Can the founders of San Francisco’s Square Pie Guys change lives with Detroitstyle pizza?
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Grain Craft and Shepherd’s Grain have proudly come together to offer a wide selection of premium pizza flours. With a focus on quality and consistencyalong with a commitment to the long-term health of our land - your pizza will always rise above the rest.
A shared passion for positive change.
graincraft.com
shepherdsgrain.com
Grande is championing operators who have an independent spirit and shared passion for excellence. By providing the finest all natural, authentic Italian cheeses, along with an unwavering commitment to quality, we’ll continue to advocate for independents and their love of the craft.
Plagued by labor woes and inflation, the chain’s stores declined by 2.9% in 2022’s second quarter after a drop of 3.6% in the previous quarter. PMQ.com/dominos-pizza-sales-decline/
The annual pizza making competition, sponsored by the California Milk Advisory Board, focused on dairy products from the Golden State. pmq.com/real-california-pizza-contestwinners-2022/
On in the Restaurant Industry
Is the biweekly pay period past its prime? Sbarro has joined a growing movement to allow employees to collect their pay immediately.
PMQ.com/on-demand-pay/
Was Beau Jo’s founder really a mountain man who was trampled by a woolly mammoth? Or just a regular guy with an eye for pretty pies?
PMQ.com/colorado-style-pizza/
in the U.S.
Italy’s 50 Top Pizza online guide once again dispatched “pizza inspectors” across the country to rank the best pizza restaurants for 2022.
PMQ.com/best-pizzeria-in-america/
, 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
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
China: Yvonne Liu Yvonne@pmq.com
Average unit volume for Californiabased Mountain Mike’s Pizza jumped by more than 30% in 2021 compared to 2019, says Nation’s Restaurant News PMQ.com/mountain-mikes-auv-growth/
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PMQ Pizza Magazine (ISSN #1937-5263) is published 10 times per year.
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As a restauranteur you have many choices in supplier partners. When it comes to pasta, having a product that is made with the finest durum wheat to produce a high protein, sturdy but elastic product that delivers consistent quality, makes a BIG difference.
Bellissimo Foods introduces a Teflon extruded product that ensures cooking speed and firmness in both single and double cooking applications. Manufactured and imported from Italy, Bellissimo dry pasta comes in 22 assorted shapes and cuts available in both 20/1 lb., and bulk 2/10 lb. sizes to accommodate all recipe designs.
As a quintessential comfort food, pasta is the starting point for countless dishes – from kid-pleasing mac and cheese to specialty entrées. You can count on Bellissimo Italian pastas to provide trusted consistency and quality while bringing value to your menu. Visit
IBIE:
September 17-21
Held every two years, this baking industry extravaganza is produced by the American Bakers Association. The 2019 event featured 939 exhibitors and attracted 21,000 baking professionals. This year’s workshops cover topics like supply chain strategies, understanding leavening functionality, and running a sustainable bakery. Learn more at bakingexpo.com.
Premiere: Best in Dough, Hulu
September 19
Hulu debuts its new series, Best in Dough, bringing together competitors from all walks of life to showcase their pizza slinging skills and battle it out for a cash prize. Hosted by Wells Adams with head judge chef Daniele Uditi of Pizzana in Los Angeles, this first-ever pizza competition show features chef Millie Peartree, comedian/ influencer Eunji Kim and baker Bryan Ford as judges.
Pizza Tomorrow Summit
November 9-10
Find out what’s next in the industry at the Pizza Tomorrow Summit in Orlando. This inaugural event offers hundreds of exhibitors with a wide range of products, educational sessions and pizza competitions and demonstrations. You’ll discover the new companies, products and initiatives that will propel our evolving industry into the future. Learn more at pizzatomorrow.com.
Get kickin’ with chicken on your pizza! Chicken is one of the healthiest proteins—and one of the tastiest. Consider adding a specialty pizza featuring Nashville hot chicken or Southern-style deep-fried chicken and develop some new wing recipes and sauces while you’re at it.
The kids are back in school, and parents’ schedules have gotten hectic. Make their lives easier with family-friendly bundles and meal deals. Value perception is paramount, so make these deals affordable for your customers and profitable for your restaurant.
International Bacon Day
Saturday, September 3
National Cheese Pizza Day
Monday, September 5
National Beer Lovers Day
Wednesday, September 7
National Eat a Hoagie Day
Wednesday, September 14
National Cheeseburger Day
Sunday, September 18
Hug a Vegetarian Day
Friday, September 23
National Foodservice Workers Day
Sunday, September 25
YOU DON’T NEED A BIG BREWERY TO MAKE A BIG IMPACT. Old Town Pizza’s brewery component Slice Beer Company knows a few things about making big beers in a small space. Slice and BrewBilt teamed up to customize a system that perfectly fits both their brewing style and 1,100-SF production area.
Matt Wojtowicz doesn’t look like an oddball, but he’s made it his mission to “keep pizza weird.” Wojtowicz left his job as a VP at Gino’s Original Pizza, a Toledo, Ohio-based chain, to open Pizza Cat in the same city in 2017. The eatery has its own quirky, feline-fixated esthetic, a vibrant social media presence, and a menu that’s downright daunting, including more than 30 pork- and beef-based pies, plus nine for vegetarians. And that’s not counting the one made with a hemp crust. Some of the pizza names are appropriately bewildering, such as the Isosceles Kramer (pepperoni, bacon, banana peppers, jalapeños, and Kalamata olives) and the Little Caligula (chicken, sausage and jalapeños with a spicy garlic butter sauce). And who wouldn’t want a taste of the Smelly Cat? That one features a garlic butter sauce, salami, sausage, red onions and roasted garlic. All of this weirdness has made Pizza Cat something of a media darling, with publications like the Toledo Blade, the Toledo City Paper and, most recently, the Detroit Free Press lavishing coverage on the concept. Wojtowicz and his business partner, the equally normal-looking Andre Robinson, recently opened a second location—called Pizza Cat Max—in the Motor City’s Greektown district and have pledged to keep it just as weird as the original. “Every time I’ve tried to have a job, I’ve been fired or left under weird circumstances,” Wojtowicz told the Free Press. “I like to be the boss.”
Mikey’s Late Night Slice, with seven locations in Columbus, Ohio, and one in Cincinnati, started taking drunk food to another level 13 years ago, landing on PMQ’s cover in the January-February 2017 edition. Co-owner Mike Sorboro and his wildly innovative team are back at it this summer with a roster of weekly specialty pizzas that elevate the after-party experience for the brand’s fans, affectionately known as “pizzafaces.” In a collaboration with Sabauce, a Columbus-based company specializing in sauces and marinades inspired by the flavors of India, they unveiled the SabAwesome, featuring chicken marinated in Sabauce, red onions and cheese, plus a red-sauce base enhanced with Sabauce. Then there’s the Cincy 4-Way, featuring Cincinnatistyle chili, spaghetti noodles, finely shredded cheddar cheese and white onions, and the Thicc-Ass Pepperoni, boasting thickly cut pepperoni slices and Parmesan cheese. Just don’t confuse the latter with Mikey’s other provocatively named pies like the Spicy-Ass Pepperoni, the Plain-Ass Pepperoni or, for that matter, the One Charming Mother F-ing Pig, touted as “10 times more charming than Arnold from Green Acres.”
Seattle-based Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria was reportedly the first pizza shop in the Northwest to be certified by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN). And it’s the first pizzeria anywhere—as far as we know—to offer discounts based on the price of gasoline. As prices soared at the pump throughout the first half of the summer, dine-in customers at four locations of the Washington State chain brought in their printed gas receipts and received a discount equal to the average cost of a gallon of gas in the Seattle area. In early July, that amount came to $5.65, although the discount was updated on a weekly basis. With customers “feeling the cost crunch at the pump,” Joe Fugere, Tutta Bella’s founder and CEO, said the company wanted to “ease the pain in some small way” with the promotion. Also in July, Tutta Bella beefed up its Amici Club rewards program by offering everyone who joined through the end of the month a chance to win free pizza for a year.
Thanos snapped his massive fingers and made half of all life in the universe disappear in Avengers: Infinity War Let’s hope the Marvel supervillain doesn’t do the same to the guests at Infinity Pizza, which recently opened in Clearwater, Florida. Fortunately, while a portrait of Thanos glowers down from one wall of the comics-themed pizzeria’s decor, the good guys from both the Marvel and DC universes—including Captain America and Wonder Woman—are there to fight him off. Not to mention that life-size statue of Deadpool. Infinity Pizza’s menu features specialty pies named after beloved comic book heroes, including the Moon Knight, a white pizza with a garlicParmesan-infused oil base topped with light mozzarella, ricotta and Parmesan; the Peter Porker, a classic meat lovers pie featuring pepperoni, ham, sausage and bacon; and the vegetarian Groot, made with green peppers, black olives, mushrooms, onions and tomatoes. The eatery also offers free arcade games and pinball machines to keep the multiverse loud and lively.
Dough Balls (yields about
7 dough balls)
53 oz. 00 Flour
29 oz. Grande Fior·di·Latte brine
5 oz. excess milk, strained cheese
0.01 oz. fresh yeast, if needed
0.02 oz. sea salt
Variazioni Su Un Tema Caprese
Pizza (yields one 12” pizza)
8 grape tomatoes, fresh and halved
5 Kalamata olives, pitted
1 tsp. capers
1/2 tsp. garlic, minced
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. bread crumbs, unseasoned
Oregano, to taste
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
31/2 oz. Grande Ovoline Fresh Mozzarella, julienned
5 basil leaves
Olive oil and oregano, to taste
Sponsored by:
Dough Balls:
Pour out 28 oz. of Grande Fior·di·Latte brine and set aside in cooler. Cut Grande Fresh Mozzarella and place in cooler for 4 hours to let excess milk separate from cheese. Mix the excess milk from the cheese into the brine and place in cooler until needed.
Pour the brine and 5 oz. excess milk into a mixing bowl and add 0.02 oz. sea salt to dissolve. Add 18 oz. flour and mix for 2 minutes. If needed, add 0.01 oz. fresh yeast. Gradually add another 18 oz. flour—it should take 5 minutes.
As the dough forms, start kneading it on a hard surface and gradually add the remaining 18 oz. of flour. Place the dough in a covered bin, leaving at least half of it empty to allow expansion of the dough during fermentation. Rest in a cool ambient or fermentation room for 10 hours. Form 10-oz. dough balls and place them in a covered dough tray for 6 to 8 hours at room temperature.
Variazioni Su Un Tema Caprese Pizza: Mix grape tomatoes, Kalamata olives, capers, minced garlic and extra-virgin olive oil in mixing bowl. Add sea salt and black pepper to taste. Place the mixed ingredients on a sheet tray covered in parchment and pour bread crumbs on top. Cover sheet pan with aluminum foil and bake for 50 minutes at 300°F. Remove aluminum foil and finish baking for 10 minutes at 300°F. Set in cooler for 50 to 60 minutes or until ready to use.
Stretch pizza dough to 12” round. Place the fresh basil on the crust and spread the mixed tomato sauce on top of the basil. Top with Grande Ovoline Fresh Mozzarella and a drizzle of olive oil. Bake at 750°F for 2 to 3 minutes or until crust is golden. Remove pizza from oven and garnish with fresh basil.
This recipe was created by Robin Brown from San Giorgio Pizzeria Napoletana in Milwaukee and was Grande’s 2021 Fior·di·Latte Recipe Contest Winner. It was inspired by Brown’s childhood summer vacations in Sorrento, Italy, where he frequented a nearby pizzeria owned by Nello, an old pizzaiolo who believed nothing should go to waste, including the brine from his Fior·di·Latte. This recipe will create an unforgettable dining experience for your customers and keep them coming back for more.
When evaluating sites for its Central Eastside Portland store, Sizzle Pie nailed factors like visibility and accessibility from a major or through street.
If you’re ready to open a new store or relocate your existing store, think like a Fortune 500 company when it comes to choosing a site.
BY BILLY MANZO JR.“Yo,Billy, why aren’t people coming into my restaurant?” I’m asked this all the time. People tell me they have great food, great service and a great following on TikTok (who am I to argue?), but they can’t seem to get people to walk into their place. I say to them: “Do you have a great location?”
The question stops them in their tracks. Like they never thought about it before. Um, it’s Retail 101, people! I’ll bet you money that the Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A in your neighborhood all think that their location is pretty great—and thought so long before they ever opened their doors. As independent pizzeria operators, we need to have the same mentality as Fortune 500 companies when it comes to location. We can’t just open a restaurant in some ol’ empty space. A successful pizzeria begins with a great location, which will determine foot traffic, business atmosphere and overall success. So where do you start?
If you already have a location and are looking to move or open another, think about all of the areas in the site that can be improved upon. Of course, there are the usual nuts-andbolts questions: Is there PVC wiring instead of copper running through the building? Did the landlord leave 10 pounds of grease that needs to be blown out to the main road? Do I need a new HVAC system? But also look critically at your business and ask yourself:
• Will I have enough traffic coming through the door?
• Is this location “business-friendly”?
• Is parking sufficient?
• What about visibility and accessibility? Is the site near a major street or through street? Is it well-positioned on a corner or main road?
We all want to learn from our mistakes. This is your chance to do better. Even if you have a restaurant that is performing well, there’s always room for improvement.
Put together a checklist.
As you evaluate new properties, research the neighborhood you’re considering, including:
• Home ownership rates: Are people looking to raise their families here?
• Retail habits: Do people in this area like to go out to eat?
• Median household income/discretionary spending: Do people here have the money to go out to eat?
• Employment rates: Are people in this area working? Are there any business sectors nearby?
• Age/generation: Are there young people around? What about senior communities?
• Crime rates: Nobody wants to be mugged on the way back to their car.
When Starbucks opens a new location, they know people there will spend six bucks for a coffee. That’s important for you to know, too. My guess is that those same people will want to buy pizza from someone different than Domino’s or Pizza Hut.
3
Find an anchor business.
A bank? Drugstore? Maybe the aforementioned Starbucks? You want to be near—preferably next to—a business that draws a lot of people, so you can get as many eyes on your brand as possible. But remember, just because there’s a massive amount of foot traffic in the area doesn’t mean people are going to beat a path to your door. What it means is that you have an opportunity to get them in your door.
A busy operation like Marco’s Pizza needs ample parking for dine-in and carryout customers as well as its delivery drivers.
4
Visit your local city hall.
You’ll want to get a sense of what the next two or three years is going to look like in that area. The local city hall or appropriate municipal department or development group will know. Most cities or towns have three- or five-year plans based on federal government monies coming in. Will the streets be changing? Are new businesses moving in or leaving? How about condos? Any planned developments? Now’s the time to find out. Also, city records or publicly disclosed documents can offer insight into how businesses similar to yours are performing.
5
Work with a reputable commercial real estate broker.
This one is key, because you can’t snag a great location alone. Small pizzeria owners—as much as they try, as much as they wish for it on a birthday cake—can’t get A+ locations. Look for B and C locations. Why? Because those A locations are either locked up, the rents are way too high, or the landlords just don’t want to deal with independents like you because you’re “high risk.” (Face it: The likelihood of a pizza restaurant staying around as long as a Chick-fil-A is not high.) If you contact some major real estate company as a mom-and-pop, the odds are they’re not going to call you back. A commercial real estate
broker will give you some leverage—and cachet. You don’t hire a commercial real estate broker just for what they do, but for whom they know. You’re buying the contacts and the relationships. You need those if you want to play in the big-boy real-estate game.
Listen, location is often not something pizzeria operators think about once their restaurant is up and running. But it should always be a consideration. Maybe your business plan changed. This year, I’ll be launching Chef Billy Manzo Pizza, a line of frozen pizzas that will be available through supermarkets. With this new venture, I decided to phase out the Providence, Rhode Island, location of Federal Hill Pizza. I changed my focus. Maybe you have, too. Or maybe your neighborhood has changed. Maybe it was never the right fit from the get-go. Or maybe business is booming and your location has outgrown your needs. Whatever the case, it might be time to take a look at your location and see what’s what. The fact is, if people are no longer coming into your restaurant, your great food, service and TikTok followers may not be enough to save you.
Billy Manzo Jr. is a veteran restaurant operator and the owner/chef of Federal Hill Pizza in Warren, Rhode Island.
Just because there’s a massive amount of foot traffic in the area doesn’t mean people are going to beat a path to your door. What it means is that you have an opportunity to get them in your door.
The pandemic changed the pizza industry in more ways than one—not all of them for the better. But where others saw problems, Glenn Celentano of Grand Slam Events saw an opportunity. He realized that the pizza industry didn’t just survive the pandemic—it kept thriving—and that the time was ripe for a pizza trade show on the East Coast. Thus, the Pizza Tomorrow Summit, taking place November 9 to 10 in Orlando, Florida, was conceived.
This event, produced by Grand Slam Events, will bring together the pizza world’s movers and shakers for two days of moneymaking products, educational seminars, cooking demos and competitions, all in one of the world’s most popular vacation destination cities.
If there was ever a time to ponder what the future of pizza will look like— and to mold it to our own vision—it’s now. The Pizza Tomorrow Summit is the place to start.
Celentano and his partner, Doug Miller, are trade show veterans, with 60 years of experience running large-scale B2B and B2C events between them. Celentano, who previously worked for Reed Exhibitions and Clarion Events, has spent decades running trade shows specifically in the foodservice industry. The pandemic was in full swing when he hit upon the Pizza Tomorrow Summit idea. His favorite restaurants were closed, some of them never to reopen. But pizza was a different story. “One evening I called my go-to pizza place in town, and my usual 15-minute wait was 90 minutes,” Celentano recalls. “When I arrived to pick up my pie, the line was around the building. It was in that moment that the light bulb went off. This industry is so resilient! If pizzerias can be doing so well during challenging times, I could only imagine how well they would do as things began returning to ‘normal’ again.”
And those pizzerias would be looking for fresh ideas, products and trends to fuel their inevitable rebound. “I knew there was another show out West, but I also knew that it’s a real financial and time commitment to get out there from the East Coast. I wanted to give these operators an event in an affordable destination city that’s easily accessible from everywhere. The rest, as they say, is history!”
There’s still nothing like a trade show for finding the ingredients, inspiration and equipment you need to make better pizza—and the innovations and technologies to sell more of it. A Google search can only take you so far. “I’ve been running events in the foodservice industry for 25 years,” Celentano says. “I chose foodservice because it’s an industry that requires face-toface interactions to survive. Without people in the dining room or picking
If there was ever a time to ponder what the future of pizza looks like— and to mold it to your own vision—it’s now. And this new East Coast event is the place to start.
up takeout, there is no restaurant. It’s the same for operators who are making buying decisions. I don’t know about you, but I can’t taste food through my computer screen. I also can’t smell what’s cooking or get real hands-on demonstrations of the newest equipment. Not to mention the peer interactions you get when the industry comes together. We all get lost in emails and chat conversations, and it’s easy to lose sight of the importance of meeting your fellow operators and sharing best practices, successes and ideas. It just doesn’t get any better!”
The Pizza Tomorrow Summit will offer plenty of those opportunities. Expert speakers include Billy Manzo of Chef Billy Manzo Pizza and Federal Hill Pizza in Warren, Rhode Island; restaurant coach and author David Scott Peters; Alex Koons, a plant-based pizza expert and owner of Purgatory Pizza and Hot Tongue Pizza in Los Angeles; Bruce Irving, host of the Smart
Pizza Marketing podcast; and Dale “The Lease Coach” Willerton.
“We’ve built this to be an immersive and fun experience,” Celentano says. “From the moment you arrive, you’ll know you’re not at your ordinary, everyday trade show. You’ll be greeted by live music performed by an Italian trio. The entrance to our show looks and feels like you’re entering a pizzeria! We have nonstop pizza competitions going all day long and some really compelling educational content, including topics like vegan pizza, recruiting
and retaining a winning team, pizza technology, and so much more.”
The exhibit floor will feature industry leaders like Sysco, Grande Cheese, Bellissimo Foods, Fiero and Pizza Solutions. “We’ve also just added an exciting food truck component that will be detailed in the coming weeks,” Celentano notes.
Finally, he adds, “It’s no secret that our pizza industry is rooted in family, and there’s no bigger family destination in the country—or, arguably, the world— than Orlando. Bring the family and turn it into a short vacation! While you’re mingling with your peers and getting business done at the show, they can enjoy the theme parks and all of the other fun stuff Orlando has to offer.”
In other words, there’s plenty for the spouse and kids to do while you’re busy discovering—and building—the pizza world of tomorrow.
Glenn Celentano Co-Founder, Grand Slam Events
Billy Manzo Owner of Federal Hill Pizza and featured
McKenna Carney
socially conscious founders of Square Pie Guys, San Francisco’s red-hot Detroit-style pizza company, believe that with great pizza making power comes great responsibility.
BY RICK HYNUM | PHOTOS BY MELATI CITRAWIREJAHow did two Jewish guys—one from Long Island, the other from Seattle—become famous in San Francisco for making Detroit-style pizzas? Danny Stoller, co-founder of Square Pie Guys (SPG), is surely one of the few American pizzaioli who could have been a rabbi (his own rabbi suggested that career at Stoller’s bar mitzvah). His business partner, Marc Schechter, started out making pies and giving them away for free to his friends—and to homeless people. They are, to borrow a homey expression, “good people.” And their shared values—a firm conviction that with great pizza making power comes great responsibility—inform and shape the culture at Square Pie Guys, with three locations in San Francisco and Oakland.
Danny Stoller (front) and Marc Schechter believe Square Pie Guys is “the next great American pizza chain.”Brought together by God or happenstance—depending on your perspective—Stoller and Schechter have become media darlings and ambassadors for a pizza style that barely existed outside of Detroit when they were kids. Thanks in part to some masterful marketing, every location they open makes headlines in the local press. And every location makes a difference in the lives of people in need. Because the founders aren’t just partners in a pizzeria but collaborators with a network of community nonprofits that receive a portion of Square Pie Guys’ sales.
“Look, no one starts a business because they aren’t trying to build a better life for themselves,” Stoller explains. “And, as we were talking about the type of company we wanted to run, we knew community was such an important part of what we
were striving for. We’ve been so lucky to have a voice, to get the interest from the press. Being able to repay a bit of that goodwill is just the natural evolution of trying to do things the right way.”
When he was growing up on Long Island, Schechter says, “It was a pretty normal thing to only eat great pizza. When I went to summer camp, I was shocked by the terrible frozen pizzas they’d serve us because I was so spoiled by what we had back home. Ever since then, I went out of my way to try and find the best pizza wherever I was.”
That quest continued when he moved to Berkeley, California. He was working in software sales, but what he loved was
“We’ve been so lucky to have a voice, to get the interest from the press. Being able to repay a bit of that goodwill is just the natural evolution of trying to do things the right way.”
— Danny Stoller
making pizzas for his friends at home—and showing them off on Instagram under the @squarepizzaguy (singular) handle. “At the same time, my fiancé broke up with me, which left this big hole in my life,” Schechter says. “I also wasn’t super-happy with my software sales career. But making pizza for people truly made me happy. I poured my heart and soul into it.”
Schechter often made more pizza than he needed, so he donated the extra slices to the Homeless Action Center next door. Still working his day job, he also took a weekend gig at Pizza Hacker in San Francisco. Before long, he started running their pop-up at Vinyl Wine Bar and further honing his skills.
Stoller, meanwhile, had worked at several fine-dining restaurants in Seattle after quitting college at 18. He eventually landed at The Culinary Edge agency in San Francisco. “We developed recipes and menus for some of the largest restaurant groups in the country,” he says. “One of my projects was overhauling and developing a whole new pizza concept, from dough recipes to operations materials to financial plans. So, in a twist of fate, I basically got paid to learn the craft, a craft that would quickly become my own.”
“[Offering Detroit pies] allowed us to stand out amongst the sea of other pizza places and gain attention for a novel new pizza style in the Bay Area.”
— Marc Schechter
Everyone struggles. Everyone has a bad day. Some people are better at hiding it than others.
You never know what’s really going on in someone else’s life.
Take the time to give a compliment. Take the time to have a conversation. Take the time to help someone.
Take the time to listen. Take the time to give a hug. Take the time to send a text. Take the time to apologize.
Take someone on a road trip. We need to intentionally give our energy to others.
It might not seem like much to you, but, for the other person, it could be just what is needed.
To learn more about Perfect Crust’s pizza liners and other products, visit perfectcrust.com or email Eric Bam at Eric@perfectcrust.com
A Boston native now living in Tulsa, OK, Eric Bam is VP of sales and marketing for Perfect Crust, with 20 years of experience in the foodservice industry. A powerful force in the workplace, Bam uses his positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed. He has three children and loves helping the men and women of the pizza industry grow their businesses.
That’s how Stoller and Schechter’s paths finally crossed—Schechter was friends with Stoller’s new boss at The Culinary Edge and had been hired to cater a company event. By this point, in early 2018, Schechter had moved on to another weekend job, this one at the Burlingame location of Pizzeria Delfina, and was running his own pizza pop-up— featuring New York-style and neo-Neapolitan pies—at Vinyl Wine Bar. The two men met and hit it off. “We started chatting about pizza, and we made some long bike rides to tour pizzerias in Oakland and Berkeley and became fast friends,” Schechter says. “At Danny’s July 4th barbecue in 2018, I pitched him the idea of a Detroit-style fast-casual restaurant. It immediately clicked in Danny’s head, and we decided to partner. We would convert my pop-up into the Square Pie Guys pop-up in September of 2018.”
Not long before that, Schechter had begun experimenting with Detroit-style pizza for his pop-ups. One night, a betrothed couple, looking for a wedding caterer, showed up at one of Schechter’s locally renowned pop-ups for a tasting. But Schechter had sold out for the night. All he had left were three Detroit-style pans with dough that had been proofing for his test pies.
“In a time when folks complain about labor and how people don’t want to work, they never take the time to look in the mirror. Folks like working somewhere they are valued, and the first of our four core values is ‘Team First.’”
— Danny Stoller
“I told them that I could make them Detroit-style just so they could try my sauce and my toppings and get a sense for my pizza making style,” Schechter says. “They loved the pies and asked if I could serve those at their wedding. I told them it’d be very difficult since they had 50 guests and I only had three pans. I’d need to buy at least 20 to 30 pans, and it’d be very expensive. Without hesitation, they told me to include the cost of the pans in my catering quote. That’s the true origin story! The couple accepted my quote and bought my first 30 Detroitstyle pans. Those pans are what Danny and I first launched the pop-up with.”
Soon, Schechter’s @squarepieguy account on Instagram, which had built up a substantial following, became @squarepieguys—with an S. The partners opened their first brick-and-mortar location in July 2019 in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood. Offering Detroit-style fare “allowed us to stand out amongst the sea of other pizza places and gain attention for a novel new pizza style in the Bay Area,” Schechter notes.
Stoller adds, “We knew that, if we did it well, we’d benefit from folks’ interest in authentic regional food they either had never tried or had a deep nostalgia for. We also knew that, if we weren’t careful, we could end up a novelty, a flash in the pan, so there was a deep desire to make sure that not only was our pizza representative of the Detroit tradition, but that it met our high standards for excellence. Basically, we wanted the best elements of the tradition but didn’t want to become mired in it.”
To get media attention, the partners worked with PR firms at first, then nurtured the relationships they’d forged with the local press on their own. “One piece of feedback we get is that most operators aren’t responsive [to media inquiries],” Stoller points out. “So they don’t get their voices heard as much because they’re not answering their phone or their email. We do.”
With media exposure came opportunities to collaborate on fundraising events with celebrity chefs like Samin Nosrat, author of Salt Fat Acid Heat and host of the Netflix show of the same name. For National Pepperoni Pizza Day in 2021, they rounded up a dozen Bay Area pizzerias to form the Pepperoni Posse, with each shop donating a portion of the day’s sales to nonprofits combating food insecurity.
Among its many community partners, SPG supports the Camp Mendocino Boys & Girls Club of San Francisco; La Cocina, a nonprofit that helps women, immigrants and people of color launch their own restaurants; the Jeremy Lin Foundation, which serves low-income AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) and BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color) communities; and Oaklash, the Bay Area’s drag and queer performance festival.
From a marketing standpoint, these relationships help establish SPG as a business that’s about more than its bottom line, which is increasingly appealing to millennial and Gen Z customers. And Stoller and Schechter makes sure to celebrate their own diverse roster of employees across the web.
It’s rare to find a restaurant company that spotlights every individual team member, from shift leads to dishwashers, on its website with professionally shot photographs. But SPG does
Louise Tang, Square Pie Guys’ senior GM, gets ready to slice a square for a customer.
“Detroit-style pizza is way more forgiving—you can always start the oven on a super-high heat to get the pan hot and crisp those edges, then bring it down later.”
— Danny Stoller
exactly that. “At the end of the day, we’re only a small part of Square Pie Guys,” Stoller says. “With each store, that becomes more and more true. I was tired of going to restaurants’ websites and only seeing senior leadership. In a time when folks complain about labor and how people don’t want to work, they never take the time to look in the mirror. We’ve seen that folks like working somewhere they are valued, and the first of our four core values is ‘Team First.’ That means that, as we make decisions, we include the impact on the team when we do it. Featuring our amazing, hard-working team is just part of that overall approach to making SPG the best possible place to work.”
But what about the pizza? Local website SFGate says SPG serves “some of the best pizzas San Francisco has to offer.” Earlier this year, the San Francisco Chronicle listed SPG as one of the best pizzerias in the East Bay. Their pies “come out dense, salty and with a resonant crunch,” the article states, boasting “gooey cheese in the middle and crusty cheese on the perimeter. Order pepperoni and find it overflowing with cups.”
To nail those trademark crispy edges, SPG uses Tillamook cheddar, then tops the pie with Grande’s whole-milk, lowmoisture mozzarella. “Honestly, getting to know your dough and making sure you’re using just enough oil in the pan are two huge parts of it,” Stoller says. “Beyond that, I think Detroitstyle is way more forgiving—you can always start the oven on a super-high heat to get the pan hot and crisp those edges, then bring it down later. We’ve also found that choosing a cheese can be a really important part of the cheese edge; some of the low-moisture, whole-milk mozzarellas burn really easily.”
Pans make a difference, too. SPG uses anodized aluminum pans from Lloyd Industries. “In the early days, we realized that [these pans] were a lot more forgiving and gave us a better product,” Stoller says. “In fact, we’re still using pans at the first location that we used right when we opened!”
SPG has grown fast—three stores in three years—and they’re just getting warmed up. “I think there are still growth opportunities in the Bay Area, up in Marin County and down in the South Bay by the big tech companies,” Schechter says. “Then I’d like to see us grow to Southern California and some of the major metropolitan areas up the coast—Portland, Seattle, etc.”
“Square Pie Guys is the next great American pizza chain,” Stoller adds. “We both have a goal and vision to take this concept nationwide, likely without franchising. We think we’re just scratching the surface of interest in affordable, premiumquality pies that are unique and craveable but not a novelty. We think we bridge generational divides, and we’re constantly learning how to offer excellent service in-store and off-premise.”
Eventually, they want to see SPG locations in multiple states, with a brand name that’s recognized nationwide. And that rising tide could lift employees’ boats as well, Stoller believes.
“I’ve heard stories of execs at Panda Express—also all corporate stores—bragging about former dishwashers becoming millionaires over the years. That, to me, is the most motivating and special thing I’ve ever heard. I want SPG to be the job that changes people’s lives.”
Rick Hynum is PMQ’s editor in chief.“I’ve heard stories of execs at Panda Express…bragging about former dishwashers becoming millionaires over the years….I want SPG to be the job that changes people’s lives.”
— Danny Stoller
All of Bonci Pizzarium’s Roman pizzas, displayed in glass cases like this one, are naturally leavened from one of master pizzaiolo Gabriele Bonci’s various starters.
Michael Kalanty takes us on a whirlwind trip to the Eternal City for a crash course in authentic Roman pizza.
BY MICHAEL KALANTYIf Roman pizza doesn’t surprise you with its unique styles, you’re sure to raise an eyebrow when you see how it’s served: al taglio. Cut with scissors and sold by weight, pizza al taglio is a popular and pervasive street food of the Italian capitol. Also called pizza in teglia and pizza al trancio, among other titles, the name means that the vendor will cut the pie according to your desired width—use both hands to show how wide a slice you want—and determine its price using a scale (pizza alla scala).
Any pair of scissors will do the trick—in a scene from the film Cobra, Sylvester Stallone grabbed one from his kitchen utility drawer. Italian scizzo (scissors) designed specifically for cutting pizza have offset blades. This allows the lower blade to rest flush on the bottom of the pizza pan or plate while the grips are held at a 45° angle to the pie.
But just about any shape or style of pizza could be cut into slices using scissors, so the term al taglio doesn’t really tell you what to expect in terms of the pizza’s texture, thickness or baking technique. When speaking of specific styles of Roman pies, the terms pizza Romana and pizza alla pala are more descriptive.
Pizza Romana is baked in a rectangular or square metal tray. As a reference point, think of the Detroit-style pizza, with its thick and fluffy dough baked
in a metal pan and its crunchy, almost fried bottom crust. When the tray is prelined with Parmesan or other grating cheese, the Detroit pie emerges with a crisp, lacy frame on its bottom and sides, as demonstrated by Master Pizza founder Michael LaMarca’s winning pie in the World Pizza Championship (WPC) earlier this year.
Although pizza Romana is not enshrouded in a caramelized cheese coating, it does have a noticeably crunchy bottom crust. One of the best ways to deliver that crunch is by baking it in a heavy metal pan. These pans are often made of either hard-anodized aluminum or steel for superior heat
transfer, high heat capacity and even heat distribution.
A Roman-style pizza is also thinner than a Detroit-style pie. The latter can achieve heights between 1” and almost 2”, while the same pie would be half that height in Rome. To visualize, you can easily turn your Detroit-style pie into the Roman style simply by cutting the weight of the dough ball in half and baking in the same size pan. Less dough in the same volume of baking space delivers an airier, lighter texture to the Roman crust, as opposed to the slightly denser, almost focaccia style of the Detroit pie. Technically speaking, the thinner the dough, the better the
Although pizza Romana is not enshrouded in a caramelized cheese coating [like Detroitstyle pizza], it does have a noticeably crunchy bottom crust.Gabriele Bonci, owner of Bonci Pizzarium in Rome, is one of the leading lights in the world of Roman pizza and has brought his Pizzarium concept to the U.S. as well.
thermal break between the dough and the sauce or toppings. This increases your chances for an open crumb structure and crisper bottom.
The pizza Romana style is on full display at maestro Gabriele Bonci’s Bonci Pizzarium in Rome, located at 43 Via Della Meloria, near the Cipro metro station. Take a short walk north from the Vatican Museum, and you’ll spot hungry pizza lovers lining the street well before you actually see the storefront. Once you arrive, take a number and enjoy the people-watching.
A smiling clerk will cut your selections al taglia and then re-crisp their bottoms in a smaller service oven with the door kept open so the toppings don’t overheat. The result is a warm, toasty bottom crust with an almost al dente chew to the bread’s interior. That combo of textures is enough to make any aficionado smile. The wild array of available toppings will literally take it over the top.
Bonci offers a rotating menu of various Roman pizzas in glass cases. All pies are naturally leavened from one of Bonci’s different starters. Basic pies are baked with just olive oil and salt or spread with marinara first. A simply topped pie may have eggplant and garlic. Heartier versions are baked with toppings such as yellow potatoes and green onions, or a more ambitious pairing such as shrimp and porcini mushrooms.
There are also slightly thicker, crisper pizzas which are baked plain and then topped with salume or cured meats. My personal favorite is the prosciutto e fichi, which looks like a miniature charcuterie board, with feathered prosciutto slices, fresh figs and arugula.
Pizza alla pala is the other style of pie that you’ll find almost everywhere in Rome. This Roman classic is baked not in a pan but directly on the oven hearth. The pizza alla pala is a thin, crispy and airy slab of dough that is “shoveled” onto the oven deck from a long wooden board (hence the “alla pala” part of the name). The pieces are cut al taglia and served on a paper plate or, depending on the number of slices, in a cardboard box.
Alla pala pizzas can be found in many Italian cities, especially Florence and Verona. Outside Rome, the pizza is characterized by a thick crust and a tender, fluffy interior, while the toppings can be anything from prosciutto and cherry tomatoes to various cheeses, olives and spicy salumi. In Rome, where the style originated, the high-hydration pizza alla pala is thin and crispy. It bears similarities both visually and texturally to some square Middle Eastern flatbreads, like the Iranian sangak or the Persian nan-e barbari.
Pane alla pala is usually shaped into a rectangle with slightly rounded corners, its length determined by the depth
Baking [pizza alla pala] dough is a feat of pizzaiolo acrobatics that rivals the spinning airborne pies that masters like USPT member Jamie Culliton display with ease.
of the oven. Because it’s baked free-form, even crispness of the bottom and side edges requires the pizzaiolo’s skill and dexterity in moving the pie once it’s in the oven. U.S. Pizza Team (USPT) member Lars Smith, co-owner of State of Mind Public House & Pizzeria in Los Altos, California, displayed his techniques in this category at the WPC earlier this year.
Where can you taste the quintessential pizza alla pala in Rome? Head to Forno Campo de’ Fiori (Oven at the Flower Market) in Rome’s southwest corner. Boasting an oven that’s been firing since 1864, the bakery, situated on the corner of the old Roman market, boasts a pizza alla pala that is about 12” wide by 7’ long. That’s a lot of gluten to have to tame during the shaping and loading phase.
The 2-kilogram dough pieces spend approximately 30 minutes each on 8’ long canvas-covered boards that barely fit the bakery space. Before being loaded, each piece is alternately brushed with olive oil and hand-stretched at least four or five times before it’s transferred onto the hearth.
Baking the dough is a feat of pizzaiolo acrobatics that rivals
Jamie Culliton display with ease. The 8’ long board is lifted from its sawhorse support and carried to a shorter 2’ long loading peel. Holding the board at a 45° angle, the pizzaiolo simultaneously slides and pleats the dough so that it fits perfectly onto the shorter loading peel.
The pizzaiolo steadily draws the peel from the depths of the oven toward the front, using a series of smooth pulses to unload the pleated dough into a flat shape once again. With an oven heat of 575˚, the ¼”- to 1/2”-thick dough bakes to a crisp bottom and edges in seven to eight minutes.
Simply brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt, this so-named pizza bianca was the original street food sold at
doesn’t mean white in this case, but plain or unadorned. There is also a pizza marinara version, in which the stretched dough is slathered with red sauce just prior to baking. To get around the challenges of pleating a dough covered in sauce, the marinara version is baked in a shorter 3’ sheet.
The bianca and marinara pies are the backbone of the menu here, but there are other versions with basic toppings to round out the menu—mozzarella and tomato, cured ham and cheese, and a personal favorite: cheese, anchovies and squash blossoms. All pieces are cut al taglia and priced by weight.
The bustling market and flower stalls make for great peoplewatching. Pizza in hand, customers find accommodating seating on upturned produce boxes or chairs borrowed from nearby cafes (if it’s not a busy hour!), or they simply enjoy their slices while strolling the market.
Over time, evolving menu trends called for the introduction of more topping choices. Rather than changing the menu and the original style at Forno Campo de’ Fiori, the Roscioli family chose to open another spot about a two-minute walk southeast of Campo de’ Fiori, thus bookending the busy marketplace and tourist gathering spot.
Antico Forno Roscioli—located at 34 Via dei Chiavari— serves pizza alla pala with a slightly thicker crust, about ¾” to 1”, and a more open crumb. You can still get an unadorned bianca or marinara pie here, but a bigger draw is the vast assortment of toppings (some baked on the pies, others added afterwards) that Roscioli offers: cured meats, melted cheeses, fresh produce like spinach, bitter greens, mushrooms and olives. Pieces are cut al taglia and priced by weight. There are no service ovens, so the pieces are not reheated.
Antico Forno Roscioli also offers fresh-baked breads, pastries and cookies. Their Pane ai Noce is a naturally leavened hearth bread crammed with both walnuts and hazelnuts, with the almost-burnt crust that marks Roman bread-baking tradition.
Antico Forno Roscioli fits the array of Roman pizza somewhere between the classic simplicity of Forno Campo de Fiori’s pizza bianco and Bonci Pizzarium’s more elaborate pizza Romana.
If you purchase one of their loaves, make sure to walk to the end of the street and visit their cheese shop, Roscioli Salumeria con Cucina, at 21 Via dei Giubbonari. Ask for a cheese recommendation and maybe some salume to complement your bread. No respectful visitor to Rome would be without these three staples in the hotel room for late-night or earlymorning snacking.
If you’re there early enough in the day (by 11:00 a.m., you might be too late!), purchase one or two of the millefoglie (flaky pastry) al cioccolato e noci—laminated yeasted dough layered with chocolate, cocoa and walnuts. If you can manage to save one for later, it goes fantastico with a caffe doppio (double espresso) and makes a great afternoon snack.
Antico Forno Roscioli fits the array of Roman pizza somewhere between the classic simplicity of Forno Campo de’ Fiori’s pizza bianco and Bonci Pizzarium’s more elaborate pizza Romana. Whichever one you visit, make sure to find a sweet spot to sit—one with a great view—to savor this popular street food in the authentic Roman style!
Michael Kalanty is the author of How to Bake Bread and How to Bake More Bread
He’s the former executive bread baker for Le Cordon Bleu, a network of culinary and hospitality schools, and is currently an independent product developer for the baking industry who works with Johnson & Wales University.
Antico Forno Roscioli, owned by the same family behind Forno Campo de’ Fiori, serves alla pala pizza with a slightly thicker crust and a more open crumb.
Keurig machine-style cocktails are just one recent innovation in beverage dispensing for bars and restaurants.
BY TRACY MORIN
Thanks to a range of influences—technological advances, restaurant employee shortages and the shakeup of COVID19, among others—beverage dispensing has come a long way in recent years. Self-serve, touch-free and Keurig-like automation are all some of the latest ways that drinks, from beer, wine and cocktails to sodas and teas, are being poured at restaurants, bars and even high-volume locations like sports stadiums. To get a better view of the latest, we tapped (pun intended) some experts in the tech and restaurant fields to share their favorite innovations in beverage dispensing.
Brian Nagele
Former restaurant owner/CEO of Restaurant Clicks
Philadelphia, PA
Contactless dispensers for beverages are becoming more and more popular in restaurants. They provide a cleaner, faster way of customers getting the beverage without having to touch anything or wait in line. There are two types of contactless beverage dispensers: The first type is the one that uses radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. These dispensers are usually installed at the table and use a card reader to identify who is drinking from it. The second type is one that uses near-field communication (NFC) technology. These dispensers are usually installed on the counter and use a smartphone to identify who is drinking from it. Contactless beverage dispensers have a number of benefits: They help
restaurants save money, and they make ordering easier for customers by reducing wait times.
Lydia Martin
Founder, Liquor Laboratory
Redmond, WA
Advanced technology offers a huge advantage to restaurant and bar owners alike. I’m impressed with TapWise Smart Dispensing Solutions from Sestra Systems. With this new touchless solution for beverage dispensing, you have full control of your beverage program. The advanced beverage dispenser was inspired by the advent of
COVID-19 and is intended to increase the point-of-service experience in restaurants and bars, helping to create distance between servers and guests. The dispenser offers precision pouring through touchless taps or push-to-pour control and even has a Smart FOB to prevent foam from filling the glass, which leads to loss of product. You can see and control each tap from your phone or laptop and even set automatic schedules to open or close service. It also has a wide range of payment options through Sestra’s IoT-connected network and a real-time connectivity status for each tap.
“Contactless beverage dispensers have a number of benefits: They help restaurants save money, and they make ordering easier for customers by reducing wait times.”
— Brian Nagele, Restaurant Clicks
St. Petersburg, FL
Smokin’ Oak Wood-Fired Pizza developed a self-pour taproom model to complement its offering of wood-fired pizzas, sandwiches, starters and desserts. When a guest comes into the restaurant, the cashier starts a tab for them, scans their driver’s license, and provides them with an RFID-enabled wristband. The guest then goes to the self-pour taproom wall, which can have 20 to 50 taps, depending on the size of the location, that offer craft beer, domestic beer, ciders, prosecco, wines and, in some locations, mixed cocktails. The guest selects their drink, holds their wristband to the screen, and, when the light turns green, they are able to pour their own drink. They can pour as little as one ounce if they’re looking for just a taste, or they can pour a full drink. The self-pour system does have a cutoff point—calibrated for the ABV of each drink the guest pours—and the guest can have their wristband reactivated by a taproom attendant to continue to pour. Self-pour technology is interesting to us for several reasons:
1. Guests love the idea of self-pouring. They can “study” a drink before they pour. Each screen has a description of the drink, its price per ounce, the ABV, where the brewer is from, etc. Instead of committing to a full pint of beer, for example, they can pour an ounce to make sure they like it—and, if not, move on to something else. There’s no waiting behind other people at a bar or waiting for a bartender.
2. High margins. Beer, wine and cocktails are a highmargin product and do not cannibalize the sale of any other product in our restaurants. It’s truly incremental revenue to the franchise owner, increasing the average ticket per guest and the total revenue per restaurant location.
3. Low labor model. Because it’s self-pour, the labor dollars associated with the revenue generated from the taproom wall is very low. Typically, on busy Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, there’s one taproom attendant. During the rest of the week, managers and other team members are able to help guests with any questions they may have on the taproom wall.
As technology develops, many restaurants are starting to use self-pour beverage technologies to save time for the customer and avoid inconvenience. Customers can easily operate the machine through their smartphone, with a customizable app that’s designed to help customers—the beverage self-pour dispenser technology connects with the app. It’s a simple setup for self-pour technology: Customers use a credit card or online payment method to pay the bill, and they can scan QR codes through the app. They simply select the drink of their choice and proceed with the payment method, then activate self-serve taps and start pouring right from the app. This method reduces the cost of staffing and provides service efficiency.
Consumer demand for cocktails is at an all-time high, yet venues have been challenged by the labor, ingredients and time required to deliver consistent premium cocktails. So we created the Bartesian Professional, an intelligent cocktail maker. It uses capsules that contain the ingredients for on-demand, lounge-quality drinks, giving the benefits of a fully stocked bar in one sleek and compact machine. It can make consistent, delicious cocktails for large groups without the wait or need for numerous ingredients and extensive cleanup.
Bartesian Professional is already available at national and major league sports stadiums nationwide, including Fenway Park and Wrigley Field, and is now pouring drinks at the
“[Bartesian] uses capsules that contain the ingredients for ondemand, lounge-quality drinks, giving the benefits of a fully stocked bar in one sleek and compact machine.”
— Ryan Close, Bartesian
push of a button in restaurants, hotels, bars and other venues. The machine offers premium cocktails on demand with the customer’s choice of spirits at customizable strengths. More than 40 unique cocktails are available, with new recipes like Lemon Drop, Amaretto Sour and Blackberry Margarita debuting regularly. Each fully recyclable Bartesian cocktail capsule is packed with highquality bitters, liqueurs, juices and other ingredients needed to make the perfect cocktail in seconds. The Bartesian Professional unit also features a tamperproof locking system and commercial certifications.
Tracy Morin is PMQ’s senior copy editor and the editor of PizzaVegan.com.
Experts share how operators can use their POS systems to better manage and improve pizza delivery service for drivers and customers alike.
BY TRACY MORIN
In PMQ’s June-July issue, we covered how to use your POS system for better inventory tracking and improved profit margins. This month, we’ll look at ways it can assist the delivery process, creating a smoother experience for delivery drivers, customers and, ultimately, operators themselves. Whether you’re looking to tap into the capabilities of your current system or in the market for a new POS to help with crucial business functions like delivery, read on for helpful tips—provided by experts from various segments of the restaurant industry, in their own words—on how to deliver smarter with your POS.
The Expert: David Chatkin, president, Sarpino’s USA, Chicago, IL
The Intel: Sarpino’s has been a delivery concept from inception. Our POS delivery system offers various API integrations with third-party vendors, accounting P&L software, and business intelligence tools to combine Google Analytics data with POS and warehouse data to draw more conclusions and insights. DoorDash Drive is also integrated, which adds even more capacity to the Sarpino’s self-delivery fleet. The system is very flexible and adaptive and allows customization and
constant additions and improvements to support delivery.
The latest feature we’re piloting is Presto’s AI voice answering system, which allows us to process transactions without a human cashier. It’s a great labor solution to allow staff to focus on production. Additionally, the AI system fields calls that otherwise would not have been answered, thus adding revenue as well. Push notifications, order tracking, SMS confirmation, contactless delivery and flexible payment options are all tools available to make the perfect delivery and to communicate with the customer.
The Expert: Meaghan Brophy, POS system expert, Fit Small Business, New York, NY
The Intel: Essentially, a good POS system offers restaurant managers and drivers greater visibility into operations, which allows for better planning and streamlined delivery flow. Look for POS providers that offer these benefits:
• Map views of online orders for efficient delivery routing: Real-time map views allow you to group deliveries based on location, verify addresses ahead of time, and assign multiple orders to one driver, which can save drivers time and frustration and allow for more timely deliveries. Some POS systems also offer real-time traffic views, so you can anticipate delays and factor them into promised delivery times.
• Remote management: Many POS systems allow restaurants to assign orders to drivers as they’re on the
“The latest feature we’re piloting is Presto’s AI voice answering system, which allows us to process transactions without a human cashier. It’s a great labor solution to allow staff to focus on production.”
— David Chatkin, Sarpino’s USA
go and even send turn-by-turn directions. Some systems also offer estimated driver return times, which help prevent overbooking or overpromising on delivery times.
• Real-time status updates: POS systems track order and delivery status in real time so that managers know where their drivers are and can properly gauge future availability and timelines. The best POS systems also keep customers updated with real-time status. This visibility, paired with accurate delivery time estimates, helps provide a great customer experience, which can impact driver tips as well as reorder rates.
• Built-in reimbursement calculations: POS systems with integrated routing can also be programmed to automatically reimburse drivers based on their designated routes. This saves time and prevents drivers from needing to remember to self-report their odometers.
• Dedicated driver app: The best POS systems have driver apps with GPS navigation, order details and the ability to contact customers, all directly through the app. Drivers can easily view delivery notes from customers, which helps with finding correct addresses, especially in apartment complexes. These apps also notify drivers when they are assigned orders, which provides them with more visibility into their workday.
The Expert: Ray Camillo, principal, Blue Orbit Hospitality Consulting, Atlanta, GA
The Intel: A delivery driver’s biggest challenges are delivering on time and processing payment, and their No. 1 concern is tips. As app payment and tip processing have replaced cash, tips are often requested in advance, which means the establishment delivering the food needs a reputation for delivering food fast, hot and in great condition. Drivers are judged—and tipped—based on the performance of the last delivery. Therefore, a solid software solution becomes a vital difference-maker for helping drivers score better tips, which is aligned with the restaurant’s goal of making more money. With payments processed ahead of time, software must help the driver deliver the highest volume of orders in the shortest amount of time.
Years ago, UPS developed proprietary software that would generate the most efficient delivery routes based on where their load of individual packages were going. Ride-sharing services like Uber use a more robust version of this to route the nearest driver to the customer. With higher labor and inventory costs, restaurants can ill afford to squander money on delivery drivers, and smart drivers will go where they can make the most money.
Delivering food efficiently is a complex problem that restaurant operators often think drivers can solve on the road—armed, at best, with only a deep knowledge of local roads. Through analyzing traffic data, road conditions and turn sequences, delivery software algorithms allow a driver to service as many customers in the shortest possible time. Drivers can’t possibly do this as well as machines, so when restaurants let them manage their own routes, they leave money on the table and generate inconsistent delivery histories. The restaurant ends up hiring too many drivers, which costs more money, and they make fewer tips than they could get if a robust routing software was in charge. There are many standalone routing systems available—such as Circuit or OptimoRoute—but some point-of-sale software companies are now integrating this software into their platforms.
The Expert: Graham Campbell, chief operating officer, Givex, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
The Intel: Pizzeria operators should also look for a system that offers:
• Future ordering: Phone orders can be taken in advance, queued up and produced just in time for the pickup.
• A delivery driver module.
“Real-time map views allow you to group deliveries based on location, verify addresses ahead of time, and assign multiple orders to one driver.”
— Meaghan Brophy, Fit Small Business
• The ability to handle complex pizza orders, such as easily switching toppings or offering left-side, right-side and double/triple toppings, while supporting inventory.
• An integrated online ordering module that can be offered along with third-party delivery platforms.
• Integrations to third-party providers: This allows operators to tap into a broader pool of drivers and keep the process streamlined by letting operators manage and monitor directly from the point of sale.
• Integrations to ensure that any orders placed through partner apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats will be input automatically into the POS and the proper revenue center, so staff members do not need to manually punch in the order.
• Blocked hour and minimum pickup/delivery time overrides: These empower a restaurant operator to control the in-house experience and, ultimately, set up delivery drivers for success, because they will receive deliveries only during your preferred windows of time. You can block hours from being available for online ordering by order type (i.e., pickup or delivery) without affecting store operating hours. You can also set up minimum pickup or delivery time interval overrides to
customize minimum-order lead time by order type and time of day. These features give operators more tools to help ease the transition to online ordering while keeping those online sales manageable for your kitchens.
• Efficient business operations: Automate your kitchen with a kitchen display system (KDS) that communicates with your POS system. This is vital for success, as it will help streamline operations, ensure that all meals are cooked to perfection and minimize food waste.
Tracy Morin is PMQ’s senior copy editor and the editor of PizzaVegan.com.
“Through analyzing traffic data, road conditions and turn sequences, delivery software algorithms allow a driver to service as many customers in the shortest possible time.”
— Ray Camillo, Blue Orbit Hospitality Consulting
Optimally deliver the most pizzas in the quickest way using a combination of bikes, cars or trucks, depending on the size of the order.
Offering painless same-day workforce payments to your drivers, Everee even fronts their pay to speed up the process.
DeliverLogic is trusted by 200 delivery operators, 45,000 restaurants and millions of customers worldwide.
Provides trained and experienced virtual phone assistants specializing in logistics between store, driver and customer.
Falcon VirtualAlthough the Restaurant Marketing Delivery Association (RMDA) has been around for 20 years, it didn’t take off like a rocket until there was an overwhelming need for it to exist. After national restaurant delivery services (RDS) like DoorDash, Uber Eats and Postmates created the software and systems that made restaurant delivery services more viable, the RMDA noticed a surge—then a tidal wave—of new membership, as mom-and-pop restaurant delivery services realized they could compete favorably with their national counterparts by focusing on local restaurant partners and their end customers.
If you’re interested in partnering with a local RDS to bolster your current delivery staffing needs, go to localdelivery.org to find one near you. To learn more about the RDS business or attend the next RMDA conference in Salt Lake City, visit theRMDA.org. Meanwhile, here’s a look at some key exhibitors we discovered at this year’s event, held April 24 to 27 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Nash
Nash orchestrates your pizza deliveries between in-house and third-party drivers to ensure optimal utilization of all drivers.
Orders.com
Their commission-free website has everything your restaurant needs for online ordering in one dashboard.
Helps recruit and retain staff at no cost to owners. Employees can get daily and instant pay. Four years of pizza experience.
Own your own customers. Zuppler is a white-label online ordering platform for restaurants with marketing automation and loyalty.
Zuppler
The holiday season is coming, which means big sales numbers for retailers. But the restaurant business and pizzerias don’t always see a lift around the holidays. In fact, there are often slower days due to holidays and vacations. How can pizzerias make up for that loss and even add sales in Q4? The answer is meeting your customers’ needs for inspiring foodie gifts by offering them for sale in your pizzeria.
One obvious choice for this is hot honey. Gifting honey has a long history, starting with ancient Egyptians who gave honey and honey cakes as a gift to appease the gods. Over time, many countries and religions adopted honey as part of their holiday traditions. It’s still one of the most universally popular gifts and can be enjoyed for months or even years without spoiling.
Mike’s Hot Honey is not only the fastest-growing pizza topping, up 513% in the last four years (Datassential FoodBytes, September 2021), it also consistently holds the top spot for hot sauces and honey on Amazon in December because of its huge appeal as a gift item. The company offers a free counter display for retailing bottles, and many Mike’s Hot Honey customers have already learned the benefits of increasing checks through impulse sales of the product.
Lorenzo of Joe’s Pizza in New Canaan, Connecticut, displays Mike’s Hot Honey bottles at the checkout for $12 each. “It’s a no-brainer since we feature it on the menu, and people were
always asking where they could buy it,” he says. The display lives there year-round, but sales see a significant increase in November and December.
Mike’s Hot Honey is available through foodservice distributors nationwide. Email wholesale@mikeshothoney for more information or to order a free counter display.
It’s not fair. You buy the ingredients, make the food, pay your staff…and what do you get?
You get to pay 30% commissions to the third-party delivery apps.
It’s a bit depressing, isn’t it? To work so hard and then have big tech come along and steal your profits. Not only do they take your profits while you do all the work, but they also rob you of your customer relationships. They don’t even share names or emails with you anymore. It’s ridiculous.
What can you do about it?
Well, you could keep raising your prices until no one wants to order from you anymore.
Or you could invest hundreds of millions of dollars to create your own online ordering system.
But seriously, it doesn’t have to be that way in 2022. Pizzeria owners have found a new way to take back control of their profits, their customer data and their online ordering. With Owner.com, you get all of the power of big tech without the hefty price tag. That means you get a completely customized website,
online ordering, marketing automations, a loyalty program and more—all in one platform.
It’s designed specifically for pizzerias, too. You get the ability to do half-and-half toppings, driver tracking, and the optional use of third-party delivery driver networks during peak hours…all in one click of a button.
Owner.com drives new customer exposure and has an optional points-based loyalty program, just like big tech. But this experience is even better! That’s because this experience also tells your unique story. Your customers will truly feel like they’re connecting with and supporting local business.
Owner.com also sends out automated email and text message campaigns that drive new customers and turn existing customers into regulars.
The results are guaranteed, too! If you don’t increase online sales and save at least $1,500 in third-party commissions within 90 days, you will get your money back. No questions asked.
If you’re interested in trying Owner.com for yourself, scan the QR code below, or call 310-494-2676.
Don’t miss your chance to prove that you’re the best in the U.S. and earn a trip to compete internationally!
The USPT will host the 2022 East Coast U.S. Pizza Cup & Pizza Acrobatic Trials at the Pizza Tomorrow Summit, November 9 to 10, in Orlando, Florida. This event is OPEN TO ALL COMPETITORS and will bring a cross-section of the nation’s most talented pizzaioli and pizza athletes to the Sunshine State in spirited culinary and acrobatic competitions.
On the line are cash prizes, bragging rights for the title of “Best in the U.S.’’ and a chance to win a trip to an international pizza competition to prove that you’re the No. 1 pizza maker or spinner on the world’s stage. Register today at uspizzateam.com/events.
Grande Fumella is a lightly smoked mozzarella that accents your most savory pizzas, appetizers and more to create powerful new flavor combinations unlike anyone else’s in your market. And since 88% of customers want to try smoked mozzarella on a pizza (according to a January 2022 Datassential Consumer Omnibus study), you can expect new and returning customers to visit again and again.
The Soul Sausage Italiano is a vegan, gluten-free, soyfree sausage designed with the pizza maker in mind. It’s full of authentic Italian flavors like fennel, chili flake, onion, garlic and fresh herbs and is perfect when crumbled raw on top of your menu item and oven-baked. The only issue you will have: Plant-based customers might scream that they got real sausage on their pizza instead of vegan!
949-212-0281, THESOULPATTY.COM
Catania Oils presents the finest Marconi Fresh Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It’s sourced six months from the Northern Hemisphere and six months from the Southern Hemisphere, guaranteeing the freshest olives gathered at the peak of flavor. Catania’s 10-liter Bag-in-Box blocks out light and air for a longer shelf life and refills bottles quickly with no mess. This means a lot less waste in sustainable packaging!
978-772-7900, CATANIAOILS.COM
Be creative by adding Nutella to your menu cycle and offer your customers the brand they love. Nutella is gluten-free, certified kosher, halal and vegetarian, and contains no artificial colors, preservatives or GMO ingredients. It’s an easy way to add a unique twist to dessert pizzas or as a dip for one-ofa-kind dough desserts. Nutella’s foodservice pack sizes come in 6.6-pound tubs and 35.2-ounce piping bags.
800-408-1505, FERREROFOODSERVICE.COM
Delfield’s FlexiTop mobile hot-and-frost combination serving counters run hot, cold or both. Independently controlled operation lets you serve products hot/hot, cold/cold or hot/cold in one consolidated space. easy-touse, intuitive controls switch between hot, cold or off with an on/off rocker switch. Powered by GreenGenius, it’s Delfield’s most energyefficient, environmentally friendly hydrocarbon-based refrigeration system.
800-733-8821, DELFIELD.COM
AM MANUFACTURING
AM Manufacturing’s Atwood
Round-O-Matic dough rounder reduces hours of time spent hand-rounding dough. It rounds dough over a broad range of sizes, from one to 32 ounces, producing a round of unequaled quality. The redesigned rounder measures only 19” wide and takes up less room in busy and space-deprived kitchens.
833-241-5316, AMMFG.COM
The elevators of the PIZZA PLEEZER™ were scientifically designed to keep your cooked cut pizza crisp!
They are ideal for table or buffet service Side anti-moisture risers allow for moisture to escape, ensuring you and your customers of the crispiest and freshest pizza possible. Unlike wood servers, condensation and grease are trapped in the PIZZA PLEEZER’S™ valleys away from your pizza.
Unlike metal pans, the special plastic used in the PIZZA PLEEZER™ will not dent, transfer heat, or burn you while serving or eating.
The Dometic DeliBox preserves the quality and temperature of food and other perishables seamlessly throughout the delivery process. This groundbreaking, temperature-controlled solution solves the No. 1 complaint of food arriving cold so restaurateurs, ghost kitchens and last-mile delivery platforms can build brand loyalty and trust. DeliBox aims to secure the bridge from chef to table without compromising food quality.
DOMETIC.COM
Watch the video at PMQ.com/dometic-delibox
BarTrack is the first sensor of its kind that uses no moving parts, unlike a turbine flow meter or keg scale. The sensor partners with BarTrack’s app to automate your draft inventory (beer, wine or cocktails) by connecting with your POS to monitor each pour and provides powerful reporting on exact causes of waste, broken down into six categories. Reduce waste, increase profits and never lift a keg again for inventory!
BARTRACK.BEER
Watch the video at PMQ.com/bartrack
Singa is the future of karaoke, featuring a system that runs on an iPad and allows guests to interact using their phones. Background music, an advertising manager and more are included in a monthly subscription. Singa is simple to use, easy to connect to your TV and PA system, and a great, cost-effective way to attract the karaoke crowd and increase your restaurant’s revenues.
SINGA.COM
Watch the video at PMQ.com/singa
The PZ400 from Cookshack gives you the flavor of cooking on a wood-fired pizza oven without the hassles of starting and maintaining a fire, disposing of ash and waiting for the unit to heat up. With a temperature range from 300°F to 900° Fahrenheit, the PZ400 is a versatile deck oven that can cook everything from Neapolitan-style pizzas to calzones, quesadillas, desserts and much more.
COOKSHACK.COM
Watch the video at PMQ.com/cookshack
DOUGH DIVIDERS/ROUNDERS, PRESSES/ROLLERS
FLOUR
proof below and sign-off on the advertisement as shown or indicate changes in the column. Please return this signed proof to Stacie Dennison at either:
A revolutionary ingredient changing the way people enjoy Italian cuisine Learn
FOOD DISTRIBUTORS
» Outlasts plastic trays
» Won’t bend or dent
» Withstands temps -60 o to 250 o F
» Lids and dollies available
» Custom color matching
DOUGH TRAYS
PH 800 458.6050 • www.mfgtray.com
• Contact your preferred distributor
DOUGH TRAYS/PROOFING TRAYS
• Dough Trays Standard & Artisan Sizes – extremely durable and airtight. Outlasts all other Plastic & Fiberglass Dough Trays!
• Dough Tray Covers – designed to fit.
-- Standard & Artisan Sizes – extremely durable and airtight. engineered to fit.
• Dough Scrapers – two ergonomic designs.
• 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.
GLUTEN-FREE PRODUCTS
Scan for Demo
Premium Flours Make Gluten-Free Tasty & Easy!
Tel: 310-366-7612 E-mail: sales@authenticfoods.com Web: www.authenticfoods.com
HONEY
REQUEST A SAMPLE
(212) 655-0574 wholesale@mikeshothoney.com mikeshothoney.com
Call 908-276-8484 www.doughmate.com
908-276-8484.............. www.doughmate.com
FLOUR
The Leader in Dough Handling Products
Scan for Demo
Premium Flours Make Gluten-Free Tasty & Easy!
Tel: 310-366-7612 E-mail: sales@authenticfoods.com
Web: www.authenticfoods.com
MACHINERY/EQUIPMENT
Organ Stop Pizza opened in Phoenix in 1972, when theatre organist Bill Brown decided to marry his musical calling with his favorite food, pizza. In 1975, he expanded with a location in Mesa and another in Tucson in 1977. When he decided to leave the business in ’85, he sold off the two then-remaining locations in Phoenix and Mesa—the latter sold partially to Mike Everitt, who had a passion for theatre organ and took the restaurant to the next level. “I started in 1985, when I was in high school, and the Mesa location was doing really well,” recalls Jack Barz, manager and now co-owner with Brad Bishop and Pat Rowan. “It sat 350 people, and the organ was half the size it is now, but business continued to improve—we were at full capacity every night and, by the early ’90s, started building the location we’re in now.”
In 1995, Organ Stop’s current location opened in Mesa: a whopping 18,000 square feet (Arizona’s largest freestanding restaurant) with seating for 700 and 46’ ceilings to accommodate the largest Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ ever created—with 6,000-plus pipes, it’s valued at $6 million. On opening day, half-mile-long lines formed to enter, and customers still flock to the restaurant, to the tune of more than 300,000 per year, from all over Arizona and the world. “We have music every night—we’re closed only Thanksgiving and Christmas—and our lunch hours are private parties only, for groups of 50 or more people,” Barz says. “At dinner, we have an organist playing 45 minutes of music
every hour, based solely on requests from customers, so the music changes every night.”
With dozens of employees serving hundreds of hungry patrons nightly, Organ Stop’s operations are set up for speed, simplicity and satisfaction: Customers order at the counter in the lobby, and pizzas piled with toppings spread to the outer edge cook quickly in gas conveyor ovens.
Meanwhile, community outreach remains a priority—in addition to working with local schools year-round, a Christmas in July campaign finds the venue decked out in holiday decor, with a discount for customers who bring food or cash donations to benefit the local food bank. “We do advertise through social media, but most is word-of-mouth—we’re constantly in the spotlight on local news channels,” Barz says. “We often receive awards for the best family restaurant in the Valley, and we just received an award from the American Theatre Organ Society for promoting the art form of theatre organ to the masses. There are a lot of theatre organs throughout the country, but more people see ours than any theater in the world!”
More than 300,000 customers annually come for the pipes and stay for the pizza at this destination entertainment venue in Arizona, boasting the world’s largest theatre organ.
BY TRACY MORIN
Can the founders of San Francisco’s Square Pie Guys change lives with Detroitstyle pizza?
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