Kevin Polito owns three Polito’s Pizza locations in Wisconsin. Polito says business has been booming due to the company’s day-to-day operations, its marketing tactics and its ability to fi ll a niche in its community. Q. You’ve opened three sto...

New Year’s Eve rang in more than a fresh year. It also rang in the ascent of the “Net” generation (they’re the ones wielding Blackberries). They now outnumber Baby Boomers — and your marketing will need to adapt quickly. In a recent...

If eyes are the windows to the soul, then windows are, well, the windows to the business’ soul. What is unique about your pizza, your menu, or your restaurant? What is new or hot or special? Window advertising in the forms of cling, which are signs...

Let Your Tables Do the Talking Sure you can toss some salt and pepper shakers on the table, but let’s really get your customers talking. Create a signature sprinkle by blending herbs and Parmesan and fill shakers. Keep bottles of olive oil and crac...

I was blessed to train and develop many talented pizza delivery drivers over the years. What they found is that customers prefer to do repeat business with friendly people. They also found that they could earn tips three times their hourly wage by go...

Who doesn’t need a good night of rest? Hass Aslami, founder of Pizza 9 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, sleeps peacefully. You won’t find him waking in a cold sweat worrying that one of the drivers at the company’s four franchise stores has been in ...

I haven’t been to my “favorite restaurant” in several months. I used to go once a week. In the past year I’ve been no more than six or seven times. Why? Contrary to what one may assume, it has nothing to do with the economy and everyt...

Delivery drivers are as valuable an asset as any other worker, and yet many pizzeria operators fail to make maximum use of this resource. Sure, they may have drivers fold boxes or do minor prep work when not out delivering, but there’s more these e...

Peppers Pizzeria was founded in 1997 as a counter service operation with a simple menu. Today, the company has three upscale operations as well as separate bars adjacent to two of its restaurants. Q. You have an eclectic menu that refl ects Louisiana...

Imagine sitting down at your favourite restaurant and browsing the menu on a tablet, which you then use to make your menu selections and pay your bill, all with the swipe of your finger. This is very possibly the future of the restaurant experience. ...

Paul Wise talks family philosophy, Christianos Pizza’s birthday club and its pizza We embody the ‘family’ atmosphere of our business by ensuring that our business philosophy is what truly motivates us to be in business. Our primary purpose...

‘Business as usual…’ is what I used to say when people would ask how things were going. It simply meant that I was making a living. It meant that, on any given day, I could tell you within a 10-percent margin of error what my days sales wer...