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Menu Development
2011 September: READY FOR THE RENAISSANCE?
Depending on how you look at it, this is either a horrible or a fantastic time in the pizza industry — the entire restaurant industry, really. Just like our nation has divided into political polar opposites, the pizza segment has separated into...
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Employee Management
2011 September: SOCIAL HOUR
When Facebook was first introduced, the site was the online version of the Wild West, devoted primarily for collegiate use and of little consequence to a young suburban mother like myself. Fast forward a couple of years, and just about everyone I kno...
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People & Pizzerias
2011 September: TAKING A BULL BY THE HORNS
This is the greatest pizza in the world.” That was the mantra that my dad, Dick, repeated to my three brothers and me as kids growing up in New Haven, Connecticut. Sally’s Apizza on Wooster Street was our place. Dick, a lifelong New Haven...
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People & Pizzerias
2011 August: Advice from seasoned independents
Less than three years removed from high school, childhood friends Mark Gold and Lou Siecinski moved from pizza-happy Detroit to Milwaukee to open a pizzeria. Twenty-six years later, Pizza Shuttle is one of the nation’s highest grossing single-s...
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Operations
2011 August: Ask Big Dave
Hey Dave, I currently own a counter service joint and am looking to open my second location. This location I’m looking to do more sit-down. So my question is, is 30- to 35- percent labor cost reasonable for this type of restaurant? Ryan Olson M...
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Menu Development
2011 August: CHOP IT UP!
In the Kitchen // Ingredients CHOP IT UP! Herbs and spices add panache across your menu By Pasquale “Pat” Bruno Photo by Josh Keown Familiarity breeds intent, and those of us in the food business are quite familiar with that duet of herbs...
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Operations
2011 August: SERVING EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE
When a gas station stops letting customers use the restrooms because some people use them without making a purchase, or when a grocery store refuses to accept responsibility for mistakenly selling spoiled food, they lose business and create negative ...
Topics
Operations
2011 August: Turn the Page
When the hostess stand at Buddy’s Pizza becomes mobbed with hungry customers, the hostess hands out pagers shaped like coasters. That seems to calm everyone down, says Wes Pikula, vice president of operations for the nine-location Detroit pizze...
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Employee Management
2011 July: COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN
Soda is a serious moneymaker, especially in the pizza world. And fountain sodas, especially, can help keep your business in the black, namely because you don’t have to pay the extra for cans and bottles. Like many owners, Nick Merlino of Goomba...
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Menu Development
2011 July: Dough Doctor
I’ve heard that there is a way to calculate the amount of dough needed to make any size of pizza. Can you explain how this is done? A: What you are referring to is the use of our old friend “pi” to calculate the surface area of a ci...
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Menu Development
2011 July: FABULOUS FETA
Aged a minimum of three months, feta is a brind curd cheese that’s renowned for its flavor and versatility. An all-star performer in Greek cuisine, the product crosses over nicely into the Italian realm. In fact, feta offers operators a variety...
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Menu Development
2011 July: GREASED LIGHTING
For some folks, that layer of grease that drips down your arm as you eat a slice of pizza is welcomed. For others, it can be a major turn-off and a reason to go somewhere else for dinner. The challenge here is to create a healthier pizza by eliminati...