzas and 16 super hot wings. Would you like to repeat that order?”

• No ability to handle coupons and specials.

• Frequent errors involving business rules or combos. Let’s say you have a lunch special for $2 off a personal pizza, drink and side salad or chips. But the AI system sees it as $2 off a personal pizza, and you get hundreds of those orders.

• No upselling!

There are many causes of these problems, one being that the people writing the AI system have never worked in a restaurant—or, evidently, never ordered pizza. Another is lack of proper integration with the point-of-sale system. You have to get the order history before you can prompt for it. You have to get a list of specials and coupons before you can handle those requests.

So, PizzaCloud went back to the drawing board, found a great “AI tool kit” company and worked directly with multiple POS companies to get them to enhance their data connections to allow PizzaCloud to pull more data.

The result is a system that 1) customers are happy to use; 2) increases average ticket by upselling; 3) handles coupons and specials; and 4) is very accurate. Oh…and very reasonably priced: well under one dollar, with the exact price driven by volume and menu complexity.

For more information, call PizzaCloud at 866-5115521, email sales@pizzacloud.net or visit www.pizzacloud.net

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Thanking Linda and Steve Green for Their Loyalty to the Pizza Industry

It was recently announced that Steve and Linda Green sold PMQ Pizza Media to WTWH Media. I’d like to share with PMQ readers how important the Greens’ role has been in shaping my career in the pizza industry and how they helped shape the industry we know today.

Thirteen years ago, I first met Linda at a pizza convention. It was my second year owning my pizza business. I had an idea for portioning pizzas into equal slices. I wanted an objective opinion from someone who was knowledgeable about the pizza industry. I thought, why not visit the only pizza trade magazine exhibiting at the convention? They’d be able to tell me if I have something or should pass on pursuing my invention.

At the booth, I was greeted by Linda and a PMQ writer. When I showed them the pizza cutting board, their eyes lit up. Linda smiled and said, “I think you have something.” A few months later, PMQ published an article about my invention. This was the start to a wonderful journey building my Portion PadL business.

Linda and Steve are hands-on people. They exhibited at pizza and nightclub conventions. They got to know the pizza makers who visited their booth. They created the U.S. Pizza Team. They asked questions. They listened. They invited pizzeria owners to

collaborate on articles about industry trends, best practices, innovations and pizza recipes. Their magazine wasn’t about what they thought. It was founded for us to share our stories and to shape the pizza industry.

I asked the Greens to say a few words about their journey: “We’ve always loved the pizza business because it’s universally loved by practically everyone, and it actually matters to people. Part food, comfort, culture, personal expression, a path to a simple living or a fortune, pizza creates a human connection between those who make it, buy it or share it. Pizza gives us something to think about, talk about and brag about. It’s made thousands of neighborhood heroes out of those that compete in this humble and noble profession. Over our career, we’ve worked in banking, gaming, pharmacies and pizza, but mostly pizza because the people in this business are as genuine, creative, simple and daring as the dish itself. Everyone needs to be fanatical about something, so why not pizza?”

I created a private Facebook group called “Friends of Linda and Steve Green.” Please share your experiences with the Greens there. Let them know how PMQ impacted you or just wish them a happy future. I’m sure they’d love to hear from you.

Portion PadL

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Heart Shape PadL

• The first heart shape pizza cutting board for trimming the dough into the perfect heart shape and cutting the heart shape pizza after the pizza is out of the oven.

RICO LUNARDI, SLICE ON BROADWAY, PITTSBURGH

BY BRIAN HERNANDEZ

I’m Brian Hernandez, director of the U.S. Pizza Team (USPT), and I want to take you on a ride through the roster of one of the greatest pizza organizations in the country.

Rico Lunardi, owner of Slice On Broadway in Pittsburgh, joined the U.S. Pizza Team amid the pandemic and has been active ever since. Competing in the 2020 Virtual U.S. Pizza Cup (VUSPC), Lunardi placed third out of more than 20 competitors desperately looking for something to do during the lockdown. He returned the next year for the 2021 VUSPC, placing first this time and securing his spot on the team.

Once the world opened up for business again, he got out and immediately signed up for some of the big events, like the 2022 Galbani Professionale Pizza Cup in Orlando and Pizza & Pasta Northeast, as well as the 2022 and 2023 Pizza Expos, taking third place for the Northeast Region and fifth place overall. In this Q&A, Lunardi talked to me about his growth strategy for Slice On Broadway and how to recruit and retain reliable employees.

Brian Hernandez: Tell us about Slice.

Rico Lunardi: We opened 13 years ago, in July of 2010. My family had a restaurant at the time, and it was always a dream to own a pizzeria, so I went for it. We proved we had some pretty good pizza and grew from there. Now we have six locations around the Pittsburgh area.

Hernandez: Was the initial plan always for steady growth like that?

Lunardi: My game plan is ever-changing. Slow and steady may seem like the plan a lot of the times, but I have been known to put the cart before the horse and get ahead of myself. But if I see the opportunity and it makes sense, I will take it, even if we’re not exactly ready for it. Everything in your business should be personal at some level, but you must be able to step outside yourself and ask, “Does this make sense for the business?” Having a plan helps inform that decision.

Hernandez: What’s the best way to “step outside yourself”?

Lunardi: Most times people try to take on everything at the beginning. Sometimes you have no choice, but, once you do, you

Rico Lunardi, a rising star on the U.S. Pizza Team, shares advice for growing your single-unit pizzeria into a leading brand in your market.

Slice On Broadway opened in Pittsburgh in 2010 and has since grown to six locations.

MATT DAYAK

BRIAN HERNANDEZ

Lunardi’s pizzeria offers memorable specialty pies, like the Fancy Pants and Rico’s Favorite. should loosen the reins and manage people’s expertise. Maybe somebody is better at social media than you, or someone has a better understanding of accounting. Use them. You may have to pay, but it will free you up to step back and get a broad overview of the operation. It helps you grow, too.

Hernandez: If you were required to pick one consultant before opening a shop, what kind do you recommend?

Lunardi: I would have someone look over my business plan just to make sure it’s a viable idea. Just because I think I make the best cherry pie in Pittsburgh doesn’t make it so. Sometimes we get clouded in our own imagination of what’s going to work or what won’t.

Hernandez: Any tips for someone just starting out?

Lunardi: There is opportunity in pizza post-pandemic with people selling existing pizzerias. I use that myself when looking for expansion. I like to get the existing locations, so it reduces build-out costs. There are still costs, of course, but they are lessened, and I can open quicker.

Hernandez: Labor issues are hurting a lot of operations, independents and chains alike. How do you tackle the problem?

Lunardi: First off, you have to create a great work environment. Make sure they enjoy coming to work to get the best out of them. We offer benefits and PTO; in fact, we encourage people to take that time off and create balance in their life. Being a member of the USPT, we go to competitions now and are able to gift trips to these events to some of our staff. Giving them these kinds of rewards helps them see the confidence you place in them, and that breeds loyalty. And recruit through your employees. They are your best PR reps on the street. You can even give them incentives for any referral that lasts six months or longer, something like that.

Hernandez: Is being part of a competitive team beneficial to your operation?

Lunardi: I think there are tremendous benefits. It’s awesome for the camaraderie and to meet other people. Obviously, you’re going there to compete, and hopefully win, but you learn and experience much more than that. Sometimes the most beneficial things you experience aren’t even on the competition floor—just finding out how your team members and other competitors do things. You always get new tricks for the business and the menu. But when you come back, make sure to tell the press you competed and how you did. Actually, tell them before you compete as well. Build the hype. And don’t forget to add “awardwinning” to that pizza on your menu.

For Lunardi’s advice on not taking criticism personally, arguments with crazy people about wings, and stories of feeding Pirates fans, read more at PMQ.com/sliceonbroadway.

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BRIAN HERNANDEZ

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HUNGRY HOWIE’S PIZZA & SUBS

Jim Hearn was already an established entrepreneur when he started Hungry Howie’s Pizza & Subs in Taylor, Michigan, in 1973. The pizzeria took over his Tic Toc hamburger stand, marking his return to the food that would become a lifelong trademark. “He’d owned a couple of pizza places in Detroit before the hamburger stand; at 16, I started delivering pizzas for him,” recalls Steve Jackson, who opened the brand’s second store in 1976 and is now president and CEO of the company, based in Madison Heights, Michigan. “We all grew up very blue-collar, and Jim seemed like the most successful person we knew. We nicknamed him Howie, after Howard Hughes.”

Hungry Howie’s took off, amassing a dozen locations in the ’70s. When Hearn moved to Florida in 1982, he expanded the business there, while Jackson pressed for franchising. The first franchised location opened in 1983, the same year its now-iconic flavored crusts launched. By ’86, now with 60 stores, the company established its first distribution center in Michigan, then another the following year in Florida. “In the early days, the sauce had a dozen-plus spices, and we’d take paper lunch bags and measure out all of the ingredients by hand,” Jackson says with a laugh. “You can imagine the consistency issues! The distribution business created a better standard of product. We fought the big guys in Detroit: The first Domino’s, Little Caesars and Hungry Howie’s all started within 25 miles of each other. So we’ve

always been extremely competitive and value-conscious—because we were forced to be.”

Hungry Howie’s sought that competitive edge through technology (adding computers in the 1990s), affordable tiered pricing, a focus on carryout and delivery, and a willingness to try new things. For example, in 2021, the brand decided to add one third-party delivery service; now, it makes up 6% to 7% of business company-wide. “We try to make decisions that are profitable and reduce friction in the customer experience,” Jackson explains. “You need constant tweaking to stay competitive. We’ve survived everything over the years. But whether it’s a financial crisis or a pandemic, pizza matches up with all of it.”

The brand also gives back, focusing on the National Breast Cancer Foundation as its choice charity; in 2023, it will surpass $5 million raised. And, though Hearn passed away in 2013, his wife, Ginny, and two daughters are still involved with Hungry Howie’s, as are Jackson’s wife and two children. “It’s all about the people,” Jackson says. “That’s a core value of the company: to treat everyone—vendors, franchisees, team members, customers—like family. As we’ve grown, it’s just become one big family.”

Known for its value-conscious approach and flavored crusts, this Michigan-based chain, now with 500-plus locations, has thrived on stiff competition through 50 years in business.

BY TRACY MORIN

Tracy Morin is PMQ’s senior copy editor.

Founder Jim Hearn and current president and CEO Steve Jackson (both pictured at bottom left) partnered back in the 1970s and built the Hungry Howie's chain to hundreds of locations through franchising.

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