Topics
Operations
Location Selection
I’m looking at two locations. One is 3,000 square feet and centrally located in a busy shopping plaza. Rent is high and it will cost a lot of money to renovate. Parking is a bit of a problem in this busy plaza. The second location is across the...
Topics
Employee Management
Main Event Planning
Three big pizza-consuming days are about to roll around. New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day and Super Bowl Sunday each present opportunities for pizzeria operators across the country. Don’t let them go unnoticed in your community. And d...
Topics
Menu Development
Meal Portion Sizes
How do you determine portion sizes? How much difference should there bebetween lunch and dinner portions? Well, first you need to determine what food cost percentage you want to run. Then you’ve got to cost out your raw product by the ounc...
Topics
Menu Development
Pizza Sticks to Screen
I bought some new pizza screens for use in my conveyor oven, but pizza keeps sticking to them. What is the problem? Before using new pizza screens, you need to spray them (make sure it’s an oil-based spray) and run them through the conveyo...
Topics
Menu Development
Portion Control vs Freehand
What are the advantages of portion control, or is it best to freehand? The biggest advantage of portion control is definitely food cost control. This is an area that many foodservice workers miss out on. Over-portioning can account for a la...
Topics
Employee Management
Sales Percentage for Rent
I’m not sure what I should expect to pay for rent. What percentage of my sales should rent account for? You really can’t know what your sales will be projected at until you find an appropriate space that is suitable for your concept. ...
Topics
Menu Development
Soggy Pizza from Veggies
I prefer using fresh vegetables on my pizza, but they have more water content and create a soggy pizza. Is there a solution to this problem? A: Yes, there is. I like fresh veggies too, and I solved that problem by using a Japanese breadcrumb. I find ...
Topics
Operations
Waiting Area
I’m opening my first pizzeria and am building a freestanding unit. My question is: is it worth the extra construction expense to add a lobby/waiting area? I’m going to have 32 four-top tables and eight six-person booths. With a resta...
Topics
Employee Management
Employee Theft Warning Signs
One of my first assignments as a consultant was to implement a turnaround for a group of pizzerias. They were hanging on by a thread. They had cashed in all of their CDs, 401ks and charged their credit cards to the max. I had made seve...
Topics
Employee Management
Get a Grip on Labor Costs
Right behind food cost is your second most expensive controllable expense: labor. Labor cost, or L/C, is usually referred to as a percentage of gross sales. I stayed on top of hourly labor like a hawk. My point of sale system served as my time clock ...
Topics
Employee Management
Cross Training
The more your crew can do, the better your operation will run. In baseball, triple threats — players who can hit, field and run brilliantly — are rare gems. Entertainers who can sing, dance and act are called triple threats. In our world,...
Topics
Employee Management
Downsizing Pizza Sizes
It was a hot summer night. I was cruising with my friends. We were a carload of young guys, fresh out of high school, approaching a college campus, looking for a good time. The driver pulled into a drive thru burger place. He said “these burger...