PMQ Pizza - May 2023

PIZZA MEDIA

LickIt Up!

Alex Koons makes vegan pizza that’s finger-lickin’ good at L.A.’s wildly inventive Hot Tongue Pizza.

PAGE 24

YOU DIDN’T GET INTO THIS BUSINESS TO BE AVERAGE. NEITHER DID WE.

Compare and Contrast: Old Forge Pizza vs. Sicilian Pan Fried Pizza

PUBLISHER

Steve Green, sg@pmq.com ext. 123

CO-PUBLISHER

Linda Green, linda.pmq@gmail.com ext. 121

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Rick Hynum, rick@pmq.com

ART DIRECTOR

Eric Summers, eric@pmq.com

SENIOR COPY EDITOR

Tracy Morin, tracy@pmq.com

DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH

Blake Harris, blake@pmq.com ext. 136

TEST CHEF/USPT COORDINATOR

Industry influencer

Jim Mirabelli of NEPA Pizza Review explains why you should never get these two tasty and wholly unique styles mixed up. pmq.com/nepa-pizza-styles

Luigi’s Pizza: Brooklyn’s Elite “Hole-in-the-Wall” Joint Turns 50

Giovanni Lanzo and his family preserve the old-school pizza traditions while cracking jokes and shooting down special requests in Instagram Reels.

pmq.com/luigis-pizza-brooklyn

Papa Johns’ High-Tech Plan to Make Pricing More Competitive

Papa Johns says it has partnered with QL2, the developer of a pricing gap analytics platform, to “capture competitive pricing on a national basis.”

pmq.com/papa-johns-competitive-pricing

Drive-Thru Has Been a “Game Changer” for Slice Factory

The brand’s Slice-Thru service has assisted in 60% of orders and brought a 20% increase in sales since the pandemic, says founder/CEO

Dom DiDiana.

pmq.com/slice-factory-slice-thru

Pizza Guys Touts Success of Two Virtual Brands

Calzone Life has seen significant growth in a short time and is operating in 54 Pizza Guys locations, while Pizza Piatta is now in two Sacramento stores.

pmq.com/pizza-guys-virtual-brands

Brian Hernandez, brian@pmq.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, linda.pmq@gmail.com ext. 121

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Tom Boyles, tom@pmq.com ext. 122

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Jerry Moschella, jerry@pmq.com ext. 137

SALES ASSISTANT

Brandy Pinion, brandy@pmq.com ext. 127

INTERNATIONAL PIZZA MARKET

Italy: Enrico Fama Fama.Enrico@gmail.com

Russia: Vladimir Davydov Vladimir@pmq.com

Pizza Hut Puts Roof Over Your Head in the Form of a Hat

The Hut Hat, a reversible bucket hat, brings two iconic aspects of Pizza Hut restaurants—the red roof and lampshades—to the throwback fashion trend.

pmq.com/pizza-hut-bucket-hat

China: Yvonne Liu Yvonne@pmq.com

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Opinions expressed by the editors and contributing writers are strictly their own, and are not necessarily those of the advertisers. All rights reserved. No portion of PMQ may be reproduced in whole or part without written consent.

PIZZA MEDIA

ADVANCING THE PIZZA BUSINESS COMMUNITY

PIZZA HUT

DANIEL LEE PEREA

EVENTS & PROMOTIONS

SPRING 2023

Industry Events

Food On Demand Conference: May 3-5

Taking place at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, this event brings together key restaurant and foodservice players in mobile ordering, native and third-party delivery, ghost kitchens, virtual restaurants, catering, AI, robotics and restaurant technology. They’ll share strategies for increasing off-premise efficiency and adding incremental sales.

Learn more at foodondemand.com

National Restaurant Association Show: May 20-23

Join your peers from across the foodservice industry at McCormick Place in Chicago. You’ll discover exciting new products and innovative new equipment, create business connections with key suppliers, access expert-led education sessions on today’s biggest topics, and make invaluable peer-to-peer networking connections. Learn more at nationalrestaurantshow.com

Canadian Pizza Summit: May 14-15

Taking place in Vancouver, this event brings together pizzeria owners and operators from across Canada to learn more about the art and business of making pizza. It features the latest ovens and equipment, competitions featuring dozens of pizzerias, networking opportunities and innovative ways to sell more pizza. Learn more at canadianpizzashow.ca

European Pizza & Pasta Show: June 21-22

Here’s your excuse for a summer vacation in London! This show is a one-stop shop for pizza and Italian restaurant owners and managers looking for Europe’s top products and services, from pizza, pasta and flour ingredients to kitchen equipment, plant-based foods, wines and beverages. It will also feature the European Pizza Championship. Learn more at pizzapastashow.com

Promote This!

National Salad Month

Since May brings National Pizza Party Day, International No Diet Day and National Eat What You Want Day, there will be plenty of pigging out. But you can also steer your customers to healthy—and high-profit—salads made with romaine lettuce, butter lettuce, kale, spinach, Swiss chard or arugula. Hit on as many flavor profiles as possible, including sweet, salty and savory, and add quality cheeses and nuts to the mix for more texture.

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

National Hoagie Day

Friday, May 5

Cinco de Mayo

Friday, May 5

International No Diet Day

Saturday, May 6

National Eat What You Want Day

Thursday, May 11

National Pizza Party Day

Friday, May 19

TRIPPING IN THE MOTOR CITY

Robert Garvey spent 20 years honing his recipe for the thincrust pizzas that have made Robert’s Pizza & Dough Co. a hit in Chicago since 2016. He moved a lot faster on his latest offering: a Detroit-style pizza created in a collaboration with Billy Zureikat, who was featured in PMQ’s March 2023 issue. Zureikat was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy in March 2021 and found solace in making pizza. He has since earned kudos from pizzaioli around the Windy City for his signature pie, the Tripping Billy, featuring a creamy shishito pepper sauce, mozzarella, cheddar cheese, pickled jalapeños, roasted shishito peppers, corn and scallions. The pie has been adapted for various styles as limited-time specials at numerous Chicago pizzerias while raising funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. In March, the Tripping Billy became the first Detroit-style pie, built on Garvey’s own housemade dough, offered at Robert’s, but it won’t be the last. Garvey continued offering a new Detroit-style special every Tuesday throughout April. These included the Cup & Char Pepperoni, the Grilled Sausage & Caramelized Onions, the Rita and the Roasted Veggie.

THE BIRTHDAY BOY

Tracey and Chris Nowlin had little restaurant experience when they bought Bada Bing Pizzeria in League City, Texas, about two years ago. But they knew how to do one important thing: engage the local community. When Chris’ birthday rolls around on February 21, the Nowlins make the event all about people who do good works in League City. For every pizza sold on that day, Bada Bing Pizzeria donates a free pie to a first responder, teacher or nonprofit in the area. In the promotion’s first year, they gave away 46 pies, and that number climbed to 52 this year. To get everyone involved, the Nowlins ask their 3,000-plus Facebook followers to nominate recipients for the free pies, shining the spotlight on locals who make a difference in League City—instead of the birthday boy himself. “We love pizza, and it’s so rewarding to give what we love to this community,” Tracey told local website Community Impact.

As part of Slice Out Hunger’s celebration of National Pizza Day, Bada Bing Pizzeria donated pies to local nonprofit Interfaith Caring Ministries.

The Tripping Billy pizza is made with Garvey’s Detroit-style dough and Zureikat’s recipe featuring a creamy shishito pepper sauce.

For his birthday each year, Chris Nowlin of Bada Bing Pizzeria shines the spotlight on people who do good in the League City, Texas, community.

Billy Zureikat and Robert Garvey teamed up to offer the first-ever Detroitstyle pizza at Robert’s Pizza & Dough Co.

AN ADDICTION TO SUBSCRIPTIONS

A pizza subscription program, launched on January 1, is generating a significant profit for Mamma Ramona’s in Ramona, California, according to owner Andrew Simmons. Simmons, who was featured on PMQ’s October 2022 cover, has been using technology, including the automated Picnic Pizza Station and TurboChef’s high-speed oven, and innovative marketing to reinvent his business and double his sales. Simmons offers an annual pizza subscription—one 12” pepperoni pizza per subscriber per week—and thus far has 299 subscribers. About 51% of subscribers actually redeem the offer each week on average, for a total of 26.52 pizzas per year, he says. His cost per pizza comes to about $2.65 or less—or around $70.28 per year per subscriber. With the subscription price at $99, he sees a profit of $28.72 per year per subscriber or a profit margin of 29.01%. The average customer who redeems the subscription offer also spends an additional $7 per order, Simmons says. “So the add-on additional revenue is $185.64 per customer per year,” he explains. “Total positive revenue, therefore, on 299 subscriptions is $64,093, assuming everything stays steady.” Simmons’ ultimate goal, he says, is “to build the world’s smallest pizzeria….Maximizing the revenue per square foot of space will be the next part of my experiment.”

JUST A SCRATCH

It’s just a little scratch, but there’s free pizza at stake in a promotion that launched on March 29 at Columbus, Ohiobased Mikey’s Late Night Slice. With every purchase, customers receive a scratch-off card for a chance to win food. The big prize is free pizza for a year, but other possibilities include a free slice, a free whole pie or a buy-one-get-one-free offer. Moreover, a losing card doesn’t guarantee a loss. Customers can still post a video with their card on social media and tag Mikey’s for another chance to win. Meanwhile, the chain, which now has eight locations—including one in Cincinnati and a food truck—also holds a weekly “Name That Shop Giveaway.” Using Instagram, Mikey’s posts photos shot at a specific store’s location and asks customers to like the post, name the location and tag a friend to win free food. The posts often get more than 200 likes and up to 70 comments with guesses.

Pizzas on the menu at Mikey’s Late Night Slice include the Gabagool, featuring capicola, salami, pepperoni, banana peppers, tomatoes, onions and a creamy Italian dressing.

Andrew Simmons is in the midst of a grand experiment to double his sales at Mamma Ramona’s and, ultimately, maximize revenue per square foot of his space.

The Mikey’s scratch-off card offers two ways to win free pizza.

For regular updates on Simmons’ reinvention of Mamma Ramona’s, follow along at PizzaTV.com/andrew.

Find your Ispirazione Italiana

SENSORY SENSITIVE SUNDAYS

Sensory overload—loud noises, bright or flashing lights, crowded spaces and other stimuli—can be overwhelming for children with autism. And that describes a typical day at a Chuck E. Cheese fun center. But the chain has been partnering with the Center for Autism and Related Disorders to create a quieter, calmer dining and arcade experience for kids with autism and sensory needs. On the first Sunday of each month—dubbed Sensory Sensitive Sundays—select locations open two hours early, with dimmer lighting and lower volume. The goal is to create a calmer environment so that kids with sensory sensitivities can enjoy the Chuck E. Cheese experience to the fullest. For World Autism Month this April, the chain extended the program systemwide, holding a Sensory Sensitive Sunday event at all 460 U.S. and Canada locations, and raised money all month long for Autism Speaks, a nonprofit dedicated to creating a more inclusive world for all people with autism. “Our Sensory Sensitive Sunday program is the only one of its kind on a national scale and is just one of the many ways we deliver on our mission to make Chuck E. Cheese the place ‘where every kid can be a kid,’” David McKillips, CEO of CEC Entertainment, said.

RISE UP FOR A DEEP-DISH EMOJI

Why isn’t there an emoji for deep-dish pizza? Why does the only pizza emoji on your smartphone’s keyboard represent a New York slice? That’s what Marc Malnati, owner of Lou Malnati’s in Chicago, wants to know. In honor of National Deep Dish Pizza Day on April 5, his chain launched a nationwide petition to add a deep-dish emoji to keyboards everywhere. The company even designed two options for the emoji and invited supporters to vote online for their favorite at DeepDishEmoji.com, then sign the petition at Change.org. The petition will be presented to the Unicode Consortium, a group that maintains Unicode, an encoding standard for text data, and monitors emoji popularity. Lou Malnati’s will propose that the consortium add the winning design to the universal emoji keyboard. “America is more than one style of pizza, and Americans deserve more than just a New York slice to express themselves,” Marc Malnati said. “It’s time we give [deep-dish] fans their own icon and identity with a new emoji to express our deepest pizza-preciation.” The petition will be online for “several months,” the company said. If successful, Americans could see the deep-dish emoji on their digital keyboards before the end of the year.

Lou Malnati’s wants deep-dish pizza fans to vote for one of these two emojis to be added to the universal emoji keyboard.

During April, Chuck E. Cheese donated a portion of proceeds from its cotton candy sales up to $50,000 to Autism Speaks as part of a wider fundraiser during World Autism Month.

If the Lou Malnati’s campaign is successful, Americans will have a choice between a deep-dish pizza emoji and the current New York slice emoji.

Chuck E. Cheese has held more than 18,000 sensory-friendly events since April 2017.

A TASTE of CALIFORNIA

One great pizza recipe can earn you $15,000 in the Real California Pizza Contest, the fifth annual search for the best pizza recipes using Real California cheeses. The contest, which will award prizes up to $30,000 for the most innovative uses of cow’s milk cheeses from California, is now underway and will culminate in a bake-off event August 2 in Napa, California.

The Real California Pizza Contest is open to professional chefs and culinary students throughout the U.S. Chefs can submit recipes in three categories: Cal-Mex, the REAL Californian and Plant-Forward. Final deadline for submissions is May 21, 2023.

Cal-Mex recipes incorporate toppings that combine flavors from California and Mexican cuisines and feature Hispanic-style cheeses from California. The REAL Californian pizza category incorporates ideas inspired by the Golden State that highlight California dairy products and toppings. Plant-Forward pizza recipes emphasize the delicious flavor combinations of fruits, veggies and Real California cheeses.

“Cheese is the heart and soul of every great pizza,” said Mike Gallagher, business and market development consultant for the California Milk Advisory Board. He added that since California is “the leading producer of mozzarella as well as Hispanic-style cheeses and originals like Monterey Jack, chef participants

have a broad range of options to showcase how California cheese and dairy helps them create innovative pizzas.”

Participants can access the requirements, submit recipes and complete entry documents at realcaliforniamilk.com/ foodservice. This year’s simplified entry form requires the pizza name, a photograph and a short description detailing the recipe concept and use of Real California cheese and dairy. Chefs can choose from more than 250 varieties and styles of cheeses that carry the Real California Milk seal.

All entries will be evaluated by an internal judging team, with the top four recipes in each category selected as finalists. These 12 finalists will receive an all-expense paid trip to compete head-to-head at the bake-off event on August 2, taking place at the Culinary Institute of America at Copia in Napa, Calif.

The winners of the Cal-Mex, REAL Californian and PlantForward categories will each receive $5,000. The best overall pizza recipe creator, as selected by the judging panel, will receive an additional $10,000 grand prize award. All finalists who are not category winners will receive $500 each.

Bake-off finalists will be judged by a panel of award-winning pizza chefs, including California-based pizzaiolo and pizzeria owner Tony Gemignani; Italian and pizza chef Glen Cybulski; and 2022 Real California Pizza Champion David Jacobson.

There’s big money at stake for the right recipes in this year’s Real California Pizza Contest, with submissions due on May 21.

THE CULTURE CLUB

Can you describe the culture of your restaurant in one sentence? What would your team members say about your culture? When I started working at Purgatory Pizza, which I now own, the culture was basically, “I don’t give a s--- about anything.” Now, as rock and roll as that might be, it was a huge problem in creating a successful business. When I did anything more than the bare minimum, co-workers said, “What are you doing? Relax. Find your Purgatory zen.”

When I started running the store, people complained about every new policy. There was no scheduling—just a calendar on the wall on which people would write their name to work. It was chaos. This kind of attitude plagued my hiring process, too, because your pizzeria’s culture will attract a certain kind of person.

This was the culture I inherited, not the one I created. Getting rid of it took a couple of years. I had to finally cycle through the last employee who remembered what it was like “back in the day.” It was a struggle, and there was pushback along the way, because I changed things slowly instead of ripping the whole curtain back and cleaning house. On reflection, I should have done the latter.

I want to share how I created a culture in my restaurants that our staff is excited to be a part of—and that actually sells more pizza.

If you don’t put values into place at your pizzeria, the staff will naturally create their own company culture, and you probably won’t like it.

BY ALEX KOONS

MIRIAM BRUMMEL

Culture and Values

I define culture as a living set of values. Like at Purgatory Pizza circa 2014, if values aren’t intentionally put in place, the staff will naturally create their own culture, and it could be one of laziness, resentment and disdain. This is what I call anticulture, and it can be a nightmare for any shop.

Many business owners don’t invest in their culture. They don’t think it’s important. But the reality is: Your values are one of the biggest factors in your bottom line. Anyone can write a bunch of feel-good stuff on a piece of paper and call it their “culture.” But, like anything, it takes a lot of work to uphold your values and beliefs every single day. It’s something that needs to be practiced, talked about and refined constantly. Identifying my core values took some time, but once I implemented them, they attracted the kind of people I wanted working at my restaurant. I promise you: Your retention, productivity and sales will go up.

I build my culture on five core values. These are the qualities I look for in employees (and the people in my life), and I strive to live them myself every day.

1. Honesty. Without your word, you’re nothing. Find the facts, avoid gossip, and always tell the truth.

2. Hard work. Nothing is free. Everything we want is obtainable through this one value: hard work.

3. Courage. Be brave in the questions you ask, the conversations you have, the mistakes you make, and the problems you solve.

4. Perseverance. Overcome the worst days to enjoy the best ones.

5. Empathy. Understand that emotion is part of life. Help when needed, listen when you can, and care for one another.

Communication and Leadership

Before writing this article, I asked my Hot Tongue Pizza team what they thought our culture was. Their responses:

• Fun, and a place where I never have to drag my feet.

• Our own.

• A place to grow.

• Friendly together.

• I don’t feel depressed when I’m here.

• Fun and creative.

You might look at this list of somewhat abstract concepts and ask, “But how the heck do I implement these in my restaurant?” The answer is probably simpler than you think: It comes down to communication and leadership.

Communication: Constantly check in with your team and management. I sit down and go through these values with each new employee to lay out a road map of what success looks like here and what’s expected from them as team members. We hold meetings and monthly touch-bases with the entire organization to make sure everyone is happy. These meetings provide great opportunities to get feedback, course correct, and hear out any employee who needs to get something off their chest.

Leadership: Your managers can take your culture in the right or wrong direction. Make sure they understand and follow these three guidelines:

1. Lead, don’t boss. Leading is much different than bossing around or micromanaging.

2. You don’t know everything. Approach everything with curiosity. Assuming or jumping to conclusions is deadly.

3. Always look for ways to improve and grow. You’re never done growing.

Finally, be proud of your values and the people you want to provide opportunities for. In return, you will have a healthy, happy work family rather than a pack of passive-aggressive, burnt-out, gossiping, resentful humans—and a culture that your staff is excited to be a part of.

Alex Koons is an industry consultant and the owner of Hot Tongue Pizza, an all-vegan pizzeria, and Purgatory Pizza in Los Angeles.

MIRIAM BRUMMEL

A disciplined but positive culture makes Hot Tongue Pizza employees like Andrea Rodriquez happy to come to work.

Beyond The Dough

Presented By

I’ve been thinking about things that keep me focused, motivated and grounded. Here they are:

1. Be ThankFULL! Gratitude is the key to all success.

2. Don’t listen to others! Unless they’re helping you chase your dreams, don’t let others rent mind space.

3. Give! Be generous. It ALWAYS comes back.

4. Dream big! We stop dreaming as we get older. Dream again, it’s OK!

5. Keep learning! What are you reading or listening to?

6. Enjoy the process! Be present in TODAY!

7. Listen to your OWN thoughts! Self-talk is the biggest detractor in life.

8. Focus on your strengths! Double down on what you’re good at!

9. Fail! Yes, fail! You learn and grow!

10. Take action! Action is where ALL of it starts!

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.

Lick ItUp!

Alex Koons, the owner of Hot Tongue Pizza, is an off-the-wall rock-and-roll rebel with a cause: making vegan pizza sexy—and outrageously funny—for the masses.

BY RICK HYNUM

As a former indie rocker and songwriter, Alex Koons, owner of Hot Tongue Pizza in Los Angeles, knows how to put on a show—and he’s not the least bit camera-shy. His Instagram Reels for Hot Tongue are a musical, magical mix of the surreal and the wildly absurd. Grown men in ridiculous wigs dancing to pop ditties about ranch dressing and pineapple as a pizza topping. A skinny dude in a greenman body suit who “knows good pizza” because he’s from New York. “Farming” the brownish water of the L.A. River to make pizza dough.

Watch a few of Koons’ off-the-wall Reels—some of which can also be found on YouTube and TikTok—and you might think he isn’t all that serious about his craft. But you’d be wrong.

It took his wife, Jackie, to put him back on the (somewhat) straight and narrow marketing path. “We’ve slowed down on the Reels, because she said, ‘Listen, you’re very serious about food, and it’s not coming off in your Instagram presence,’” Koons recalls. “She goes, ‘Your Instagram is scary, dude. It’s just a bunch of weird dudes in wigs.’” He laughs. “But she was right. When we look for a new restaurant, the first thing she does is go to their Instagram and look at the food pictures.”

Nevertheless, once you’ve seen one of Koons’ crazier Reels on Instagram, you want to see more. Fortunately, he has plenty of handsomely crafted pies to show off, too. And did we mention

that they’re all vegan? Thing is, Koons doesn’t make a big deal about that. Because, as far as he’s concerned, his pizzas are as good as—if not better than—anything with meat and dairy.

A New Direction

When he wasn’t playing keyboards and singing in local bands, Koons worked as an audio engineer—until he got laid off during the Great Recession. He was broke and crashing on a friend’s couch when he got hired as a pizza delivery driver. “That catapulted me

A CANDID CONVERSATION

In a PMQ.com exclusive, Alex Koons talks in more detail about vegan pizza, creating pies that are easy on the eyes and marketing beyond Instagram. Read it at PMQ.com/alex-koons

“Every aspect of your experience here is important to me. And the visualization of walking in—you’re supposed to be, like, kind of walking into my brain.”

— Alex Koons, Hot Tongue Pizza

MIRIAM BRUMMEL

Hot Tongue team members Andrew Alvarez, Josh Cardona and Michael Hiller lend their unique talents and creative ideas to Koons’ off-the-wall Instagram Reels.

in this new direction,” he says. “That job literally saved my life. I loved it.” He soon discovered he had a good head for the pizza business. He was promoted to manager at that pizzeria, then took a new job at Purgatory Pizza, also in L.A.

When he first arrived, Purgatory Pizza was a bit of a mess. “It was punk rock,” Koons remembers. “There weren’t a lot of rules or regulations. And the owner at the time just let me do whatever I wanted. I really enjoyed being able to see the results with better management processes and the food. And within a year, I realized how much I loved the restaurant industry and how good I was at it, because I could see how I’d improved Purgatory.”

Koons became half-owner of Purgatory Pizza in 2017, but, now well-versed in pizza making and pizzeria management, he had ideas for a different kind of restaurant. In 2022, he founded the all-vegan Hot Tongue Pizza in the hip, eclectic Silver Lake neighborhood, just seven miles from Purgatory Pizza. “It has a completely different menu, completely different vibe, completely different logo, but

the same values and integrity,” Koons says. “Everything I believe in is still in place—the pillars of what a good shop should be.”

Down to Clown

The vibe at Hot Tongue Pizza reflects Koons’ own rock-and-roll rebel-witha-cause persona, if that cause is surprising people with how delicious— and cool—vegan pizza can be. Surrealist artwork by L.A. artist Deladeso lines the walls. The Hot Tongue name itself, blazing in neon-pink letters above the exterior doors, hints at sultry, perhaps forbidden delights. The logo—a pair of full lips with an outstretched tongue— evokes memories of The Rolling Stones in their heyday.

You might say Koons is making plantbased pizza sexy—yet outrageously funny—for the masses.

“Every aspect of your experience here is important to me,” he says. “And the visualization of walking in—you’re supposed to be, like, kind of walking into my brain.”

That brain is a pretty interesting place, thumping to the beat of its own drum machine. On the one hand, Koons is a businessman through and through; he runs a tight ship and expects his team members to show up on time, stay focused and produce food to his exacting standards, with both flavor and esthetic appeal.

On the other hand, he’s a nut. And he likes to hire other nuts.

“I think I’m pretty creative, and it helps that everyone in the shop is incredibly creative, too. Everyone’s down to clown when the camera goes on, and we just cook up these crazy ideas.”

— Alex Koons, Hot Tongue Pizza

“People eat with their eyes first,” Koons says. “Or, now, they eat with their cameras first, which is crazy….I want to make sure every specialty pie is photo-friendly right out of the oven.”

How he finds the time to create those Instagram Reels is anybody’s guess, but they’re screwball classics. Koons and his team members, bewigged and outrageously clad, dance, prance, wiggle and twirl about to catchy tunes—some made famous by hip-hop or pop acts (think Fugees or the Backstreet Boys), and others, like “Pineapple On Pizza” and “Ranch Dance,” that Koons writes and records himself.

All the people in the club

Throw your hands up, show some love

If you’re ready, do the dance

Dip that pizza in the ranch

When Hot Tongue cast members aren’t wiggling their bottoms for the camera, they’re getting high on contraband marinara sauce (snorting it, no less) or impersonating Draco Malfoy trying to pay for an order with his magic wand.

To Koons, marketing a pizzeria is not unlike promoting a band. “When you’re in a band, it’s all about making flyers, colorfulness, creativity and putting on a show,” he says. “I think I’m pretty creative, and it helps that everyone in the shop is incredibly creative, too. Everyone’s down to clown when the camera goes on, and we just cook up these crazy ideas, and then I film and edit them, and the rest is history.”

For Koons, authenticity is everything—and he knows more and more customers, especially younger ones, feel the same way. “I do post photos, but, recently, I got sick of making captions, so I’ve just started posting songs with photos because I don’t want to just be fake and make up something.”

In his tamer Reels, Koons simply pans the camera across Hot Tongue’s slice display case, showing off various pies fresh out of the oven. They burst with color and eye appeal as well as flavor, so why not let them speak for themselves?

Whether you’re shooting stills or videos, strong visuals are paramount. One common Instagram marketing mistake, he notes, is “bad camera quality, bad lighting or sound. The Reel just doesn’t look good. Another thing that’s kind of cringey is when people are trying to be funny and it doesn’t come off as authentic. When you’re really trying hard or wanting

KOONS’ GREATEST HITS

Alex Koons is a frequent contributor to PMQ’s sister website, PizzaVegan.com, as well as PMQ’s print edition and PMQ.com. For his latest column on creating a successful pizzeria culture, see page 20.

“I don’t necessarily want only vegan customers. I’m not really marketing to them. The idea is to open people’s minds to a cuisine that’s equally as delicious.”

— Alex Koons, Hot Tongue Pizza

MIRIAM BRUMMEL

something to hit, I think it’s easy to see through that. If you’re not funny, don’t try to be. If you’re not good at it, I think you should pay for it. There are plenty of people these days that make full careers out of running social media accounts.”

Fortunately, Koons is very good at it. And getting his team members involved in social media also lets them know that they’re valuable and that their ideas are welcome. In many of the wackier videos, Koons himself never appears on camera. His staffers are the stars. “They’re good at getting on camera and having a good time, and, yeah, people enjoy them. Sometimes, they act like, ‘Aw, dude, are you serious? Another one?’ But when the camera starts rolling and the finished product comes out, I think everyone’s stoked. It’s a break from the day, and we all create this thing together.”

Pizza for Everyone

They also create some amazing pizzas together. Yes, they’re vegan pizzas, and that’s a major selling point in a city like Los Angeles. But, Koons notes, “I don’t necessarily want only vegan customers. I’m not really marketing to them. The idea is to open people’s minds to a cuisine that’s equally as delicious. You don’t have to put dairy and meat on everything. Eat this pizza once a week—just try it. Once I get somebody in here who’s a dedicated meat-eater or loves dairy and they sit down and enjoy the pizza, they’re, like, ‘This is incredible!’ And that’s the goal.”

Koons, now 37, went vegan when he was 20 years old. Opening a vegan pizzeria, for him, isn’t about capitalizing on a trend. He’s serving what he loves to eat. “The foundation of any great pizza is the dough process,” he says. “If you don’t have good dough, your pizza is gonna suck. Light, airy, crispy, a great crumb structure: There’s a lot of love that goes into that process. I still tinker with the dough recipe

“[My vegan cheese] is a cashew cream that kind of emulsifies and has a similar texture [to mozzarella], but it’s completely different. If I didn’t have to call it mozzarella, I wouldn’t.”

— Alex Koons, Hot Tongue Pizza

Hot Tongue staffer Gabby Giuliano slices a pie featuring Koons’ own vegan cheese and plant-based pepperoni.

MIRIAM BRUMMEL

every day. It’s something I’ll keep playing with for the rest of my life.”

A stickler for conveying the traditional pizza experience— and then one-upping it—in plant-based form, Koons makes Hot Tongue’s vegan cheese in-house. Like mozzarella, it melts splendidly on the pie, yet stands on its own as a high-quality ingredient. “It’s supposed to be something different,” he says. “It’s a cashew cream that kind of emulsifies and has a similar texture [to mozzarella], but it’s completely different. If I didn’t have to call it mozzarella, I wouldn’t. I’d call it what it is: a cashew cream. I’m not trying to replace mozzarella, because that’s 100% impossible. It’s really just about doing everything with 100% integrity. And I think everyone who comes in here can taste that.”

Koons also makes his own plant-based meats, including pepperoni and crumbled sausage. “I’m not interested in using anyone else’s meats but my own,” he says. “And, really, it’s not something that I like that much, so I’m probably not going to extend that part of the menu.”

In fact, while Hot Tongue Pizza is a vegan pizzeria, Koons bristles at the label. “I don’t like being put in that category, because it’s like, dude, let’s go toe to toe. I’ll make a cashewbased vegan cheese, and we’ll put it up next to your New York-style cheese, and let’s see who’s got the better product. I don’t want to be in the vegan category. I don’t want to be listed among the best vegan restaurants in Los Angeles. I want to be on that top 15 pizzerias list, period. And rightfully so—I deserve it.”

But Koons is quick to give props to his fellow pizzaioli, too. In January, he launched a podcast, “Pie 2 Pie,” now streaming via his Hot Tongue TV channel on YouTube, Apple and Audible, among other platforms. Here, he chats with his L.A. pizzeria and pop-up peers—including the owners of Lucky Nick’s Pizza, Ozzy’s Apizza, Secret Pizza LA, Rose City Pizza, Secret Vegan Pizza and Quarantine Pizza—in a Q&A format, with each answer timed at 60 seconds.

Some of his “Pie 2 Pie” guests focus on vegan pizza, while others offer both meats and vegan options. For Koons, good pizza is just good pizza.

“I’m not on a religious crusade,” he says. After all, veganism can be a loaded term in today’s hyper-politicized era. “I’m not here to make anyone feel a certain way about animals or dairy cheese. I’m here as somebody who’s running a restaurant that makes great food without those two ingredients. There are other people who market their food as cruelty-free, and that’s cool, too. I totally get that. I just think that can be off-putting to a lot of people. Maybe they can’t eat dairy cheese because their cholesterol is messed up. Maybe they have celiac disease or they’re lactose-intolerant. Or maybe they just don’t want to eat meat every day. I think people want options. Having a more plant-forward diet—maybe not eating as much meat or as much dairy—is something that’s already happening. And you’ve gotta be welcoming to everyone.”

Rick Hynum is PMQ’s editor in chief.

“I don’t like being put in [the vegan] category because it’s like, dude, let’s go toe to toe. I’ll make a cashew-based vegan cheese, and we’ll put it up next to your New York-style cheese, and let’s see who’s got the better product.”

— Alex Koons, Hot Tongue Pizza

Having left the music business behind, Koons is a family man who listens to his wife Jackie’s marketing advice and enjoys quality time with their son, two-year-old Levi.

MATT POLIZZI

MIRIAM BRUMMEL

YOUR NEXT BIG IDEA BEGINS AT THE SHOW

Can’t Miss Features

Check out products and equipment from over 1900 exhibitors, ranging from world-class Pizza Ovens to FABI award-winning Plant-Based Pepperoni, and everything in between.

Bring a taste of Italy to your pizzeria by visiting the Bellavita Italian Pavilion. Discover artisanal products and demos to further craft an added level of authenticity with your business.

Navigate the ever-changing bar scene by visiting The Beverage Room, showcasing top mixologists, suppliers, ingredients, and products to keep your beverage program on the cutting edge.

Don’t miss out on attending the most trusted industry event by attending the 2023 National Restaurant Association Show.

Discover revolutionary products and equipment to enable your next big breakthrough idea. Enjoy sessions with seasoned industry chefs on topics that serve up solutions- ranging from staffing and retention strategies, menu and supply chain optimizations, and more.

Find what you need to capitalize on emerging opportunities at the 2023 National Restaurant Association Show.

Watch celebrated chefs bring culinary trends to life.

See leading products from more than 1900 exhibitors to make your business more profitable.

Gather unique approaches to efficiency and sustainability at the Kitchen Innovations Showroom.

Sample the Food and Beverage (FABI) Awardee and FABI Favorites creations that are breaking new ground in taste, imagination, and packaging.

Explore specialty areas like The Culinary Experience, The Beverage Room, and Startup Alley to get ahead of industry trends.

Don't miss the culinary destination for restaurant and foodservice professionals. Register today to dig into fresh solutions, new flavors and innovative equipment.

Melt With You (The Vegan Version)

Today’s vegan cheeses continue to skyrocket in both quality and variety. Experts share their savviest pointers for adding it to your pizzeria’s menu.

BY TRACY MORIN

It’s simple, it’s delicious, and nowadays, it’s practically required: Adding vegan cheese to your menu may just increase your customer base more than any other single ingredient. And it no longer has to taste like plastic or cost an arm and a leg. “I’ve helped several restaurants add vegan cheese pizzas to their menus in a cost-effective way,” notes

Meredith Marin, CEO and consultant at Vegan Hospitality in West Palm Beach, Florida. “Adding just this one ingredient can increase your menu size with minimal effort, while bringing in a new loyal following of vegan and dairy-free customers.” Here, experts from across the food industry share their best tips for making the most of this addition.

POV: The Pizzeria

Hengam Stanfield, co-founder, Mattenga’s Pizzeria, San Antonio, TX

It’s important to cater to customers with different dietary needs and preferences. It’s also important to take the time and find the right vegan cheese that your guests will love. For our six locations, we have changed the vegan cheeses we offer a couple of times, based on feedback from our customers. We involve them in the selection process by asking for feedback and even conducting taste tests! This shows that we care about their opinions and helps to ensure that we’re offering a product they will enjoy. Plus, sharing about the Vegan Taste Test on social media generates excitement and anticipation for the new offerings.

Marketing the vegan options on social media and local Facebook groups is a great way to attract new customers and build a reputation as a restaurant that caters to diverse needs. Additionally, offering vegan options can enhance the image of the restaurant, as it demonstrates a commitment to using clean ingredients.

Operationally, offering vegan cheese is similar to offering any other topping, and there is no need to make any significant changes to your existing processes. The vegan cheese pizza

will look, bake and taste no different from one with regular mozzarella. All that matters is that our paying customers love it, and they do!

POV: The Consultant

Meredith Marin, CEO and consultant, Vegan Hospitality, West Palm Beach, FL

Taste a variety of vegan cheese options before choosing the best fit for your menu. Consider a pourable cheese versus shreds—you can even make fancy designs on your pizzas with liquid cheese.

“Operationally, offering vegan cheese is similar to offering any other topping, and there is no need to make any significant changes to your existing processes.”

— Hengam Stanfield, Mattenga’s Pizzeria

Mattenga’s Pizzeria conducted taste tests and involved its customers in settling on the best vegan cheese.

MATTENGA’S PIZZERIA

Choose a vegan cheese that fits your price point; there are a wide variety of options. Or consider making your own liquid vegan cheese (great for pizzas!) with cashews, tapioca starch, water and spices. You can also make your cheese shreds go further by turning them into a pourable cheese sauce—just blend them with a plant-based milk, like soy, cashew or coconut. You may find that making your vegan cheese this way will turn out even less expensive than your cow-based mozzarella.

Use more than one style of cheese on your pizza for a more textured effect and more bang for your buck, combining a higher-quality cheese with a less-premium version. Or accept a lower profit margin on some of your simple vegan dishes and balance them with a higher profit margin on the more premium vegan dishes. For example, make your vegan cheese pizza the same price as your dairy cheese pizza to bring in new customers, but for your vegan meat lover’s pizza (which they will be very excited to try), adjust the margins a bit higher.

THE GREAT UPCHARGE DEBATE

Should you upcharge for vegan cheese? Our experts weigh in:

“While upcharges have been tolerated for some time now, they are on their way out. Vegan cheeses are becoming more affordable, especially when bought at wholesale prices, and vegans and dairy-allergic customers are more eager to support businesses that treat all of their guests equally, without stigma or consequence.” —Meredith

and consultant,

Vegan Hospitality,

Marin, CEO

West Palm Beach, FL

“You should upcharge for vegan cheese, because you should be using quality options, and those aren’t cheap. Also, the time and research a restaurant puts into selecting plant-based cheese justifies a premium price. The margins and profit you can make are comparable in percentage to dairy cheese.”

—Chef Jumoke Jackson, @mrfoodtastic/executive chef for Slutty Vegan, Brooklyn, NY

“We have been offering vegan cheese, vegan pepperoni and vegan sausage for over a year now, and we charge extra for these toppings, as it reflects the additional cost to the restaurant.” —Hengam Stanfield, co-founder, Mattenga’s Pizzeria, San Antonio, TX

“Upcharging is a bad look in today’s culture. Take into account the reduced cost of removing the other cheese when doing evaluations. Spread the small cost across the base dish price instead.” —Chef Suzi Gerber, author, Plant-Based Gourmet, Somerville, MA

“Consider a pourable cheese versus shreds— you can even make fancy designs on your pizzas with liquid cheese.”

— Meredith Marin, Vegan Hospitality

Vegan pizza doesn’t have to fall under the categories of healthy or boring, as seen in this shawarma-and-friesinspired pizza recipe developed by consultant Meredith Marin.

KEN GRILLE

Vegan cheeses have improved in their ability to melt, stretch, and be used for everything from pizza to mozzarella sticks to salad toppings. We now have cultured versions, which gives them that tangy flavor. Many customers who now order vegan cheese were not always vegan or dairy-free, and they look for good replicas in the flavors of their old favorites.

Work with a vegan hospitality consultant for the best results in menu development, recipe testing and marketing to the vegan community. If you have access to an in-house vegan expert or connections with the vegan community yourself, be sure to get community opinions before launching your menu. This means bringing people in for taste tests and surveying your customers/future customers. If you are not vegan yourself, make sure you also like the taste of your own vegan options, and allow your staff to taste the new dishes so that they can generate more sales!

POV: The Plant-Based Chefs

Suzi Gerber, author, Plant-Based Gourmet, Somerville, MA

Lactose allergy is estimated at 70% worldwide. Within an average group of four customers in U.S. cities, at least one will be allergic to dairy or abstaining for religious reasons, health

reasons, or ethical reasons like veganism. Offering these options ensures all groups can visit, be happy and return. However, modern vegan cheeses need moisture to melt, because they are starch-based. Covering the dish and misting oil can help create that ooey-gooey stretch. Avoid direct flame and high-heat approaches unless you’re trying to crisp and blacken (which vegan cheese does well). Expect many more major innovations, too—including with dairy proteins and fermentation.

Work locally if you prefer. There’s always a local cheesemaker, like Pleese Cheese in New York and Uncreamery in San Francisco—and they’ll bring you tons of loyal customers, too.

Otherwise, your distributor has more mainstream options like Daiya and Follow Your Heart. You can also make a cheese sauce that cooks like melted cheese, and I’ve created several easy recipes for cheeses like ricotta and mozzarella.

Chef Jumoke Jackson, @mrfoodtastic/executive chef, Slutty Vegan, Brooklyn, NY

People are becoming more health-conscious, and eliminating dairy has been one of their targets. The industry has seen the need for nondairy options, so plant-based cheeses continue to evolve, with some amazing new options that taste and perform like dairy cheese. They’ve improved over the years by leaps and bounds.

The No. 1 gripe with vegan cheese is meltability, so the plantbased cheese space has taken that head-on. Plus, there’s more variety: It used to be that all you could find was a rubbery slice of plant-based cheddar, and now stores carry everything from pepper Jack to smoked Gouda with turmeric. I love Violife and Follow Your Heart, but try a bunch of plant-based cheeses before you commit. With a little effort, you’ll find the blend and brand that is perfect for your menu and restaurant.

Tracy Morin is PMQ’s senior copy editor and the editor of PizzaVegan.com.

“It used to be that all you could find was a rubbery slice of plant-based cheddar, and now stores carry everything from pepper Jack to smoked Gouda with turmeric.”

— Chef Jumoke Jackson, Slutty Vegan

Tuesday-Wednesday, August 22-23, 10am to 4pm (Exhibits & Seminars)

USPT STRIKES GOLD

Congratulations to all of the U.S. Pizza Team (USPT) members that competed and placed at the 2023 International Pizza Challenge at the Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. The members of the USPT continue to represent the industry with honor and a never-ending fountain of creativity when it comes to pizza recipe design.

Thank you for making our sponsors, your teammates and the industry as a whole so proud. Pizza to the people!

Here are some of the highlights from the team’s performances. For more pictures and info on the team’s triumphs in Las Vegas, please visit www.uspizzateam.com/expo23.

CONGRATULATIONS TO:

1st place, American Tandem Division: Daniel Saccone & John Garland, Saccone’s Pizza & Subs, Austin, TX

2nd place, American Tandem Division: RC Gallegos & Juan Ponce, RC’s NYC Pizza & Pasta, The Woodlands, TX

4th place, Detroit-Style Category: Jamie Culliton, The Nona Slice House, Safety Harbor, FL

1st place, Traditional Division International: Wilhelm Rodriguez, Papa’s Pizza, Puerto Rico

2nd place, Non-Traditional Division Northwest: David Solum, Danger Von Dempsey’s, Aberdeen, SD

GOLD IN LAS VEGAS

For more information about the U.S. Pizza Team, its members and sponsors, visit uspizzateam.com.

3rd place, Traditional Division Northeast/5th place OVERALL: Rico Lunardi, Slice on Broadway, Pittsburgh, PA

Congratulations to USPT member Daniel Saccone and John Garland of Saccone’s Pizza & Subs, and USPT member RC Gallegos and Juan Ponce of RC’S NYC Pizza & Pasta for taking 1st & 2nd in the American Tandem Pizza competition at the Pizza Expo, respectively. Juan Ponce also took 2nd place for the Southwest in Traditional.

3rd place, Traditional Division Southwest/5th place OVERALL:

Cristina Aceves Smith, State of Mind Public House, Los Altos, CA

3rd place, Traditional Division Southeast: Kevin Knott, The Nona Slice House, Safety Harbor, FL

3rd place, Traditional Division Mid-America: Dave Sommers, Mad Mushroom, West Lafayette, IN

Congrats also go to our two Top 5 finishers for Traditional and NonTraditional. Cristina Aceves Smith of State of Mind Public House and Pizzeria took 5th place overall in the Non-Traditional Division (3rd place for Southwest) in her very first International Pizza Challenge and Rico Lunardi of Slice on Broadway balanced it out taking 5th place overall in Traditional (3rd place for Northeast)!

With a huge field of pizza talent to be sure, our team always seems to rise to the top. Something about cream content, maybe?

Congratulations again to all competitors at the Pizza Expo! For more information about upcoming events and past USPT glory, visit www.uspizzateam.com. #pizzagold

Nationwide: We Know Food Service

Nationwide’s recent research shows that restaurants have adapted to pandemic challenges and rebuilt consumer confidence.

Restaurants are making a comeback, with reservations now exceeding pre-pandemic levels. Even while coping with inflation challenges, restaurant decision-makers have a positive outlook. Patrons also have a largely upbeat attitude about their restaurant experiences today.

What’s top of mind for restaurants right now?

Restaurant decision-makers say fires are among the biggest risks facing their business today, reinforcing the importance of properly maintained fire suppression systems and regular safety training for employees.

Unexpected risks are on the horizon

New digital risks have developed in what’s traditionally thought of as a face-to-face industry:

• 1 in 4 restaurant decision-makers report negative online reviews to be among their biggest risks.

• 17% say reliance on technology is a primary risk, with potential cyber bad actors threatening both owners and patrons.

“Made-to-order insurance” is essential for navigating today’s challenges

More than three-quarters of restaurateurs work with an insurance agent to manage their insurance needs, and they’re looking to those agents for guidance as 9 in 10 decision-makers have contacted or plan to contact their insurance agent in the next six months to discuss coverage.

Read the complete article by scanning the QR code with your smartphone camera.

Using PizzaCloud’s Phone System Features to Make Your Phones Stop Ringing

Out of its 2,000+ pizza restaurant customers, there is one thing PizzaCloud’s team never hears: “I have plenty of staff and no issues answering my phones.” That is why PizzaCloud has spent the last year building new solutions to reduce phone calls in the store to a bare minimum.

Pushing Customers From Phone to Web Orders

By using PizzaCloud’s new text-enabled phone system features, your customers can be greeted with a message like “Thank you for calling Super Pizza. To receive a text message with links to our online ordering, press one now. To place an order or speak with staff, press two now.” Almost every store sees at least a 10% swing from phone to web orders within 60 days, and one customer recently said he went from 75% phone/25% web orders to 35% phone/65% web orders in just six months.

A.I. Virtual Call Center

What exactly IS “A.I.” call handling?  Think of it as a high-end, third-party web ordering platform delivering orders to your POS system. But instead of hands on a keyboard, the customer called the store and the A.I. answered.

After looking at literally 10 different so-called “A.I.” companies, PizzaCloud finally found a partner whose service really works and was willing to properly integrate with PizzaCloud. PizzaCloud integrates with your POS system, and the phone system itself answers the calls and interacts with the caller, taking orders, answering questions and giving information. Depending on what POS system you use and the level of data access it allows, PizzaCloud can handle between 70% and 90% of the calls.

So, what happens to the other calls? PizzaCloud has the advantage that they’re also your phone company, so they just pop those calls to the store (or to one of PizzaCloud’s call centers if that is a better fit). The bottom line is low, flat-rate perorder pricing, no up-front setup fees or commits, and your phones stop ringing off the hook.

Other features currently being developed by PizzaCloud include call transcription and automated quality assurance scoring, flagging “bad calls” for review, etc. It’s like having an entire QA team at your disposal.

Find out more by visiting pizzacloud.net

Because if your phones and web ordering are down, you may as well send everyone home. We become your phone company and provide a backup Internet connection

IP Phone Service

Increase revenue and lower cost

• No Busy Signals

• Call Recording

• Call Queuing / Auto Answering

• Multiple (random) start of call upsell messages

• On hold music/message loops

• Detailed reports hold times, lost calls etc

• Callerid delivered to POS system

• Auto attendants ”If you have arrived for curbside pickup press one”

Cellular Backup Internet Protect against outages

• When your Internet fails our cellular backup router keeps your phones, credit card processing and web orders all working.

• The backup kicks in automatically in seconds. So quickly you will not even drop calls in progress when your primary Internet goes down!

• The same router can be used to create chain wide virtual private network to connect your locations.

• SD WAN LTE/LTE A (4G/5G) modems.

We have launched our “A.I.”, virtual call center platform. Let our phone system literally answer the calls and take orders, answer questions and more.

Now offering SMS/Text message solutions

Using your existing phone number!

On the PBX

“Press one to receive a text message with links to our onlne ordering”.

SMS Marketing

Manage bulk text message marketing from our system to drive increased revenue. As low as $0.01 per message.

Group text messaging to communicate with your employees (drivers, bartenders, all staff etc).

Review Your Online Customer Experience With This Checklist!

If you’ve gone through the effort and expense of setting up an online ordering system for your restaurant, you expect the final product to perform well. Any shortcomings in your site cause headaches for your customers and cost you money in lost orders.  One of the biggest pain points in online ordering systems is not having a mobile-friendly site. The average U.S. consumer spends five hours a day on mobile devices. If your takeout or delivery menu isn’t within arm’s reach, someone else’s is. With 69% of customers placing their online food orders through a mobile device, you can’t risk having a website that’s not optimized for mobile use. But even with a mobile-friendly ordering system, it’s possible your struggles stem from the content of your site, ranging from how appetizing your food images look to how compelling your menu text appears.

Audit your site and identify areas of improvement and how to enhance them with this free online ordering audit. In this checklist, you’ll find information about:

• Site branding

• Mobile-friendly ordering layouts

• Food imagery

• Upselling

• Guest checkout process

• Menu descriptions

• Payment processing options

• And much more Find out more by visiting speedlinesolutions.com/online-ordering-audit.

Mobile First Online Ordering

Looking to take the guesswork out of building an excellent online ordering site?

SpeedLine’s Online Ordering platform, SpeedDine, does all the heavy lifting for you. SpeedDine harnesses the power of cloud technology, meaning you will virtually never experience maintenance downtime—your website always works even during peak order volumes.

SpeedDine offers the fast and reliable online experience your customers have come to expect. Whether your customers order from their phone, tablet, computer or your branded mobile app, they get the same intuitive and responsive brand experience, including:

• Simple order flow

• Upselling prompts

• Accurate pricing that always matches the store

• Location map and hours for pickups

• Current quoted times

• Dispatch messages

If you’re looking for an online ordering solution, SpeedDine has you covered. Online ordering is a core part of SpeedLine. You’ll spend less time on maintenance with SpeedDine and gain new capabilities with each new release. Find out more at speedlinesolutions.com/online-ordering.

PizzaCloud

PizzaCloud’s Digital Assistant is an A.I. virtual call center, a high-end third-party web ordering platform delivering orders to your POS system. It integrates with your POS system, and the phone system itself answers customer calls, takes orders, answers questions, and gives information. Depending on your POS system, PizzaCloud can handle between 70% and 90% of your calls. pizzacloud.net, 866-551-5521, sales@pizzacloud.net

WonkyWare

WonkyWare drinkware is so tough that you can stand on it, squeeze it or drop it and it won’t crack, chip or shatter. No matter what you throw at it, WonkyWare can take it and maintain its glass-like appearance. Tough enough for any environment, it stays clear through repeated washings and is so impressive that you will be proud to display your logo on it. WonkyWare is 100% designed and manufactured in the USA. wonkyware.com

Watch the video at PMQ.com/wonkyware.

The Wikki Stix Company

Designed for pizzerias, Wikki Stix entertain kids from 3 to 13. A clean alternative to crayons, each Mini Play Pak has eight Wikki Stix and a two-sided activity sheet. One side is a connect-the-dot game; the flip side provides more ideas, illustrations and activities. Kids can make 3-D designs, like colorful Wikki glasses, plus friendship bracelets and rings. Wikki Stix are great for tabletop service and adaptable for takeout or delivery. 800-869-4554, wikkistix.com

Watch the video at PMQ.com/ wikki-stix

Forcome/Paladin Equipment

Forcome is a global leader in food processing equipment manufacturing. Forcome is committed to bringing quality products into this industry and providing value-added services related to technology, design, logistics and more. Their brand, Paladin Equipment, offers professional-quality meat slicers, meat grinders and countertop equipment like meat tenderizers, jerky slicers and blenders. forcome.com, paladinequipment.com

Watch the video at PMQ.com/forcome

The Print Magazine That Powers the Largest Digital Audience in the Pizza Industry.

Is it just a coincidence that the pizza magazine with the largest print circulation (by 10,000 copies) also has the largest digital audience in the pizza biz?

We think not.

When PMQ’s 40,000 monthly printed magazines are delivered into the mailboxes of our 40,000 readers, that’s not the end of the journey. Our readers tell us that they share their copy of PMQ’s print magazine with an average of 2.9 readers.

In turn, print readership drives traffic to PMQ.com. It all starts here—on the printed page.

PMQ: Print Proud and Digital Smart

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• Dough Tray Dollies – heavy duty. The preferred dough tray of pizza operators in the US and Abroad for over 30 years!

Order by phone or online.

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PETER PIPER PIZZA

BY TRACY MORIN

In 1973, Tony Cavolo, a Brooklyn, New York, native, was inspired to open a neighborhood pizzeria in his adopted home of Glendale, Arizona. The idea was simple: great pizzas at a great price, in a family-oriented environment. This vision developed further when, in 1980, the pizzeria expanded to Tucson, opening the first location with games inside. Today, the Phoenix-based company, known for its combination of pizza and game rooms, operates in six states and Mexico with three brands: 122 locations of Peter Piper Pizza; three outposts of Peter Piper Express, a smaller-footprint carryout and delivery model; and the new, more upscale Peter Piper Pizzeria, opening its second location in June.

At Peter Piper Pizza, customers order up front from a streamlined menu featuring pizza, salads, wings, sides and desserts, then receive a pager to alert them when their food is ready. Expansive, open dining rooms allow parents to keep an eye on kids as they play in the game rooms while giving Mom and Dad a break to enjoy some downtime. On weekdays, people pile in for the hearty all-you-can-eat lunchtime buffet, priced at just $9.99. And, as delivery and carryout numbers have skyrocketed post-COVID, the new Express locations are designed to supplement sales in existing markets.

Despite its kid-friendly approach, the chain remains focused on food quality and consistency. “We’re such a familiar brand with our guest base, which is multigenerational—people who used to come in as kids, with their parents, now come in with their own kids,” says

Tanya Sparkman, vice president of marketing. “There’s a real built-in warmth for this brand, but at our core, we’re food-forward. Our dough is still made from scratch, daily, onsite. Every location has a dough master, whose sole job is making dough, which is proofed, rolled out and scored on the bottom for a light, airy, crispy crunch. Our consistency of product comes down to training and the longevity of our team members—we have people who have worked in the back of house for 20-plus years. There’s an incredible amount of loyalty, and that speaks volumes.”

The brand also speaks volumes about its heart through recently establishing the Peter Piper Foundation to formalize its longtime charitable efforts, focused on children’s education and development— another aspect of its family-friendly mission. “What really resonates with me is that you walk through a location any time of day, and you don’t see people on their cell phones,” Sparkman marvels. “You see people sitting around a meal and playing games. It’s a true gathering of families— about just being in the moment, having an experience, and enjoying being together.”

With 120-plus locations and two new concepts under its umbrella, this growing chain scores points with families via weekday lunch buffets, game rooms and giving back.

Tracy Morin is PMQ’s senior copy editor and the editor of PizzaVegan.com.

(Clockwise from top left) Peter Piper Pizza expanded to Texas in 1982; a location hosts happy kids in Tucson, circa 1980; the brand opened in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, in 1991; original founder Tony Cavolo grew a mighty pizza legacy until his passing in 2006, at the age of 83; Peter Piper prides itself on family, food and fun.

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