Topics
Operations
Turn down the decibels
Breaking down noise and how to reduce it in your pizzeria Recent restaurant design trends have leaned towards open spaces, high ceilings, hard floors and tables and lots of windows — all of which can wreak havoc on noise levels. Architects a...
Topics
Menu Development
The Crying Game
Onions provide myriad of flavors, options The most underrated and underused topping in every pizzeria is the onion. I feel very comfortable saying this because the flavor potential of this glorious root can be a bold, tear-jerking shout or a sublime ...
Topics
Employee Management
Workplace Bullying
It exists — so what are you doing to make your workplace safe? With all the attention bullying is getting these days, you’d think it would be easy for pizza restaurant operators to pick up on incidences of workplace bullying. But in fact,...
Topics
People & Pizzerias
Dish it out!
Gelato sales heat up summer profits If you’ve been to a recent International Pizza Expo, your eye has probably been drawn to one of the many gelato companies who offer flavors ranging from pistachio and hazelnut to panna cotta and olive oil....
Topics
People & Pizzerias
The 2014 Independent Pizzeria of the Year: Pizzeria Lola, Minneapolis, MN — Page 2
Many Americans wax poetically about one day owning a restaurant. Kim was no different. But, what made her think it would work? “Basically, I love to cook,” she explains. “Growing up it was sort of a natural thing. I watched my mother and gran...
Topics
People & Pizzerias
The 2014 Independent Pizzeria of the Year: Pizzeria Lola, Minneapolis, MN — Page 3
It all comes out of the oven that serves as the pizzeria’s burning beacon. Kim admits that, initially, she was hesitant to let the piece of equipment steal the spotlight. “It was really our architect’s idea,” she says. “He really thinks o...
Topics
People & Pizzerias
The 2014 Independent Pizzeria of the Year: Pizzeria Lola, Minneapolis, MN — Page 4
Hello Pizza Hello Pizza is the sister restaurant to Pizzeria Lola. Owner Ann Kim recognized that the unique vibe at Lola would make it difficult to grow, but she also knew it would not be easy to keep many of her key employees around without a...
Topics
Operations
Dinnerware – Single Use
Disposable plates and utensils may not sound like a good way to go in this day and age of green fever, but some pizza restaurant operators are saying that’s what their customers want –– and what works for them, rather than real china and metal ...
Topics
Employee Management
The Driver’s Paycheck
With 130 Domino’s Pizza outlets under his charge, Glenn Mueller signs plenty of checks for delivery drivers. The head of Gulfport, Mississippi- based RPM Pizza, Mueller, a 30-year veteran of the pizza world, has watched competitors throughout the r...
Topics
Menu Development
Fresh Tomatoes — Selection, Preparation & Recipes
My first lessons in the art of tomato fanaticism came from an Italian chef and restaurateur named Bimbo. He looked like a tall George Clooney and I was just 14 years old when he hired me to wash dishes at his restaurant in Palatine, Illinois. Because...
Topics
Operations
Ask Big Dave: Getting up to Speed on Accounting
Q: My brother and I own a pizzeria and deli. We have been open almost two years and business has been OK, but not terrible. We are paying bills, payroll is covered and my brother and I are making money. I don’t think we are making profit; I feel we...
Topics
Operations
How well do you maintain your food costs?
The money captured from the sale of food is the epicenter of every restaurant’s monetary flow. From here, the flow starts as you pay off all expenses and are left with the reward of all your hard work. In 38 years in all sorts of restaurants, I’v...