I was traveling the interstate close to midnight when I stopped by a restaurant still open in the small community of Canyonville, Oregon. My 18-year-old waiter, Kyle, graduated last year from his small high school in a senior class of 12 students. He...

Should you monitor your employees’ social media use? Admit it: you’ve Googled people you know to find out more about them, and you’ve used Facebook to look up old friends without actually contacting them. You might even have used social med...

When considering moving your restaurant from one location to another, there’s a lot at stake. As the owner of an established Italian restaurant here in Georgia, we wanted to make the right decision for both our business and our customers. Questions...

Five common dining room design problems — and how to fix them Years ago, architect Jim Lencioni recalls being called into a casual restaurant concept based in the Southeast. Despite solid marks for its food, business continued falling. In surveying...

The recession had just hit and Lisa Towne was searching for ways to improve her restaurant’s cash flow. Towne, owner of Mama Lisa’s Little Italy in Castle Rock, Colorado, registered with her state’s Web site that listed government jobs and saw ...

Then the New England Patriots and New York Giants faced off in last year’s Super Bowl, it marked the biggest event of the NFL season. But for pizza purveyors, it wasn’t just a big sports day: American appetites for football and food make Super Bo...

Q: What is the purpose of cross-stacking? A: The purpose of cross-stacking dough trays or boxes is to allow the dough to cool down slightly after it has been cut and balled and before the dough is sealed. While mixing, dough heats up as a result of t...

Last fall, Aldos Ristorante Italiano & Bar in Naples, Florida was tapped by Pizza Today to host the finale party for Slice of Hope, a fundraising event uniting the nation’s pizzerias in the fight against breast cancer. Talk about an event. Owne...

In a competitive market, standing out is imperative to success. For Orlando, Florida-based Flippers Pizzeria, differentiation has been key to its execution –– but so, too, has putting into place the right management team to take the company to th...

After the success of the intitial Slice of Hope charity event in October of 2011, we knew we had to do it again. The first incarnation, you see, was much more than a simple bike ride from Portland to Seattle. It was an industry marketing event that b...

My heart sank as I reached the front door, only to realize that the worst was true. The usual line was nonexistent; the lights inside were dim and the front gates were down. My only clue was a small yellow notice on the front door. Apparently the New...

It’s true that chickens can’t really fly, but their wings have been flying out the doors of pizzerias for a couple of decades now increasing in popularity year after year. We’ve seen the emergence of restaurants dedicated to wings like Wild Win...

The financial boost that comes from catering really and truly can take your business to the next level. There’s so much more to catering than one time monetary gratification. I find that each catered event I complete grows word-of-mouth. I generall...

Few people in the pizza industry haven’t heard of International Pizza Expo, the three-day event that brings together vendors, operators and restaurant professionals. The show has changed over the years, and 2013 is no different –– with competit...

A couple of years ago, an Urbanspoon reviewer wrote that if Oregano’s Pizza Bistro were a movie, it would win an Academy award. The reviewer added: “From the background music to the star line-up of pizzas, sandwiches and pastas, this place has it...

Q: What are the advantages to showing a dough recipe/formula in baker’s percent? A: The advantages are that it allows you to determine, at a glance, if the dough is in correct balance. It also allows you to manipulate the size of a dough recipe wit...

Q: We make our dough fresh every day and get a fairly consistent result. However, every once in a while our dough will have a smooth/firm bottom crust instead of a “soft/dimpled” bottom crust — and I like the smooth result better. The smooth re...