Hailing from three generations of pizzaioli, Italy native Giulia Carniato was destined to open her own pizzeria—P.Pole, with four locations in South Florida. Her father, Stefano Carniato, scaled his restaurant, Piola, into a nine-store brand in the Sunshine State and Houston, but P.Pole bears the stamp of a much younger entrepreneur.
Slinging skateboard-shaped pies made with three different types of dough—thin-crust, gluten-free and chia seed—Carniato hopes to take P.Pole nationwide and around the world. Each store is thoughtfully curated by Carniato, who holds a business degree in strategic design and management from the Parsons School of Design in New York City, and emphasizes street art and skateboarding.
“A lot of quick-service chains are trying to cater to Gen Z now but with no one at the helm under the age of 40,” Carniato says. “I came up with this concept right before I started art school. My inspiration was for everyone to be able to create their own pizza texturally, like artwork. I wanted to reimagine pizza in a thoughtful and intentional way, as a form of expression, in a way that resonates with our generation and lifestyle.”
ELEVATING THE BUSINESS OF PIZZA
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CONTENT
EDITOR IN CHIEF Rick Hynum rhynum@wtwhmedia.com
SENIOR EDITOR Charlie Pogacar cpogacar@wtwhmedia.com
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Tracy Morin tmorin@wtwhmedia.com
ASSOCIATE EDITOR/USPT COORDINATOR Brian Hernandez bhernandez@wtwhmedia.com
VP, ASSOCIATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Allison Dean adean@wtwhmedia.com
VP, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Greg Sanders gsanders@wtwhmedia.com
ART & PRODUCTION
ART DIRECTOR Eric Summers esummers@wtwhmedia.com
SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Tory Bartelt tbartelt@wtwhmedia.com
DIGITAL PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Blake Harris bharris@wtwhmedia.com
A Publication of WTWH Media, LLC 662-234-5481
Volume 28, Issue 6
August 2024 ISSN 1937-5263
CONTENT STUDIO
VICE PRESIDENT Peggy Carouthers pcarouthers@wtwhmedia.com
WRITER Ya’el McCloud ymccloud@wtwhmedia.com
WRITER
Olivia Schuster oschuster@wtwhmedia.com
SALES & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
VP, SALES Lindsay Buck lbuck@wtwhmedia.com
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Tom Boyles tboyles@wtwhmedia.com
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FOUNDER
Steve Green
PMQ PIZZA Issue 6 August 2024 (ISSN 1937-5263) is published monthly in January, March, April, May, June, August, September, October, November and December by WTWH Media, LLC, 1111 Superior Ave #2600, Cleveland, OH 44114-2560.
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August 2024
Building Your Dream Pizzeria
PMQ’s inaugural Pizza Power Forum, taking place September 4 to 5 in Atlanta, will deliver a year’s worth of moneymaking ideas in just two days.
Chicago and Detroit may get much of the glory, but Red’s Savoy in Minnesota has added another entry to the list of Midwest pizza legends.
Franchise Fever
Prove your concept, bring in a lawyer and nail down your systems and processes. But that will be just the start of your journey to franchising success.
These independent operators embrace and capitalize on their single-location status rather than feeling inferior to the big-budget brands down the street.
at First Bite
Maintaining a strong corporate culture ensures both customer and employee satisfaction, even if your pizzeria is the opposite of corporate in every other way.
Tips From the Pizza Team: Make the Time for
Master pizzaiolo Wilhelm Rodriguez, a speaker at next month’s Pizza Power Forum, says this technique can easily double the flavor of your pizza crusts.
From running the only AVPN-certified mobile pizza unit to founding Latinos en Pizza, Atlanta Pizza Truck’s Sofia Arango and Alessio Lacco are both local culinary rock stars and global changemakers.
BY CHARLIE POGACAR
THE WORLD’S FASTEST PIZZA MAKER?
JOANA MENDES, AN ASSISTANT MANAGER AT A DOMINO’S store in Ipswich, England, is the world’s fastest pizza maker, at least according to the world’s top pizza chain. Mendes became the first woman to win the Domino’s annual competition, held May 8 in Las Vegas, by making three large pizzas in a record-breaking 39.2 seconds to claim $5,000 in prize money. For the contest, finalists prepared the pizzas—one pepperoni, one mushroom and one cheese—by hand-stretching dough, saucing the pie
and placing toppings as quickly as possible. “This title means everything to me,” Mendes says. “For the past two years, I have been training very hard and became the first female to win the United Kingdom’s fastest pizza maker competition. From there, my goal was to take it to the next level and be the world’s fastest pizza maker. I had the best people by my side to show me the process and have now achieved one of the biggest goals in my life.”
Joana Mendes became the first woman to win Domino’s annual World’s Fastest Pizza Maker competition, which has been running for more than 40 years.
FROM HEARTBREAK TO HOMETOWN CELEBRITY
Wes Besancon started high school in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, two years ago at a notable disadvantage: As a teen on the autism spectrum, he found it difficult to make friends, despite his best efforts. When his freshman year ended in May 2023, Wes was heartbroken when no one would sign his yearbook. That’s when Eric Braden, general manager of Ocean Springs’ Lost Pizza store, stepped in. Braden organized a yearbook signing party at the restaurant just for Wes, inviting local sports figures and mascots, school kids of all ages, teachers and first responders. He set up a table for Wes and watched nearly 200 people pour in to sign the boy’s yearbook. The citywide event, now dubbed the “Hello Summer Yearbook Signing Party,” returned this year on May 21 with similar success. “We had the Ocean Springs Fire Department pull up with their truck and let the kids tour the rig,” Braden says. “The cheerleading team showed up in full force along with Hook, the Mississippi Seawolves hockey team mascot, and player Hugo Koch and two wrestlers from the Gulf Coast Wrestling Association.” The promotion’s second year was so successful, Braden notes, “Wes even asked if he could continue to do this until he graduates. I said, absolutely, but before graduating, he needs to pass the baton to a worthy co-host!”
EASY ON THE PIZZI
Nick Conforti, owner of Angeloni’s Restaurant and Pizzeria in Caldwell, New Jersey, says he has reinvented the classic bar pizza with, appropriately enough, a splash of vodka— and it’s a rollicking success. Dubbed Easy On the Pizzi, the pie is offered at Angeloni’s and Café Crevier in Denville, New Jersey, co-owned by Conforti and Brittany Crevier. Conforti created it in homage to pizza influencer Anthony Pizzi, a former national account executive with Slice, the online ordering platform for independent pizzerias.
The ultra-thin-crust pie features a vodka sauce base and cupped pepperoni and is finished with stracciatella, basil and honey. After its spring debut, both Angeloni’s and Café Crevier reported long lines outside their doors and wait times of an hour or longer. Pizzi was a driving force in its success, with Conforti hyping the new item to his social media followers. “I’ve never seen a pizza like this after hundreds of shop visits,” he said, “but I’ve always thought of what it would be like to try it.”
Two athletes from the Gulf Coast Wrestling Association put in an appearance to sign Wes Besancon’s yearbook at the second annual Lost Pizza event.
ANGELONI’S
The Easy On the Pizzi, inspired by New Jersey pizza influencer Anthony Pizzi, features a vodka-sauce base, pepperoni, stracciatella, basil and honey.
Lost Pizza in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, turned Wes Besancon, who has autism, into a hometown celebrity.
LOST PIZZA
Polly-o mozzarella is the best part of the pizza
Developed specifically for New York style pizza, our new loaf is the perfect combination of quality and convenience. With a superior melt, stretch and browning, this formula is full of flavor with less residual oil.
CHEESE, Made in New York since 1899
email info@polly-o.com to request samples
BUILDING YOUR DREAM PIZZERIA
NOW AND THEN, I HEAR FROM READERS asking for advice. Maybe it’s a problem with their dough formula or a query about the best POS system for their pizzeria. With some embarrassment, I always hasten to inform them: “Sorry, I am but a lowly pizza journalist.” I don’t claim to be an expert on anything—I just know a lot of people who know the answers.
It’s not a bad life, mind you. We pizza journalists get to meet and learn from some of the smartest, kindest, coolest and most talented operators in the restaurant world. So when it came time to choose the speakers for PMQ’s inaugural Pizza Power Forum—taking place September 4 and 5 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis in Atlanta—putting that roster together was a pleasure for all of us at PMQ.
Spend two days at PMQ’s inaugural Pizza Power Forum, on September 4 to 5 in Atlanta, and you’ll go home with a year’s worth of moneymaking ideas.
BY RICK HYNUM
The hard part was narrowing the session topics down to eight. Our goal was to set an agenda built around one goal: to address the common pain points we hear about every day so you can start building the pizza company of your dreams. Not just a restaurant that serves delicious pizza, not just a pizzeria that turns a profit, but a pizza business that can run itself, whether you’re there or not. A name brand with long legs, one that can grow and thrive anywhere, in any town or city, for decades to come.
You want reliable employees who love coming to work? We’ve got you covered. Are you trying to wrap your brain around the bewildering array of new technologies that reduce operational costs, improve efficiency and deliver a smooth ordering process? Check, check and check.
Is marketing your biggest weakness? No sweat. Are you eager to replicate your first location’s success with a second or even a third store? We’ve got a panel for that, too.
For more than 25 years, PMQ has been the bible of the independent pizza industry. Now we’re excited to gather our readers together under one roof to brainstorm, swap trade secrets and success stories, and teach and learn from each other. Just think about it:
• Spend two days at the Pizza Power Forum, and you’ll go home with a year’s worth of moneymaking ideas.
• You will meet and network with some of the savviest independent pizzeria operators, rising and established culinary superstars, and emerging chain leaders in the business.
• You will find answers to the problems that keep you up at night. Whatever those might be, many at this event have already encountered and solved them.
• You will enjoy full access to the QSR Evolution Conference and NextGen Restaurant Summit, hosted respectively by PMQ’s sister brands, QSR Magazine and FSR Magazine
• You’ll go home feeling inspired, energized and emboldened to take your pizzeria to the next level.
Read on to learn more about the Pizza Power Forum, session topics and speakers. Your all-access pass covers every panel discussion and fireside chat, plus nightly events, breakfast and lunch for both days, and keynote presentations. It will be the best $149 you’ve ever spent, and we can’t wait to meet you there!
THE PIZZA POWER FORUM
SEPTEMBER 4-5
Location: Atlanta Marriott Marquis, 265 Peachtree Center Avenue NE, Atlanta, GA
Conference Agenda: Fireside Chats
Topic: Robots! The Present and Future of Automation in the Pizza Industry
Speaker: Andrew Simmons, owner/master franchisor, Mamma Ramona’s/Pizza Roboto Pizza making robots. Automated dough prep. AI-driven online ordering. There’s a slew of tech in the pizza space that can transform your business. Andrew Simmons, who has grown Mamma Ramona’s in San Diego from one store to five branded locations in the past year (with more to come in 2024), will explain how he has tested many of these tools—plus a pizza subscription service and other innovations—to sell more pizza, improve efficiency, cut costs, make better use of labor and build the pizza franchise of the future today.
Topic: Culture Is King: Attracting and Retaining Employees by Being Cooler Than the Competition
Speaker: Alex Koons, founder/owner, Hot Tongue Pizza, and co-owner, Purgatory Pizza
By capitalizing on staff members’ unique talents and treating them as valued contributors, you’ll build a team that truly buys into your mission, shows up on time every day and is happy to go the extra mile. In this session, the operations/marketing rock star behind L.A.’s Hot Tongue Pizza and host of the popular Pie.2.Pie podcast will show you how he has built a company culture that’s decidedly cooler, more authentic, more personally fulfilling and more attractive to younger employees.
IGNITING GROWTH IN THE PIZZA BUSINESS
Topic: Building a Business That Works For You (Rather Than the Other Way Around)
The adage “Work smarter, not harder” applies to you, the pizzeria owner, too. Let’s assume your restaurant is a success, and your systems and processes are in place. Now it’s time to revisit your priorities. Do you want a full, rewarding life outside the kitchen? Do you want to spend more time with your family and pursue other passions? Peyton Smith, owner of Mission Pizza Napoletana, shares how he has created a work/life balance that leads to both profits and pleasure and prevents burnout for himself and his employees.
Topic: Pizza and Beyond: Developing a Menu That Really Performs
Speakers:
Alexandra Castro, AVPN-certified chef/ instructor/caterer, Pizza With Ale
Zane Hunt, co-founder, Via 313
Alex Koons, founder/owner, Hot Tongue Pizza, and co-owner, Purgatory Pizza
Khanh Nguyen, founder/CEO, Zalat Pizza
Conference Agenda: Panel Sessions
Topic: Scaling With Integrity: How to Maintain Your Brand’s Standards During Growth
Speakers:
Michael LaMarca, owner/CEO, Master Pizza
Shahpour Nejad, founder/president/CEO, Pizza Guys
Brandon Hunt, co-founder, Via 313
Khanh Nguyen, founder/CEO, Zalat Pizza
It’s a common worry for operators adding new stores: How do you ensure consistency without diluting what originally made your pizza brand great?
As a pizza company scales from one unit to two or more locations, maintaining that high level of standards requires longterm planning, strategic execution and hawk-like oversight. Our experts will teach you how to make that daunting task simpler.
Is your menu really doing its job? With some thoughtful tweaks, you can boost its profit making potential in no time at all. In this session, you’ll discover the secrets to creating top-selling signature items with surefire broad appeal. At the same time, you’ll learn how to attract the intensely loyal vegetarian/vegan crowd as well as guests with specific dietary needs, who often determine where an entire family or group will dine out.
Topic: Perfecting Your Dough: Tips and Tricks
Speakers:
Alessio Lacco, co-owner, Atlanta Pizza Truck, and director, AVPN School Atlanta
Alexandra Castro, chef, caterer and private instructor, Pizza With Ale
Wilhelm Rodriguez, Master instructor and founder/owner, Papa’s Pizza
Joey Karvelas, founder/owner, Karvelas Pizza Company
Louise Joseph, owner/operator, Dough Girls Pizza
As a pizza maker, it all starts with your dough. Understanding dough management and performance is such an essential task, such an ongoing learning experience, that we’ve put together a panel of experts just for this topic. Because no matter how well your dough is performing, there are ways it can be improved. Don’t miss this session on the dos and don’ts of dough!
Topic: Leveraging Technology to Build the Pizzeria of the Future
Speakers:
Erica Barrett, founder/owner, Dough Boy Pizza
Bruce Hershey, founder/owner, Piper’s Scratch Pizza Shop
Alessio Lacco, co-owner, Atlanta Pizza Truck, and director, AVPN School Atlanta
There’s a high-tech solution to nearly every problem a pizza restaurateur faces today, from making pies faster, controlling costs and scheduling work shifts to streamlining the ordering process, building repeat business, even selling pizza in nontraditional locations. It’s a lot to keep up with, and the changes keep coming fast. In this panel discussion, innovative operators share the lessons they’ve learned, the tools and technologies they’re using, and how to master them all to sell more pizza.
Topic: Marketing Masters: Making Your Brand Stand Out in a Crowded Field
Speakers:
Alex Koons, founder/owner, Hot Tongue Pizza, and co-owner, Purgatory Pizza
Sofia Arango, founder, Latinos En Pizza, and co-owner, Atlanta Pizza Truck
Bruce Hershey, founder/owner, Piper’s Scratch Pizza Shop
So many pizzeria operators get into the business simply because they love making pizza. Marketing their restaurant is another challenge entirely—one that’s easy to overlook until they’re faced with a halffull dining room day after day. Successful pizzeria marketing starts with maintaining a strong presence across all digital platforms while creating a brand with authenticity, solid values and a distinctive personality. From social media and SMS outreach to establishing your pizzeria as a community partner that truly cares, our experienced operators will show you how they do it—and how you can do it, too.
Co-Located Events
4The Best Bake, guaranteed! EDGE-to-EDGE and always consistent
4Market-leading energy efficiency — precise gas controls and reduced end loss
4Super quiet operation — phones near the ovens aren’t a problem
4Stack up to 3 ovens high. Busy? Add a third deck.
4Simple, reliable and easy to maintain — reliability equals no downtime!
4PizzaMaster makes the largest electric deck ovens in the world
4PizzaMaster 932° F units deliver high temperature, high capacity baking
4High power and temperature combine for an old world bake flavor and tastier pizza
4All units come with stone hearths, and can be ordered in various sizes and finishes
4Use for traditional Neapolitan or New York Style Pizza, Indian Nan, Pita, Flat Breads and more!
’Sota Style Rising
What do you get when you mix a “passive-aggressive” sauce with fistfuls of toppings packed edge to edge? Meet the steadily spreading ’Sota style.
BY TRACY MORIN
WHEN PEOPLE THINK OF MIDWESTERN pizza, Chicago and Detroit may get much of the glory, but one pizzeria wants to add another entry to the list of legends: Minnesota style, or ’Sota style for short. It’s a relatively new phenomenon with a long history—Red’s Savoy Pizza didn’t officially trademark “’Sota style” until 2017, but its founder had pioneered his singular interpretation of pizza decades before.
RED’S SAVOY
PIZZA
Flash forward to 2024, and this historic, now steadily growing brand will have more than 20 locations by the year’s end. With its presence spreading beyond its original outpost in St. Paul, Minnesota—thus far, into North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa—customers in more areas of the country are getting the chance to become converts.
A Heavy Load
When Earl “Red” Schoenheider purchased a small tavern, the Savoy Inn, in 1965, the 6’4” entrepreneur made a natural bartender and bouncer. But he didn’t become a bona-fide pizza slinger until the next-door Sorini’s Pizza went up for sale in the late ’60s. “He bought the place, knocked a hole in the wall and started serving pizza,” recounts Reed Daniels, current CEO of Red’s Savoy Pizza. “He mastered the sauce. All of the pizza is very important, but what established the difference was the sauce.”
Today, Red’s calls its sauce “passiveaggressive”—a blend of sweet and savory, with a slightly spicy kick. The sausage, too, is a proprietary blend. The resulting pies, Daniels explains, are reminiscent of the Chicago tavern style, cut into squares. “But theirs is more thin and crispy,” he adds. “Ours is a bit thicker, and we put on way more toppings.”
Indeed, loads of toppings are another key differentiation. The official mission of Red’s is to “rid the world of skimpy, wimpy pizzas,” and the pizzeria walks the talk. Its founder, in fact, often told his employees if they were skimping on the toppings, “We need to make a living, not a killing.” Part of this defining characteristic was born of circumstance: “Red’s hands were like bear mitts,” Daniels says. But, years after Schoenheider’s passing in 2017, “we still layer the toppings in huge handfuls—so you get a full layer of pepperoni, a full layer of sausage. You get a bite of every topping in every bite.” Holding up that heavy load is a relatively thin crust that’s run through a sheeter twice and docked before saucing. The pizza is then cooked on a metal disc to support the toppings.
In another niche move, there’s one topping at Red’s that most American pizzerias don’t offer: sauerkraut. One limited-time pizza making the menu this summer is called the Ballpark, loaded with sauerkraut, hot giardiniera and sausage, finished with a mustard drizzle on top. “Sauerkraut is a popular Minnesota topping,” Daniels says. “It’s spectacular on pizza; it adds acidity.”
Traditionally, Red’s used deck ovens, but two years ago new locations started making the switch to conveyor ovens with a black granite stone surface, which replicates the baking properties of a deck model. “There’s a significant art to deck ovens, with hot and cold spots,” Daniels explains. “With labor issues, we were running into consistency problems.”
’Sota-Style Expansion
Consistency is an increasingly important consideration for the Red’s Savoy Pizza brand as it grows. Over the decades, Schoenheider ran a couple of locations himself but never harbored dreams of franchising. Only in the mid-2000s did he give permission to a couple of
RED’S SAVOY PIZZA
persistent Red’s Savoy fans to open a new location. Even without systems formally in place and loose agreements, Schoenheider managed to see his pizzeria grow to six or eight locations, Daniels estimates.
But when Daniels, who started as a marketing consultant with Red’s in 2012, assumed operations after Schoenheider’s passing, he initiated a rebrand—and trademarking “’Sota style” seemed like a good idea. “We asked ourselves, ‘What differentiates us in the market?’” Daniels explains. “So we coined ’Sota style pizza. At first, people said, ‘There’s no such thing,’ but it has become a thing. The first 18 to 24 months, there was nothing [in terms of wider interest]—but now with all of these styles coming out from every region, it’s like a language or a dialect: This is how we pizza.”
For his part, Daniels knew a winning product when he saw it (and tasted it). “I realized how special the brand was, and the product is amazing,” he says. “The flavor profile is second to none.”
In the future, Daniels isn’t sure how many cities might receive their own invasion of the ’Sota style, but franchising continues at a steady clip. “We get requests to open from snowbirds—people from here who have moved down to Florida, Texas or Arizona and say there’s no good pizza there,” Daniels says. “Pizza is a very interesting cuisine, because it creates memories. When you move away and miss home, pizza can bring you back in a second.”
And, among customers who might not possess that nostalgia factor, curiosity has become a major selling point. By boldly claiming an entire style, Red’s Savoy attracts customers who just want to try something new. Even locally, the style is grabbing more attention. “In 2017, people were saying, ‘What’s that?’ Now, they’re saying, “My favorite ’Sota-style pizza is....’ Minnesota-style pizza has become a thing, locally and now regionally. That’s part of our marketing strategy when we go to new cities: to get people interested, then let the product speak for itself.”
Tracy Morin is PMQ’s associate editor.
This Restaurant Boosted Sales by 15 Percent in One Week
Learn the quickest way to effectively connect with customers.
In February 2024, Rene Posadas took over ownership of Villa Renata Italian Restaurant. Business was slow, and to get customers through the door he knew he would have to find an effective way to reach them.
Posadas found traditional marketing methods, such as mailers and emails, difficult to track and often unsuccessful.
“One of our major challenges was ensuring that we could reach our customers effectively,” says Posadas.
“With traditional methods, like mailing physical menus or conducting email campaigns, we never know if the messages are received. This uncertainty made it difficult to gauge the impact of our outreach efforts.”
Posadas found success with PizzaCloud’s texting service, using it to market holiday promotions and send coupons and other information directly to customers. By switching to a text messaging service, Posadas experienced a 15 percent increase in sales within a week. PizzaCloud offered immediate, trackable and personal communication, significantly boosting engagement and revenue.
“Using text messages is different, because we can send specific keywords and receive immediate feedback, which allows us to see if people are engaging with the content,”
Posadas says. “This method has proven to be quicker and seemingly more effective than others we’ve tried.”
Email is one of the most popular forms of marketing. With everyone constantly on their phones checking inboxes and notifications, it is one of the quickest ways to reach customers. However, text messaging offers the same reach with a much higher open rate. By keeping the message short and using the restaurant’s phone number, the results prove to be more effective.
Unlike other automated text messaging services, PizzaCloud’s text messages don’t come from an unrecognizable four-digit number. “Our customers can save our number in their phones under ‘Villa Renata,’ so when they receive a text they know it is coming from us,” Posadas says. The customer can then click the phone number and call the restaurant directly. This makes calling in an order or booking a reservation quick and convenient.
Timing can dramatically enhance the effectiveness of promotional strategies. Customers will be tempted with a text just in time for dinner. They also immediately know when there are promotions or new menu items. “The first message I sent announced the sale of the business and introduced its new name and website. I offered a $5 discount on any order. It was astonishing how this simple message transformed our business.”
Posadas is impressed with the level of support and training provided by PizzaCloud. “Their customer service is always responsive,” Posadas says. “After the initial setup, they offered training and showed me all the features available through the phone system, including recording messages and setting up on-hold greetings. Support is just an email away, and they quickly make any changes requested.”
PizzaCloud’s text messaging services have proven to be a game changer for restaurants looking to boost their business rapidly. By leveraging the power of timely and targeted communication, restaurants can engage with their customers more effectively, leading to increased orders and enhanced customer loyalty.
To learn more about PizzaCloud’s text messaging services, visit pizzacloud.net
GETTY IMAGES/ MARIHA-KITCHEN
PizzaCloud
Text Message Marketing
Drive additional revenue through text message marketing, with the messages coming from your store phone number!
Either through direct integration to your POS system, or by exporting lists from the POS to import into our platform, you can schedule & manage outbound text message marketing to increase revenue.
Examples of How it Works
1) Send a X Dollars off coupon message to customers who’s last order was more than 90 days ago, with the goal of “re activating” those customers.
2) Send an “upsell” coupon for add on items to more active customers
3) Automated campaign to send a few hundred messages per day, with the goal of adding 10+ additional orders per day. Messages can be coupons, but you can also get great traction with messages such as “Happy Monday. Did you know you are allowed to eat pizza on Monday? ” followed by your online ordering link.
Text message marketing can have the highest return of any form of marketing, with real time results.
Price for this service varies based on type of message & volume.
We apply volume discounts across entire chain, so individual location owners benefit from total chain volume.
As low as $0.010 per message for high volume customers.
Text messages have up to 95% open rate within minutes, vs a few percent for email!
THE BEE’S KNEES
Ingredients
• 24-hour bulk fermentation
• 48-hour indirect proof pizza dough, par-baked for 8 minutes
• 3 oz. Wisconsin brick cheese, sliced
• 9 oz. Galbani® Premio Mozzarella and Wisconsin brick cheese, shredded
• 1 oz. red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 oz. Prosciutto di Parma, thinly sliced
• 1 oz. fresh arugula
• ½ oz. ParmesanReggiano, shaved
• Drizzle of hot, spicy honey
Directions
1. Lightly oil pan and line sides with sliced Wisconsin cheese.
2. Place par-baked dough into pan and top with Mozzarella and Wisconsin cheese blend. Tuck into corners and edges.
3. Place red onions on top and bake for 10 minutes.
4. Remove from pan and cut pizza into 4 slices.
5. Top each slice with prosciutto, arugula and Parmesan. Drizzle with honey and enjoy.
See what all the buzz is about with this Detroit-style pizza.
About the pizza
Jamie Culliton knows a thing or two about throwing the dough. He’s not only a well-decorated world-champion pizza acrobat, but he’s an award-winning pizzaiolo, too! In fact, The Washington Post named the Detroit-style pizzas at The NONA Slice House the best in the state of Florida. Jamie and his team travel the world to find inspiration for their pies, infusing the different flavors found on their adventures into their menu back home. And The Bee’s Knees, with its combination of creamy Galbani® Premio Mozzarella, salty Prosciutto di Parma, crisp arugula, and hot honey is just one of many pies that are bee-yond amazing.
Ispirazione Italiana
What's my Italian Inspiration? It’s offering customers a well-traveled menu. Our team searches the world to bring the best flavors and methods home to the Florida coast—including Detroit-style pizza. Our Detroit is getting national attention thanks to tried-and-true technique and superior ingredients like Galbani® Premio Mozzarella. With that frico cheese edge and amazing stretch, it’s worth the trip.
Jamie Culliton, Owner, The NONA Slice House Learn more at GalbaniPro.com
LOVE at FIRST
The founders of Atlanta Pizza Truck didn’t start out as a couple, but their romance propelled an epic ascent marked by innovation, tenacity and passion for the Neapolitan style.
BY CHARLIE POGACAR
PRIOR TO THE PANDEMIC, NOT MANY IN THE PIZZA WORLD knew Alessio Lacco and Sofia Arango, the owners of Atlanta Pizza Truck in Atlanta. But, thanks to tireless ambition and an unstoppable work ethic, the pair of lovebirds has risen to become a true pizza power couple in the American South, although neither was born there—or even in the United States.
PHOTOS BY HELLEN CO PHOTOS @hellencophotos
Together, they launched Atlanta Pizza Truck in March 2020. Lacco then founded the Atlanta branch of Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN) and became its director. Arango created Latinos en Pizza, a nonprofit that amassed more than 17,000 Instagram followers in a little over a year. They’re also in the midst of rolling out QuikZa, a pizza vending machine, and will be featured speakers at PMQ’s upcoming Pizza Power Forum, taking place September 4 and 5 in Atlanta.
And to think it all started because Arango, then single, just needed a place to live.
Rom-Com Vibes
Lacco and Arango’s story sounds like something out of a romantic comedy—“Love at First Bite” without the vampires. Perhaps that’s apropos, considering Atlanta Pizza Truck has become the go-to caterer for Atlanta’s burgeoning film and TV scene, drawing customers like Nicole Kidman, Neil Patrick Harris, and cast members of Max’s Doom Patrol and Netflix’s Cobra Kai
Arango, who was born in Venezuela and came to the U.S. due to political repression in her home country, lived with her mother in Atlanta. She found herself peeling potatoes and washing dishes in her first of several restaurant jobs. Eventually, she began looking around for her own place.
Lacco grew up in Italy, where he learned to make Neapolitan pizza. He immediately took to the pizza making process. “I’ve always loved the fire,” Lacco says. “I love working in a good wood-fired oven. I like to feel the heat, see the flame on the cupola. That’s what I’ve always really loved about making Neapolitan pizza.”
Lacco came to the U.S. when his father, a dental technician, took a job in New York in the mid-2000s.
Lacco relocated to Dallas for a while, where he worked at a pizzeria, before eventually moving to Atlanta to take a sous chef position at a restaurant his friend was opening. Arango and Lacco first crossed paths working at the same restaurant in Atlanta, and Lacco, aware that Arango was looking for her own place, invited her to stay in the spare room at his apartment. But they were just friends. Friends who planned to live together in order to save money. Friends, as it turned out, who would enjoy a Hollywood-approved happy ending: Arango and Lacco got married in 2019.
THE PIZZA POWER FORUM: POWER PLAYERS
Master pizzaiolo Alessio Lacco and marketing wizard Sofia Arango, owners of Atlanta Pizza Truck, will be featured panel speakers at PMQ’s Pizza Power Forum, taking place September 4 and 5 in Atlanta. Here’s a look at the topics they’ll address:
Alessio Lacco
PERFECTING YOUR DOUGH: Tips and Tricks
LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY to Build the Pizzeria of the Future
Sofia Arango
MARKETING MASTERS: Making Your Brand Stand Out in a Crowded Field
Sofia Arango founded the Latinos en Pizza nonprofit and uses her social media prowess to shine a spotlight on Latinos in the pizza industry.
A Joint Venture
When the pandemic began, Arango and Lacco were laid off, but Lacco saw that as an opportunity to launch a pizza pop-up business. He acquired a blue 1982 Piaggo Ape and hitched a trailer with a wood-burning pizza oven to the back of it. He initially named the mobile-pizza business Scialla, an Italian word that roughly translates to “YOLO,” as in “you only live once.” But, in Italian, it’s pronounced “sha-LA,” and his customers kept getting it wrong.
“Americans really wanted to say it like ‘sky-la,’” Lacco says. “And I didn’t like that, like, at all. So I said, ‘You know what? This is too complicated.’” He pivoted to the more basic Atlanta Pizza Truck, a brilliant move for online searches. When a potential customer searches “pizza truck Atlanta” or even “pizza truck” while in the city, the Atlanta Pizza Truck website is one of the first hits.
When he launched the pizza truck, Lacco had been cooking Neapolitan pizza and consulting for other pizzerias for more than a decade. He also began teaching classes on proper Neapolitan cooking techniques. And with so many pizzerias shuttered weeks into the pandemic, Atlanta Pizza Truck was, arguably, serving the best pizza in the city. Lacco showed up at breweries, weddings and film shoots, with Arango as his enterprising assistant. She worked the register at events
“At
some point it got out of hand. I was like, ‘You’re making more money than me!’ But you know, that’s what I love about [Sofia]. I saw this person who really understood the challenge of it.”
Alessio Lacco
and started contributing to—and growing—the truck’s fledgling social media presence. “I was getting more and more involved,” Arango recalls. “At first, it was like, ‘OK, Sofia, can you help me set up a [catering] agreement?’
And I would say, ‘I can do my best.’ And then soon he was asking me to find where to do the pop-ups, so I did that.”
Initially, Lacco paid Arango a flat fee. Then, somewhat playfully, Lacco negotiated a percentage of sales. Finally, he made Arango a 50-50 partner: It was all going to the same bank account anyway. “At some point it got out of hand,” Lacco says. “I was like, ‘You’re making more money than me!’ But you know, that’s what I love about her. I saw this person who really understood the challenge of it. We were both learning together, trying to figure out everything that goes into being successful in the catering business.”
The Atlanta Pizza Truck, a blue 1982 Piaggo Ape, has become a familiar sight in the large Southern city, dishing out authentic Neapolitan pies and often catering to film and TV sets.
Latinos en Pizza
Arango took to the pizza industry like a fish to the Amazon River. “It’s not only about the pizza. It’s also about the people behind the pizza, who are so special to us,” Arango says. “We have friends that have become almost family. It’s been a really rewarding journey.”
She also realized that much of that community was built around organizations like AVPN, which showcases Italian and Italian-American pizza makers and their craft. But who was spotlighting Latino pizza makers? As Arango developed relationships with other Latinos in the industry—both on social media and at trade shows—a WhatsApp group was started. It became so active that she decided to launch an Instagram account, simply called Latinos en Pizza. “At so many restaurants in the U.S.—and in Latin America, obviously—there are lots of Latinos in the kitchen,” Arango says. “Most of the kitchen staff in a lot of restaurants is Latino. But, normally, the face of a restaurant is not that of a Latino person.”
The Latinos en Pizza page quickly attracted a following. In six months, it had 2,000 followers. It grew exponentially from there, reaching 17,000-plus followers by June 2024. Arango and Lacco—who plays a supportive role with Latinos en Pizza—realized the movement was bigger than just an Instagram account. In Fall 2023, they recruited sponsors to send them and other Latino pizzaioli on a tour of Latin American countries. The selling point was the increasing number of pizzerias that were owned by Spanish speakers—why would a sponsor not want to reach a whole new demographic?
The sales pitch was successful, and for six weeks between late December and early February, their group traveled to Panama, Chile, Colombia and other countries. They met people they’d interacted with online and offered Neapolitan cooking classes to aspiring Latin American pizza makers. It was a milestone moment for the global pizza industry, furthering their belief that Latinos en Pizza had potential for growth far beyond their wildest dreams.
It’s now a nonprofit with huge goals both stateside and abroad. For example, it will offer a bilingual Neapolitan pizza making course on September 2 and 3, leading up to PMQ’s Pizza Power Forum in Atlanta. The organization will also launch Latinos en Pizza Day, an annual fundraiser for their nonprofit, on September 15. The more money that can be raised each year, the more Latinos en Pizza can continue to spotlight—and inspire—Latinos in the pizza space.
THE PIZZA POWER FORUM: SAVE THE DATES
Don’t miss these special events leading up to PMQ’s Pizza Power Forum in Atlanta!
LOCATION: 2000 Cheshire Bridge Road NE, Suite J, Atlanta
Neapolitan Pizza Making Class
Monday and Tuesday, September 2-3
Presented by Latinos en Pizza, this fullimmersion course will be taught in English and Spanish, making it the first of its kind in the U.S.
Instructors:
ALESSIO LACCO, co-owner of Atlanta Pizza Truck, director of AVPN-Atlanta and Pizza Power Forum panelist
AVPN-certified pizza chef/instructor and Pizza Power Forum panelist ALEXANDRA CASTRO of Pizza With Ale
Renowned pizza chef/influencer JUAN GABRIEL
PEREZ (@juang on Instagram) of Posto in Boston
Pre-Event Pizza Party
8-10 P.M., TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3
Hosted by Atlanta Pizza Truck and Latinos en Pizza, this special event will feature Neapolitan pizzas baked by master pizzaioli and is open to all Pizza Power Forum attendees.
“The growth has been really amazing,” Arango says. “When I started the Instagram page, I thought it was just an Instagram page. But the more we gain attention and momentum, it gives us this platform and the possibility to showcase people that maybe don’t usually have that possibility in their life.”
“When
I started [Latinos en Pizza], I thought it was just an Instagram page. But the more we gain attention and momentum, it gives us this platform and the possibility to showcase people that maybe don’t usually have that possibility in their life.”
Sofia Arango
The Pizzeria of the Future
The next chapter of Arango and Lacco’s pizza journey might be the most ambitious yet: the rollout of Quikza, their pizza vending machine franchise. Impressed with the power of automation in the pizza space, Lacco saw an opportunity. “And I was like, we don’t have much else going on,” he recalls, tongue in cheek. “So I figured we would give it a shot.”
Lacco acquired a prototype, installed it in Atlanta Pizza Truck’s shared kitchen space and began talking to investors. The machine has two ovens, holds up to 90 9” pizzas and can cook two pies at once, each in about three minutes. Lacco sees it as a logical next step for an industry seeking new ways to meet customers’ needs. It can either be used as a standalone moneymaker or as a way to augment an existing pizza business. For example, during peak traffic times, a walk-in customer could simply order a pizza from the vending machine instead of waiting in a long line. “The problem right now,” Lacco admits, “is the price point is high. But we are all about partnership and finding out what works for everyone. It’s all about finding the right people....But it’s something we’re really excited about, to see how it all plays out, and we are optimistic for the future.”
No matter how big Latinos en Pizza, QuikZa or any of their other ventures become, Arango and Lacco say Atlanta Pizza Truck will be their primary business, possibly with additional trucks. They’ve even fielded franchising inquiries for the concept.
Others in their shoes might want everything to just slow down for a minute. But that’s not the way they roll. That’s not how they got here, and it’s not how they will proceed into the future. “Honestly,” Arango says, “some things are not going as fast as we wish they would go. For us, it’s all about taking care of our businesses that are up and running right now. And then we have to try and build on top of whatever else is coming.”
Charlie
Pogacar is PMQ’s senior editor.
Franchise Fever
Ready
to create your own fastgrowing pizza dynasty? Here’s advice from three experienced operators who built their brands from the ground up.
BY CHARLIE POGACAR
SHAHPOUR NEJAD HAD SPENT EIGHT YEARS building up Pizza Guys when he finally decided to take it to the next step. It was the early 1990s, and the California concept had already proven itself, having grown to about a half-dozen stores since its launch in 1986. He knew Pizza Guys could keep right on growing, but it was running him ragged. So he did what many smart restaurateurs do when they reach this stage: He paid a lawyer a lot of money to help him franchise the brand.
“The attorney is the person who listens to you and does what you tell them to do,” Nejad says. “For example, [creating] an operations manual, where you really get into the details of how a pizza is made. It’s very timeconsuming and…as you know, attorneys cost a lot of money.”
Think of the above as the first three steps of franchising your pizzeria. First, prove the concept. Second, call a lawyer. Third, be prepared to explain, in detail, all of your processes, from how to cook a pizza to how to clean the oven.
Here’s a look at the franchising journeys of three established pizza brands and some of the wisdom their franchisors have acquired along the way.
Shahpour Nejad
Pizza Guys
Headquarters: Sacramento, California
Some 30 years after establishing Pizza Guys as a franchise, Nejad is the CEO and owner of a 90-unit chain. To grow a brand, he says, the franchisees must be your top priority. “I always say that I am nobody unless these people who are running the stores are successful first. If they’re successful, I’ll become successful…so I make sure that all of my franchisees are happy.”
That means constant communication with and serving as a sounding board for franchisees, Nejad
“I always say that I am nobody unless these people who are running the stores are successful first. If they’re successful, I’ll become successful…so I make sure that all of my franchisees are happy.”
Shahpour Nejad, Pizza Guys
notes. Overall, franchisees want to feel fully supported by the master franchisor, although how the franchisor can provide that support will vary from brand to brand and from franchisee to franchisee—there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.
Fortunately, Nejad’s philosophy makes finding franchisees that much easier. Word of mouth has spread, and he says entrepreneurs actively want to partner with the brand—in that way, the company has grown organically. But many of his original franchisees were former Pizza Guys managers. When Nejad first looked into franchising, he felt he could pull it off in part because he already had some dynamite store managers in place. They were so good that Nejad thought they would have little trouble pivoting to ownership.
Shahpour Nejad founded Pizza Guys in Sacramento, California, in 1986. Via franchising, the brand has grown to 90 locations.
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So Nejad cut those store managers a deal: If they could find another great manager to run their store, he would finance a venture to build their own Pizza Guys location. This proved a prudent decision. “Most of those people are still with me,” Nejad says. “Maybe they even have two, three, four—up to seven—stores that they now own. In those early days, we did not spend a dime recruiting people to become franchisees.”
So if you’re thinking about franchising, it might be worth asking: Do you already have an experienced store manager who wants to own a location, and would they be good at running it? If not, finding franchisees can prove costly—and, with your brand’s reputation now on the line, finding the wrong ones could be even costlier.
Michael Lamarca
Master Pizza
Headquarters: Cleveland, Ohio
Founded in Cleveland in the 1970s, Master Pizza grew quickly via franchising and apexed at as many as 38 locations. By the time Michael LaMarca’s family purchased the brand, however, Master Pizza had dwindled to just a single location.
LaMarca and his kin had big plans to restore Master Pizza to its glory days of yore. That first required making the one surviving location successful and reestablishing Master Pizza’s reputation in the community, a process that took the better part of a decade.
Finally, in 2011, LaMarca took the next step toward recharging Master Pizza’s franchising growth: He opened a second location by himself. He thought of it as a soft launch of the company’s franchising business, an opportunity to work out some of the kinks prior to bringing that first franchisee on board.
For anyone considering franchising, LaMarca recommends opening a new location with franchising in mind and nailing down your systems and processes, from recipes, portion controls and kitchen protocols—all in written form—to creating an operations manual and an employee handbook. He says launching that second Master Pizza location taught him a lot. “The biggest thing I learned is that it still takes time,” LaMarca says. “Just because you have a name out there and one successful store, you still need to put the time and effort into building that next store up—it’s not going to happen overnight. You can’t take success for granted, and you have to make that store work on its own.”
That’s something LaMarca carries with him to this day, even now that Master Pizza has resurged to 15 locations
THE PIZZA POWER FORUM: POWER PLAYERS
Michael LaMarca & Shahpour Nejad
MICHAEL LAMARCA of Master Pizza and SHAHPOUR NEJAD of Pizza Guys will be featured panel speakers at PMQ’s Pizza Power Forum, taking place September 4 and 5 in Atlanta. Here’s a look at the topic they’ll address:
SCALING WITH INTEGRITY: How to Maintain Your Brand’s Standards During Growth
Michael LaMarca and his family bought Master Pizza in 2000. The brand began franchising in 2011 after LaMarca opened a store of his own with that purpose in mind.
BRIAN HERNANDEZ
“[To save on legal fees], I recommend that people learn about trademarking themselves. Then go to the lawyer and say, ‘I want to trademark this, and this is what I need from you,’ rather than just, ‘I want to trademark this.’”
Michael LaMarca, Master Pizza
and two different franchise partners. Every time a store opens, LaMarca and his team work just as hard to make sure it becomes its own self-sufficient entity. And they’ve succeeded: The newest Master Pizza location has become the brand’s most profitable store yet.
Of course, that’s not always the case. “I thought my second store was going to be a million-dollar store right off the rip,” LaMarca says. “But it wasn’t. It was
all new customers…who wanted a great product and a great customer-service experience. Now I can tell my franchisees, ‘Hey, look, don’t make that mistake. I’ve had this experience. This is what happened to me, and this is what it took to be successful.’”
LaMarca offers one other piece of advice. In the early days of taking over Master Pizza, he didn’t own the rights to the name. He was free to use it under the terms of the purchase deal, but he couldn’t actually franchise with the brand name and logo. In other words, someone else could have opened a Master Pizza franchise, and he wouldn’t have had much of a claim to the name—at least not without spending tens of thousands of dollars on legal fees.
“I would recommend that people learn about trademarking themselves,” LaMarca says. “Then go to the lawyer and say, ‘I want to trademark this, and this is what I need from you,’ rather than just, ‘I want to trademark this.’” A lawyer will charge a lot more to somebody who hasn’t conducted their own research. Doing your homework can save both money and valuable time.
Artichoke Basille franchisees must undergo an intensive monthlong training program and learn every aspect of running the restaurant.
ARTICHOKE BASILLE’S PIZZA
Fran Garcia
Artichoke Basille’s Pizza
New York, New York
Fran Garcia, owner of New York’s celebrated Artichoke Basille’s Pizza, has grown his brand to 15 locations via franchising. Much like Nejad and LaMarca, Garcia has enjoyed the process of watching his franchisees grow into successful business owners. “When they’re successful, it changes their lives,” Garcia said. “They’re able to do things like buy [homes] and start families and be financially independent, and it’s very fulfilling to help them achieve their dream and be their own boss.”
While Artichoke’s first franchising agreement was with an entrepreneur who brought the brand to New York’s two largest airports, Garcia later cut a deal with an employee who wanted to open locations where he’d grown up—in California’s Bay Area. “The only challenges were sourcing some of the products out there,” Garcia says. “Aside from that, if you have somebody who knows how to do it, what we do is not rocket science. So if you’re willing to work for it, it comes down to location, location, location. Anybody can be successful if they’re willing to work.”
Garcia requires all of his prospective franchisees to undergo a fully immersive, month-long training program, doing everything from prepping ingredients and making pies to learning the register and POS
“People who have never touched a frying pan can become very successful [franchisees]. But someone who…wants to open one or two locations has to understand the sacrifice they are going to be making.”
Fran Garcia, Artichoke Basille’s Pizza
system. Garcia said it’s a way of ensuring the franchisee actually has what it takes to manage the full dayto-day grind of owning a pizzeria.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Garcia adds. “People who have never touched a frying pan can become very successful [franchisees]. But someone who is thinking about the business and wants to open one or two locations has to understand the sacrifice they are going to be making. If a guy doesn’t show up for work—it doesn’t matter if it’s a weekend, a holiday, a late-night shift—that means you have to be in the restaurant. Who is going to make dough that day? You have to know how to do it, and you have to be willing to do it.”
Charlie Pogacar is PMQ’s senior editor.
ARTICHOKE
Topping the Food Chains
BY TRACY MORIN
Two independent, single-location operators share how their oneof-a-kind concepts and key differentiators help them stand out among big-name pizza chains.
SATCHEL RAYE, OWNER OF SATCHEL’S PIZZA IN GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA, and Kira and Mark Zabrowski, managing partners of Much Ado About Pizza in Pleasanton, California, may be located on opposite sides of the country, but they have plenty in common.
Most importantly, these two independents have fashioned unique approaches to pizza and branding, enabling them to stand out in competitive markets. They know that the pizza business is really the people business—about making both staff and customers happy. And they embrace and capitalize on their single-location status rather than feeling inferior to the big-budget brands down the street. Here, they share with PMQ what makes them successful—and their strategies can do the same for you.
Finding Your Niche
Both Raye and the Zabrowskis have found a foolproof way to stand out: by establishing one-of-a-kind brands. “We’re a unique place,” Raye says. “We offer table service inside and out; we have a bar, live music, gift shop and a greenhouse with tables, so we aren’t anything like the normal delivery-only pizza place. We’re sort of a tourist attraction and local hot spot that happens to specialize in pizza.”
The Zabrowskis, meanwhile, have made their mark in Northern California with a Shakespeare-inspired concept—“partly because we wanted to have fun with our brand,” Kira explains, “but mostly out of necessity, to separate ourselves from all of the New York-style pizza joints around the corner.”
Differentiation for these pizzerias is not just a pretty face—they aren’t simply pasting a slick sheen over the same-old. It’s about making deeper decisions that create an entirely different experience. For example, the Zabrowskis craft their sourdough pizzas in small batches, with part of the dough making process done by hand— requiring at least 72 hours to land the right texture and flavor. As a small mom-and-pop shop, they’re also able to
experiment with the menu. “We have a lot of fun bringing in seasonal or unique ingredients that a lot of places in the area don’t carry, like Point Reyes TomaTruffle cheese and sunchokes,” Kira says. “The best part is coming up with fun Shakespearean-style names and punny writeups for the menu descriptions.” Where else can you find a specialty pizza named Taming of the Chew?
Team Building
Raye’s focus is threefold: great food, company culture and community. While this trio is not unusual, the difference lies in the way it’s carried out—and the 60-strong Satchel’s team is a critical puzzle piece. “It’s important the team feels respected and work is fun and challenging,” Raye says. “We hold monthly events for the staff, like bowling, kickball and visiting the local game room or brewery. Owners humbling themselves to the employees, giving raises regularly, and being kind go a long way to create an atmosphere where the team likes work. Once
“[It’s] a David and Goliath situation— don’t go toe to toe with [chains] in the things they’re already built to beat you in. Get creative in your marketing, find niche groups that you can appeal to, and try something new or different.”
Kira Zabrowski, Much Ado About Pizza
A Shakespeare-themed concept and a punny pizza menu add to the fun at Much Ado About Pizza, helmed by Mark and Kira Zabrowski.
Meatball Pizza Buffalo-Style Chicken
they like work, the food gets better, and the customers leave happier.”
In a small business, it’s also easier to recognize and meet employees’ ever-evolving needs. “The younger generation of restaurant workers has different needs and expectations from their job,” Raye notes. “Whereas 20 years ago I might get upset and argue with team members who were messing up, nowadays I try to count to 10, follow up with a manager after the rush, and make sure that the employee knows what went wrong and can make needed changes next time. This approach is much better with today’s youth.”
Another independent-pizzeria strength is the ability to adapt and make changes on the fly, which spills over into employee relations. For example, the Zabrowskis note that they can hire people who are open to taking on multiple roles; in return, employees feel like they’re part of a family.
Similarly, Raye prioritizes placing people where they can excel and enjoy their work. “Recently, a server showed interest in making videos—and I’m interested in making videos for the entire team to encourage them to think about their part in the whole and how each part is important,” he explains. “I had another server
who enjoyed making art more than serving, so I hired them to do mosaics around the property. Sometimes we hire someone for the kitchen and they show interest in serving, so we try them out in that capacity. Almost always, we can find the best fit for a person.”
Helping Hands
To be a successful pizzeria, community involvement is a must—and for the Zabrowskis, this passion flows through a variety of give-back efforts. “Our focus has been on feeding the unhoused in our Tri-Valley area and supporting the local arts programs,” Mark says. “We also feel like it takes others’ support to help you succeed, so when we have any success or recognition, we give back to our community. When we placed on Yelp’s top-100 U.S. restaurants list, we ran our Shakespeare Shares initiative: For the entire month of February, we donated $1 from each pizza sold to help a local tiny-homes community.”
Community is also important at Satchel’s, where customers are asked to round up their bills and a grant program raises money for local charities. Meanwhile, the Much Ado About Pizza family hosts what they call “pizza ambushes,” giving a few pizzas to local businesses, schools, and other organizations. “It’s so wonderful to give back, but it’s also nice to be able to talk to our community on a daily basis,” Mark says. “Then, when a customer comes in, we do our best to make them feel welcome and part of our pizza family.”
Nimble, Personable, Local
In addition to making adjustments on the fly, independents can foster the personal touch that connects with customers. “We are nimble,” Raye says. “When the pandemic started, I constructed Plexiglas barriers
Team building events at Satchel’s Pizza are held monthly to boost camaraderie among its 60-member staff.
“It’s rare to see the owner walk around checking on tables and interacting with customers. Customers…love to see the owner on-site. You just can’t do that with a chain.”
Satchel Raye, Satchel’s Pizza
in front of cashiers, spaced tables and quickly adapted to the new normal. Also, these days, it’s rare to see the owner walk around checking on tables and interacting with customers. Customers love to see a local business thrive, and they love to see the owner on-site. You just can’t do that with a chain.
“Plus, if the owner sees a dirty bathroom or onions cut too thick or pizzas being over-cheesed, they can correct and maintain cleanliness and quality control—that separates an independent from a bigger brand,” Raye continues. “Sometimes it’s more important to get one store right than to open more stores. Doing one store right should be able to make a decent living for the team and the owner, while being an asset to the community it serves.”
The Zabrowskis agree that staying small helps enable a personalized approach. “We have the opportunity to get to know our customers by name, and they like that we already know their order when they call or walk in,” Mark says. “We also feel empowered to try something different. We’re currently experimenting with Detroit style, calzones and pizza sandwiches. Even our ‘Marlowestyle’ pizza, similar to a Sicilian, was born out of requests from customers who’d tried our pizza at pop-ups at local wineries and chamber of commerce events.”
Much Ado’s customers also enjoy supporting small businesses, which opens up mutually beneficial opportunities. “We’ve made a conscious effort to reach out and build relationships with other small businesses, and this has given us comfort and confidence, knowing that we are not alone—and helped build partnerships, too,” Kira says. “We use a small local olive oil, Scarlata Farms, at our shop, plus a local honey, Dripz, exciting Point Reyes cheeses, and meats from the local Livermore butcher shop. We soon hope to introduce more local vegetables and sauces.”
Small but Mighty
The Zabrowskis believe the best tactic for independents is, fittingly, summed up in Hamlet: To thine own self be true. “You can’t possibly be all things to all people, so decide what makes your business a unique experience for customers and what is different and special about your product,” Mark advises. “The chains are pretty much going to beat us smaller guys on overall speed, sheer volume of pizzas, and typically price—that’s what they’re built for, and they excel at it. However, we have found that people really do like the personal touch. Handcrafted dough, specialized ingredients that are chosen by the owner, and even something simple like selecting the vegetables yourself all make a difference in the customer experience.”
Kira adds that it helps to share your narrative with as many customers—or potential customers—as possible. “Help them see why it’s important to support your business,” she says. “Emphasize what you’re doing in your business and in your community. The small operator vs. the large chain is like a David and Goliath situation— don’t go toe to toe with them in the things they’re already built to beat you in. Get creative in your marketing, find niche groups that you can appeal to, and try something new or different. Some of it works, some doesn’t—but when it works, hammer it home!”
Tracy Morin is PMQ’s associate editor.
CULTURE CLUB THE
Have you built a thriving corporate culture at your pizzeria? Two savvy operators share the keys to creating— and maintaining— the ironclad core beliefs that guide their businesses daily.
BY TRACY MORIN
MANY INDEPENDENT PIZZERIAS PRIDE themselves on being the opposite of corporate. In fact, they’ll often insist, it’s their personal touch and family feel that sets them apart from the big-name competitors down the street. But don’t fall into the trap of believing that this approach exempts you from building and maintaining a strong corporate culture at your pizzeria—one that ensures both customer and employee satisfaction. If yours is lacking, and even if it isn’t, read on. We guarantee you’ll learn a new trick or two (or 10) from these two operators who run a first-class corporate culture game.
PMQ: What does a “thriving corporate culture” mean to you?
Alex Koons: Building a thriving culture has a lot to do with your personal belief system and is actually a very tough thing to establish. Anyone can write down a vision statement or some great inspirational dogma for the business culture, but you have to live it. You have to breathe it into the relationships that you make—inside and outside of the business. How you run your business is a reflection of yourself, so leading by example, constant accountability and empathy are the things that will help you truly build a culture where everyone feels safe and valued and enjoys coming to work, because they know it’s an authentic place with real people doing their best.
Soller: It means everyone in the company understands the core beliefs of the restaurant and company, and those are being reflected in all decisions we make and all actions we take. Everyone is walking the talk. If you don’t have a core belief structure around your company, you don’t have any consistent way to make decisions, and your people don’t understand why decisions are being made. We have a set of seven founding guidelines: kindness, customer service, personal accountability, higher standards, continuous improvement, simplicity and giving. We make sure managers and employees know and understand all of these.
OUR EXPERTS
ALEX KOONS
Pizza industry consultant, host of the podcast Pie.2.Pie, owner of Hot Tongue Pizza and co-owner of Purgatory Pizza, Los Angeles, CA
ERIC SOLLER
Founder, Old Scratch Pizza, Dayton, OH (four locations)
“Anyone can write down a vision statement or some great inspirational dogma for the business culture, but you have to live it. You have to breathe it into the relationships that you make—inside and outside of the business.”
Alex Koons, Hot Tongue Pizza and Purgatory Pizza
PMQ: How does a strong corporate culture help attract and retain employees, ultimately translating to a better guest experience and more business success?
Koons: Having a cohesive culture and vibrant energy flowing through your restaurant makes the workday smoother. No one wants to feel bad at their job; you don’t want to hate where you work. That’s why it’s important to have clear policies, training and guidance, so people never feel lost or confused about what the expectations are. This can be overlooked when talking about culture, but it all blends together. A cohesive restaurant that communicates effectively and has policies set up for accountability will make it much easier for everyone to have a great time while doing their job.
Soller: We made the decision to make one of our store managers into our education manager. We found a direct relationship between how much in-person orientation a person receives before starting a job and how long they stay and how successful they are in the job. So each employee gets nine hours of in-person, in-classroom orientation. It’s not just watching computer screens or reading manuals—they learn fundamental beliefs, like how the company is run and how it works, job positions, menu, flow. That commitment to starting people off on the right foot is unique in our industry. The more people busing tables are experts on the menu, the better experience they can give customers. We want all team members to be excited about their job, and nothing’s more exciting than being an expert at it. They love having that confidence.
PMQ: How do you create a sense of community among staff?
Koons: I listen. I ask them how they’re doing, what they think, what they’re up to. You build relationships in the same way and try to make those relationships as real as possible. I want to be the same person I am at home as I am inside the walls of my restaurant.
Soller: Each of our individual restaurants has its own staff, but getting people together as a whole company is important. We have events like picnics and Halloween and Christmas parties. Our social media manager brings in staff all the time. We run contests for staff where they create social media posts; we have winners, but we end up posting most of them.
The restaurant industry can be a notoriously crappy place to work—hostile, with transient workers—and we have 80% high school kids working here. So we make sure this is a place where people of all ages feel comfortable, and parents can trust their kids with us for long periods of time.
The quality of kindness we emphasize makes such a difference in people’s behavior, and we have something for people to believe in. For example, we offer free soft serve for charitable donations, and we’ve raised $250,000 so far. Staff are part of that, and they want to be a part of it.
PMQ: What tips would you share about creating a great culture at the pizzeria—and then making sure everyone stays on the same page, without getting complacent over time?
Koons: Lead by example and create very specific expectations, checklists and guidelines for everyone at the shop. We make sure everyone stays on the same page through weekly check-ins, monthly touch-bases, employee meetings and a weekly newsletter.
Soller: We obviously want all of our managers to be good leaders, and that means leading by example. They have to not only be able to do their job but behave in a way that’s inspirational to employees. We have to create a healthy and positive environment.
Our stores have employee information centers, with QR codes, for managers and other employees. We have 360 employees, and they can make an appointment
with anyone—me, HR, the culture director—using preset times in our calendar, to talk about whatever they want. That’s valuable; people feel heard. The younger generation in particular can have a hard time directly confronting an issue, so having multiple avenues to talk is important. Other than meetings, we have ‘Say Something’ forms on our internal corporate website for comments, complaints and suggestions.
And we require all managers to do 15-minute check-ins with all employees each month, with a set of questions and talking points—not just about work, but: “How’s life? What are you interested in? Is there something you’d rather be doing at work? How can we help prepare you for the future?” Having one-on-one contact is key—we get such great feedback on that. Everyone wants to be heard and have people interested in them. We should be
THE PIZZA POWER FORUM: POWER PLAYERS Alex Koons
Alex Koons, owner of Hot Tongue Pizza and co-owner of Purgatory Pizza in Los Angeles, will be a featured speaker at PMQ’s Pizza Power Forum, taking place September 4 and 5 in Atlanta. Here’s a look at the topics he’ll address:
CULTURE IS KING: Attracting/Retaining Employees by Being Cooler Than the Competition (Fireside chat)
PIZZA & BEYOND: Developing a Menu That Really Performs (Panel session)
MARKETING MASTERS: Making Your Brand Stand Out in a Crowded Field (Panel session)
Eric Soller of Old Scratch Pizza prioritizes employee training, giving each new hire nine hours of orientation, to ensure a winning customer experience.
interested in our team members in ways other than just how they’re doing their job.
PMQ: Is there any other advice you would share with other pizzeria owners?
Koons: Don’t say one thing and do the opposite; be accountable yourself. You’re part of the team, too, so all rules should apply to you as well—even the smallest things.
Soller: There are so many things we do that contribute to culture. In order to make manager roles more appealing and show this can be a career, we limit managers to no more than 40 to 45 hours a week, with consistent days off and consistent schedules.
Every third month, each check-in is an evaluation with ongoing training initiatives to make sure people know how to progress. We use the Opus training platform, so employees can install an app on their phone for courses, and we have a big vision for that. We’re building Old Scratch University—where the operations manager gives a course on leadership or I give a course on how the company works. It’s an extension of Old Scratch
“We made…one of our store managers into our education manager. We found a direct relationship between how much in-person orientation a person receives before starting a job and how long they stay and how successful they are in the job.”
Eric Soller, Old Scratch Pizza
Fundamentals, with a series of customer service and position-specific training modules.
For a company with four locations, we’ve made a pretty significant investment, but it’s paying off in terms of employee satisfaction and retention. People want to know what they’re doing right and what the measurements are for being successful.
Tracy Morin is PMQ’s associate editor.
Wilhelm Rodriguez: Make the Time for Micro-Blistering
From
the southwestern corner of Puerto Rico, this pizza professor describes in detail how micro-blisters create an explosion of flavor in
every bite.
BY BRIAN HERNANDEZ
U.S. PIZZA TEAM PREMIERE MEMBER WILHELM
RODRIGUEZ, owner of Papa’s Pizza in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, is a 15-year veteran of the squad with more than 30 years of pizza experience. Acting on his love of pizza and people, he attended and graduated from the Accademia Pizzaiolo in Miami, gaining his Master Instructor status in 2022.
Having once marched in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City with the team, wowed
international TV audiences with his freestyle acrobatic skills and conquered the pizza scene in his small island paradise, Rodriguez felt it was time to give back to the industry by shaping the next generation of pizza makers. Now he’s teaching the American and Neapolitan/ Contemporary styles at the Accademia Pizzaioli USA in Miami. But PMQ’s Brian Hernandez persuaded him to set aside some time to talk about dough, micro-blistering and the importance of time in the process.
USPT member and Master Instructor Wilhelm Rodriguez can not only spin dough with the best of them—he can also teach you how to make the best dough.
Brian Hernandez: How did you get started in pizza?
Wilhelm Rodriguez: When I was 13 years old, I would walk by a pizza shop every day. I got to know the owner, and he started giving me tasks to do around the pizzeria— cleaning and things like that. Whenever I would finish my tasks, I would always go over to where they were making the pizzas to watch them. I was learning, but I also wanted them to see that I wanted to make pizzas. I was trying to get noticed.
Hernandez: What is micro-blistering?
Rodriguez: Gas. It’s the small bubbles of CO2 from the gas being created by fermentation. When I used to work at that pizzeria when I was younger, the guys working there would use those dough blisters to tell if the dough was ready, if there was enough air in it. It’s an old method, but it worked.
Hernandez: Do micro-blisters add flavor?
Rodriguez: They can double your flavor. Remember that those bubbles come from fermentation, and you have all that gas trapped in them. When you bite into them, the flavor’s going to explode in your mouth.
Hernandez: What causes them?
Rodriguez: Time, fermentation, temperature of the oven, flour and process are the main things you need to pay attention to. You need a lot of fermentation to get those blisters. You need at least 36 hours of fermentation for any good dough, but I think a good range [in which] to start seeing some blisters would be 56 to 60 hours. The
way that you handle the dough is very important. You must handle it gently and respect the cornicione if you want to get those blisters. You want to trap all that gas in the dough skin when you are working with it.
Hernandez: What benefits does micro-blistering offer?
Rodriguez: The look of the pizza is amazing. Everyone is going to be staring at that pizza as it comes through the pizzeria. But you will also get all of that extra flavor and a crispier crust. Believe me, it’s totally different from your regular pizza. When you have a slice in your hand, it’s going to feel very light….Most of the bubbles are on the outside of the crust, giving you the crunch. But on the inside, you’re going to have more chewiness. Those bubbles will protect the inside of the dough while it’s cooking in the oven, helping to keep moisture trapped inside so your dough won’t dry out during the bake.
Hernandez: Is there a way to speed up this process?
Rodriguez: Yes, but I don’t recommend it. Let’s say you need some emergency or same-day dough. You
THE PIZZA POWER FORUM: POWER PLAYERS
Wilhelm Rodriguez
Wilhelm Rodriguez, a master instructor and owner of Papa’s Pizza in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, will be a featured speaker at PMQ’s Pizza Power Forum, taking place September 4 and 5 in Atlanta. Here’s a look at the topic he and his fellow panelists will address:
PERFECTING YOUR DOUGH: Tips & Tricks
Micro-blisters can add another level to any competition pizza. They make your pizza visually stand out from the rest while giving judges an unexpected level of flavor and crunch.
could use a poolish or a biga to speed up the process, especially since starters are basically just concentrated fermentation factories already running. This could probably get you some blisters in about 24 hours if done right. But time is still the best method for fermentation, structure and flavor. Using a poolish or biga, along with a longer ferment time, will always add more flavor, but nothing will get you that structure and natural fermentation flavor more than time. Time, Brian…time.
Hernandez: Time. Heard. If you give any dough recipe enough time, can you achieve micro-blistering?
Rodriguez: Again, it all depends on many factors, but it is achievable. You can get these blisters on a Sicilian or grandma and using most ovens, but it all depends on that dough’s process and how long it ferments. You won’t always be able to see the blisters on the outside in all pizza styles, but you would be able to tell by the texture of the crust inside.
Hernandez: Aside from time, what else do you need to achieve micro-blisters?
Rodriguez: You definitely want a high-protein flour for your dough and a hydration of about 60% to 64%. All of that should get you some nice bubbles in your crust.
Hernandez: What is your best tip for more flavor in your dough?
Rodriguez: I really recommend a biga. It’s going to add a little sweetness to your dough, but it definitely adds to the flavor. I enjoy making dough recipes with a biga. But
“[Micro-blisters] can double your flavor. Remember that those bubbles come from fermentation, and you have all that gas trapped in them. When you bite into them, the flavor’s going to explode in your mouth.”
Wilhelm Rodriguez
I also recommend testing it with both. A poolish and a biga will give you different structures in your dough, but you can find out more about that in Atlanta at the Pizza Power Forum (September 4 to 5). I will be talking about advanced dough techniques, the science behind fermentation, and tips for improving the flavor and texture of your pizza.
Hernandez: As an instructor, what is the one thing you have had to correct in most of your students?
Rodriguez: Patience. Not letting your dough rise long enough before using it. People not giving the dough time for the natural fermentation process to do its job. Another one is yeast. People are trying to speed up the process by using more yeast than they should, but this changes the dough chemistry. Without the time, the dough is not going to sit right with you. You’re not going to feel light when you finish that pizza. You’re not going to feel well.
Hernandez: Any final thoughts about the industry before we finish up?
Rodriguez: I’m really happy right now, because I think the industry is at the top of the pyramid. You see all of the social media and people making pizza in their homes. Pizza is big, for real. Buckle up and enjoy the ride.
Watch Brian Hernandez’s full video interview with Wilhelm Rodriguez at PMQ.com/Wilhelm-Rodriguez.
For more information about the U.S. Pizza Team, its members and sponsors, visit USPizzaTeam.com.
IT’S TIME TO SHINE ON THE WEST COAST
Registration is now open for the The California Pizza Challenge, sponsored by Real California Milk
The California Restaurant Show and The Pizza Tomorrow Summit will become the new home of the U.S. Pizza Team’s California Pizza Challenge, August 25 to 27, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. With exciting event sponsors to be announced, three days of events, and a grand prize to compete in an international pizza competition in 2025, be ready to bring your entire squad of pizza makers and spinners!
For more information and rules and regulations, visit uspizzateam.com/cpc25 or email bhernandez@wtwhmedia.com
CATEGORIES TO INCLUDE:
• Non-Traditional
• Pan
• Best Traditional Pizza Sauce
• The Real California 3-Cheese Challenge
• Largest Dough Stretch
• Fastest Pizza Maker
• Fastest Box Folder
• Individual & Team Freestyle Acrobatics
Thank you to U.S. Pizza Team’s newest Gold Sponsor, Palazzolo’s Cheese Hog!
The U.S. Pizza Team is proud to announce that silver sponsor The Original Palazzolo’s Cheese Hog is elevating to the level of USPT Gold Sponsor! They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but you can’t imitate quality. Make sure you look for the Hog on your machine to know you’re getting the real thing.
“We are extremely excited to have the team at Palazzolo’s Cheese Hog taking a larger role in the USPT and our events. No offense to pre-shredded cheeses, but nothing tastes better than freshly shredded mozzarella on a competition pie.”
—USPT Coordinator Brian Hernandez
GETTY IMAGES/S. GREG PANOSIAN
Sponsor
•
•
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Knowledge. Networking. Pizza Power.
Sept. 4-5, 2024
Join the best and the brightest operators and consultants in the pizza industry for a two-day conference focused on innovative thinking and marketing/operations strategies that will boost your confidence…and your bottom line.
Expert Panel Discussions:
• Robots & Automation
• Dough Management
• Hiring/Retaining Staff
• Branding & Marketing
• And more!
Networking Opportunities:
• Learn from fellow pizza owners & operators
• Improve your pizza skills
• Grow your pizza business
• Build the pizza company of your dreams!
TOOLS
TOMATO PRODUCTS
WINGS
SAUCE
BY TRACY MORIN
(Clockwise from top left) The original Spinato’s location required years of hard work before becoming a success story; founder Ken Spinato works at the pizzeria; Elaine Spinato washes a pot in the early ’90s; a young Anthony Spinato whips up a pizza.
STAT E OFARIZONA
Spinato’s Pizzeria & Family Kitchen
Opening day was a bust for Ken and Elaine Spinato, who’d relocated from Chicago to Scottsdale, Arizona, in 1974 to open a pizzeria with a short-lived absentee partner—their sales totaled 69 cents. “I asked him later, after putting so much into the business and selling only a soda, how do you do day two?” recounts Anthony Spinato, the couple’s son and current president/CEO. “He really believed in the product—the food and the style of service. But it was hard for 35, 40 years; nobody knew who we were!”
Anthony believes the now-proprietary Spinato’s Experience (treating customers like they’re guests in the home) eventually won people over. Several other factors help, like having a central commissary for consistency, now pumping out 40,000 pounds of dough monthly, plus painstaking training of more than 400 team members to be genuinely welcoming—while also integrating those employees into the Spinato’s family. “Your guest experience is never going to exceed your employees’ experience,” Anthony says. “People never forget how you treat them. This business is very relational; it becomes part of your life. If we make people our focus, we’ll never go out of business.”
STATEOF AR I ZONA
Indeed, Spinato’s is a literal family affair, with Ken still involved today (Elaine retired after years of service). Their daughter, Nicole, is co-owner, office manager and food team lead, while her husband, Chris Kienlen, is catering manager. Anthony’s culinary-trained wife, Jaime, serves as brand manager and community outreach director, overseeing the charitable Kenneth A. Spinato Foundation, established in 2009. Over 50 years, the brand (now headquartered in Tempe) has expanded to seven Phoenixarea locations, including an arena outpost as the official pizza of the Suns and Mercury basketball teams.
But, after several years of significant growth, new openings have halted to protect the company, guests and staff. “How do you grow and do it well?” Anthony asks. “Our family and executive team have spent so much time thinking about that. After 40 years, we looked at our core values and realized we just love making people’s lives better. That’s our advantage— you can’t manufacture that. My dad is still out in the restaurants four days a week, and he reminds me what we’re here to protect. Our goal is not to be the biggest; it’s to be the best.”
Tracy Morin is PMQ’s associate editor.
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