What do your customers really want? It’s the single most important question a restaurant owner can ask — yet you could spend your entire career chasing the answer. Even with instant feedback on Twitter, Yelp!, Facebook and similar sites, it’s n...

Show of hands: who enjoys doing payroll? Indeed, many pizzeria operators far prefer mingling with guests or making pies to the tedious back-office task. Yet, employees must be paid and payroll remains a necessary duty to please employees, the governm...

By the end of next year, there will be 35 million teenagers in the United States. At the peak of the baby boom, there were 33 million. And, what’s more — today’s teens have more disposable income than any other generation of teens h...

A good ad is priceless, but can a price-less ad be good? Most of us would be hesitant to run an ad campaign without a price point, and right­ly so. Research firm Phoenix Marketing International finds that the inclusion of specific pricing is a key f...

Controlling labor costs: a matter of planning and monitoring Andy Lanz runs Figaro’s Pizza in Verona, Wisconsin, an eight-year-old shop with carryout, delivery and a 35-seat dining room. He calls his eatery a “modest one” that doesn’t churn �...

Rather than flipping new staff a book for their self-study or allowing a new bartender to learn the poor habits of a shoddy veteran, integrate these key elements into bar staff training for maximum effectiveness: Engaging and Interactive: creating a ...

Just when you thought you’d caught up with the new wave in technology-style ordering, the big boys have gone one step further than Web sites to introduce text messaging. Yes, you can now order via cell phone — without actually using it to...

Watch this video of Paulie Gee’s in Brooklyn, New York and feel that fire for the pizzeria industry stir inside: It’s Never Too Late to Make Pizza: Paulie Gee’s from SkeeterNYC on Vimeo. This is an example of how video can tell a pi...

To ease the burden of rising energy costs, start by taking a look at your HVAC system. The unit not only maintains the current climate control in your restaurant, but it also controls exhaust from the kitchen. One way to maintain climate in the back ...

Did you know that a 14-inch pizza actually has nearly twice as much area to cover than a 10-inch pizza? That’s right, believe it or not. In order to figure the area of your pizza (in square inches), turn back to your school days and recall that...

Imagine your customers ordering their pizza not by the inch –– but by the pound. And the goal? Getting them to polish it off in-house for a chance at t-shirts and cash but best of all, glory. Such is the idea behind eating challenges popping up i...

Chances are, your employees think you strike it rich with each sale. They don’t realize you have to keep your lights on, buy more cheese and market to keep customers. If you make a $10 sale, they think you’re putting $10 in your pocket. B...