Pinpointing a focus in the marketplace that will enable a pizzeria to flourish even in a stagnant economy may not be immediately obvious. Sometimes it takes a little time and consideration for a concept to evolve.

That was the case for Pizza Patron, a chain with 95 locations in six southwestern states. When it opened in 1986, the first store in Houston was called Pizza Pizza, and the chain’s tight focus on serving the Hispanic customer had not yet been identified. By the time a few months had passed, founder Antonio Swad had noticed that a largely Hispanic clientele was patronizing the store. That’s when he changed the name to Pizza Patron — a word which roughly translates in Spanish to “a benevolent leader” in the community — and a brand geared to the Latin community was born.

“A little light bulb went off in his (Swad’s) head,” says Andy Gamm, brand director for Pizza Patron. “He saw an opportunity to serve an underserved, if not ignored, consumer.”

Establishing a strong brand and differentiating a pizzeria from its competitors is how the industry’s fastest-growing chains, including Pizza Patron, are succeeding despite fl at sales in 2008 and 2009 in the limited-service pizza industry, according to a recent report by Technomic, a Chicago-based restaurant consulting firm.

Pizza Patron was mentioned in the study because of its focus on the Hispanic community. Other large chains cited and the areas in which they stand out include Little Caesar’s in the value category, Pizza Fusion in healthy, zpizza and Red Brick Pizza in quality product/experience and CiCi’s Pizza for its all-you-can-eat buffet.



While large chains have advantages in making consumers aware of their brands, such as the money to wage advertising campaigns, Darren Tristano, executive vice president at Technomic, says independent and smaller chains also can succeed by focused positioning in the marketplace, and developing a brand that customers will come to recognize. “I think, because of what large chains have accomplished, consumers have learned to differentiate among pizzerias based on such factors as the dining experience, the healthfulness or the quickness (of service),” Tristano says. “They use that information when deciding where to eat.”

Discovering or tightening a focus on brand may come about, as it did for Pizza Patron, from taking note of consumer behavior and acting on it. Despite their success, Gamm acknowledges that it is usually better to know your focus before you open a store.

“I think it is the first thing you have to decide rather than opening a store and then trying to figure it out organically,” Gamm says. For an operator already in business, asking customers what they like about the pizzeria can help them better discover their point of difference.

“You need to talk to customers, because when you look at yourself in the mirror you’re not as likely to see your flaws,” Tristano says.

Operators need to study what competitors are doing and also ask themselves some questions. “You have to look at your concept and ask yourself, ‘What do I do that’s different from my competitors?’ and, ‘Where do I fit in?,’” Tristano says. “You need to know who your customers are. Are you serving families or young males looking to get their fill of cheap pizza? What is your customers’ income level? And do your price points fit in?”

If the answer is quality, then Tristano says operators should leverage quality through how they promote the business. They need to use terms like gourmet or healthy in their marketing.

Gamm says once Pizza Patron identified its position in the market, it began using brand identity as a filter through which nearly every decision is made.

“Our entire brand is modeled to appeal to the Hispanic demographic,” Gamm says. “It dictates everything we do — from marketing and advertising, to what kinds of partners we do business with, to where we locate our stores. We don’t go into areas where there isn’t a significant Hispanic demographic.”

The company offers toppings such as chorizo that appeal to the Hispanic customer.

“We offer toppings that aren’t typically available,” says Gamm. “And we work with our manufacturer to make sure our chorizo has the color, flavor and spices that our customers expect.”

Catering to the Hispanic customer, Pizza Patron also developed a successful “Pizza for Pesos” marketing campaign that allows customers to purchase pizza using pesos. “That was a very successful campaign,” Tristano says.

“There was a lot of money laying around that customers couldn’t use, and Pizza Patron capitalized on that.”❖

Case Study:
Toppers Pizza

Finding its focus was just as crucial to Toppers Pizza, which concentrates on the 18- to 24-yearold demographic. It has 25 stores in such Midwestern states as Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Minnesota. The company is slated to open 14 more stores in the next 24 to 36 months — and expects to have 100 by 2013.

Founded in 1991, Toppers has most of its stores in college towns like Madison, Wisconsin, which is home to the University of Wisconsin.

To reach the college-age market, Iversen says the company keeps stores open from as early as 10 a.m. to as late as 4:30 a.m. It also uses social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to communicate with its customers and keeps its advertising fun and irreverent.

Being asked in 2006 to define their best customers helped Toppers find its identity. Says Iversen: “We were in an advertising meeting and they asked us, ‘Who loves you? Who’s fanatical about you?’ and it was easy. We said it’s the (young) people up late burning the candle at both ends.”

That answer has been a boon for the company, which is succeeding even in the down economy.

According to Iversen, projected 2010 revenues are $24 million and average per-store sales are about $950,000 (compared to the industry average of about $550,000 to $600,000).

Capitalizing on their point of difference “was huge” for the company, Iversen says. “We’ve found a niche that’s been ignored by the big guys.”

Annemarie Mannion is a freelance writer in Willowbrook, Illinois.

When Chris and Kate Saville opened The Flatz Company in Wyckoff, New Jersey, about a year ago, they knew they wanted to use fresh ingredients. They just didn’t know where to find them.

“It took a lot of trial and error and calling people,” says Chris, who is from England and did not have foodservice experience in the U.S. “It was a puzzle in some ways.” He quickly found that he needed more than one vendor. Food distribution giant Sysco could source tomatoes, lettuce and other fresh produce from California, where certain items are available year-round. Seasonal fruits such as berries for smoothies would come from New Jersey. For gourmet items, The Flatz Co. buys from a specialty vendor.

Saville says he juggles various vendor contracts because offering fresh ingredients fits with the eatery’s mission to offer high quality, healthy, thin-crust pizzas. If people are going to spend $14 for a single serving pie, they want organic exotic mushrooms and bacon from heritage breed pigs. Also, he says, there’s a practical reason for offering fresh ingredients. “We have a tiny freezer space, and we can use it only for ice cream and frozen yogurt.”

As more customers demand fresh ingredients, even in the off-season, operators are responding. That means they have to look for the right vendors, get creative with the menu, and become experts at ordering.

For some, the challenge is not only how to buy fresh ingredients, but also how to find produce that is grown locally, answering another important consumer trend. Renee Kreager, who with her husband, Steven, co-own Eclectic Pizza in Tucson, Arizona, says they buy tomatoes from a supplier in Wilcox, Arizona. “They have a greenhouse, so we are able to get their tomatoes year ‘round,” she says. She buys soy organic cheese from a small business in Tucson and coffee from a local roaster. Another giant distributor, U.S. Foods, provides other ingredients.

Tomatoes aren’t the only ingredients that are grown indoors and are available year-round. Rob Beall, CEO of 100-unit Ledo Pizza, says the Annapolis, Maryland-based company buys mushrooms from a family owned farm in Pennsylvania. “We are family owned, we sell franchises to local families, and many of our vendors are family owned companies,” says Beall, who is third generation at Ledo Pizza.

Some operators change the menu as the seasons change. Troy Mains, executive chef at No. 10 Water Restaurant in Brunswick, Maine, says he buys produce locally. In February, for example, potatoes are available, as are brussels sprouts. So Mains, who offers Gourmet Pizza Night every Tuesday, offers thinly sliced potatoes and truffle oil on pizza. Another topping option is pickled brussels sprouts. “You have to get creative during winter,” he says. He adds that walking through the farmers market is also a good way to get information and recipe ideas.

Mains estimates that the fresh vegetables cost about double what the canned versions cost. His food costs at the high-end restaurant are 28 to 33 percent. “It works because of menu incorporation,” he explains. “If I buy 100 pounds of potatoes, we are using potatoes for other things on the menu.”

Expensive ingredients don’t always lead to high food costs. One way to keep food costs down is to limit waste. Kreager uses tomatoes in more than one recipe. Perfect-looking tomatoes are sliced for salads, where they can be showcased. “We really pride ourselves in our salads being super fresh,” she says. The less beautiful tomatoes are chopped as a topping or diced for salsa.

It helps to have a limited menu, says Saville. The Flatz Company offers 14 different pies, or customers can create their own from a short list of gourmet toppings. “It’s not like we have to order a vast array of different things,” he says. “It allows us to make sure we use everything, and not have anything laying around and not ever being used.” He offers one type of lettuce, romaine, for salads and as a pizza topping. (Yes, he says, lettuce is a popular topping.) Other ingredients that work well as pizza toppings and for salads include cherry tomatoes, bacon and fresh mozzarella.

Another way to reduce waste is to place small orders with vendors and have food delivered a few times a week instead of one large weekly order. Eclectic Pizza places orders to be delivered Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. If it looks like they still have a large amount of an ingredient heading into the weekend, Kreager calls and revises the Saturday delivery. She also makes sure she sees the orders when they arrive. “If I can see one tomato busted open, I know it will affect the tomatoes around it. So I can say, ‘these four are bad,’ and I either get a refund on them or they bring me new ones.”

If, after all the careful planning there is still too much of one ingredient, she finds a way to repurpose. For example, red peppers are not exactly the most popular pizza topping. So if Kreager ends up with too many, she roasts them and adds them to salads.

She says customers will pay more if they know the ingredients are fresh and high quality. “People do understand it is a costly thing,” she says. “What you’re paying for is great organic food for less than $20 dollars a head.” u

Nora Caley is a freelance writer specializing in food and business topics. She lives in Denver, Colorado.

“Your pizza sucks,” signed an ambiguous online customer reviewer.

Most operators can relate to receiving a similar review on one of the many user-generated customer review Web sites. It’s just sitting out there for the world to see when someone searches for your pizzeria online.

There’s a buzz from owners who are finding online user-generated reviews frustrating and downright unfair. Others choose to ignore them all together. Big mistakes, says Kathleen Ion, Internet marketing consultant at WSI IM Solutions, LLC in Phoenix, Arizona. “You have an online reputation whether you want one or not,” she says.

With the popularity of mobile devices and apps designed to make reviewing quicker and easier, Ion says the use of online review sites is only going to grow.

Your online reputation encompasses more than review sites, it also includes comments on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, as well as the wide blogosphere.

Projecting a positive online reputation lies in your hands. As the saying goes, “The best defense is a good
offense.” There are a number of avenues you can take both on and offline. First things first –– claim your business on customer review sites, putting you in charge of those reviews by giving you the option to respond to positive and negative reviews. It also gives you the ability to post menus, photos and links to your Web address and e-mail.

Monitor your online reputation, whether you do it yourself, assign it to a crewmember or hire outside help. The first two may not cost you a dime. But if you choose to hire an outside monitoring service, prepare to pay. “It’s really comparable to advertising,” Ion says, adding that a proprietary system that monitors a company’s rep can cost $400 per month to several thousands depending on how aggressive they want to monitor.

If you’re handling it yourself, Ion suggest that you should visit Google, Bing and Yahoo daily to search your restaurant’s name to see what is popping up. She also suggests searching review sites, as well as Facebook and Twitter for comments about your place.

There is nothing wrong with asking your loyal customers to post reviews. “Institute a process or procedure for their wait staff — when customers are very happy — to ask them to post a review,” Ion says. If the occasional bad review occurs, Ion says, “if there is enough (positive) stuff out there about them, before long the good is going to outweigh the bad.”

Post QR Codes directing customers to review your restaurant on sites like Yelp, Urbanspoon, Google, etc., Ion suggests. Place flyers at the register and table tents requesting reviews.

It’s not tragic to have the occasional bad review, Ion insists. Operators can learn of areas to improve. She adds, “it makes things sound more believable instead of seeing nothing but five-star ratings.

So what do you do about a bad review? Respond. “If it’s someone you know, then by all means call them,” Ion says, explaining that the customer may pull down the review if you attempt to rectify the situation.

If your only option is to reply online to the comment, “Explain your side but don’t be contrived and don’t insult them…just be professional,” Ion says.

An area of concern for many operators is “fake” comments by competitors and former employees. In this case, you have an option to appeal to the review site itself. Have your ducks in a row with the information on the individual in question. Review sites require its posters to sign up so they do have some information regarding the person. Ion says in those cases sometimes the site will take the reviews down.

Los Angeles-based Fresh Brothers Pizza has a strong online reputation, with a four-star rating on most review sites. They stay proactive by receiving Google alerts, a free service that lets them know when the pizzeria is mentioned. When Fresh Brothers receives a bad review, owner Debbie Goldberg says, they “remain calm, cool and collected. We address the problem or complaint. We ask for their address so we can send them a gift certificate and then we encourage people to update their reviews.”

Craig Mosmen at The Couch Tomato Café in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, says the pizzeria’s online rep is important. “Our marketing feedback forms provide us with proof that many new customers find us online, and try us out because of our online reputation.” He personally checks his Web site feedback and comments left on Urbanspoon, Yelp, Menupages, Yahoo, Bing, Google,
Zagat, and Insidepages almost daily.

Melissa Ferriman of Crazy Dough’s Pizza in Boston is quick to respond to online comments and she’s noticed a trend. “I have found that if they know you are out there actually reading and responding to your online feedback, they will spend the time to give you real information that can help you improve your business and gauge how you are doing,” she says.

And sometimes, it’s just good to have a little fun with reviews. Staff members at Pizzeria Delfina in San Francisco were brainstorming ideas for new crew shirts. “As a joke, they thought it would be fun to print bad Yelp reviews on t-shirts,” says owner Anne Stroll.

Ann chose the five worst reviews like “This Place Sucks!” and “The pizza was soooo greasy. I am assuming this was in part due to the pig fat.” The reviews were placed in large, white, all-caps lettering on black t-shirts. Staff members loved them and still continue to wear them today, she adds.

Not intended to be a publicity stunt, Pizzeria Delfina made local and national news for its staff’s ingenuity.

Just like other aspects of your business, have a plan to create a positive online rep.

Denise Greer is associate editor at Pizza Today.

Seasonal produce has a lot going for it — it’s generally less expensive than out-of-season produce, it’s at peak flavor and freshness and it represents a desirable set of core values. Seasonal walks hand in hand with fresh. And with local. And with quality. Those values may sound abstract, but they can translate into dollars when diners use them as part of their moral compass, pointing them toward where they should eat. The challenge then is how to incorporate seasonal vegetables onto pizza menus without rewriting the playbook. Pizza Today talked to two operators taking distinct approaches to the seasonal-pizza strategy, but each with the same successful result.

Pitfire Pizza is a micro chain worth a second look. Currently with four units in Southern California and two more slated for later in the year, this successful fast-casual concept serves what it calls “artisan casual,” keying into a California-born DNA of rustic, fresh and local. Pitfire, specializing in thin-crusted, wood-fired pizza, offers 10 pies on its standard menu. Diners seek out regulars, like Greens, Egg & Ham, sporting braised rapini, natural prosciutto and a farm egg. The Pepperoni boasts natural pepperoni, fresh mozzarella and torn basil. But diners also look to the marquis-styled specials board, which changes four times a year. Typically, the seasonal-special board offers three pizzas, a salad, a farmer’s market plate, a soup and a pasta.

“One of the strongest pillars of this business is my relationship with farmers’ markets,” says Paul Hibler, co-owner and co-founder of Pitfire. “Sourcing sustainable, local ingredients is who we are, so we focus our resources on making it happen.” Indeed, produce accounts for Pitfire’s largest purchasing fulfillment — greater even than its cheese purchasing. Pitfire doesn’t use a national grocer; it sources produce from a local company, buying direct. “We’re a 12-year-old company,” says Hibler. “We don’t do coupons. We don’t do marketing. We put all of our dollars on the plate.”

And those plates proudly host a celebration of seasonality. In the spring, diners may see an artichoke pizza with braised baby purple artichokes, blistered cherry tomatoes, local ricotta cheese, sautéed spinach and olives. Summer is all about heirloom tomatoes. At Pitfire, they slice them paper thin, air dry them, collecting the liquid from the tomatoes and making it into a basil-scented syrup. Dough topped with ricotta, Parmesan and heavy cream is fired, then topped with the cold tomato slices and drizzled with the tomato syrup. “The heirloom
tomatoes are beautiful and so fresh tasting,” says Hibler. “We like presenting it raw because it showcases the simple, perfect flavors really well.” In the fall and winter, diners anticipate a pumpkin pizza: roasted chunks of kabocha squash (Japanese pumpkin), braised Swiss chard, fontina, fresh mozzarella, pepitas, pumpkin oil and chili flakes, with a finish of brown butter and fresh sage.

Savvy cross utilization is key to managing the food cost of seasonal produce, says Hibler. “You have to be smart about it,” he says. “You have to find at least two uses for whatever vegetable you’re bringing in fresh.” The seasonal special board helps Pitfire with that, so asparagus might be featured on a pizza, but it will also pop up on the farmers’ market plate, perhaps grilled and dusted with Parmesan and panko breadcrumbs. He also manages food cost by using state-of-the-art accounting software, employing a kitchen manager in each unit and training the staff really well. “Independents can incorporate seasonality, too, even if it isn’t part of their brand,” says Hibler. “Go to farmers’ markets. Pick one seasonal vegetable and build a pizza around that. It’s doable — and today’s customers will appreciate it.”

That’s exactly what Zocca Cuisine di Italia at the Westin Riverwalk Hotel in San Antonio, Texas, does. It runs a pizza del giorno, changing it out to reflect both seasonality and creativity, says Jeff Foresman, executive chef at the hotel. The restaurant’s core list of pizzas features the always-popular Margherita pizza, as well as an Italian sausage pie and a wild-mushroom one. “We’re a Northern Italian restaurant, so we serve simple, rustic, flavorful food.” Pizzas here are hand-tossed and free-formed, which fits in well with its rustic, artisan sensibility.

Foresman has an interesting way of highlighting the specialness of seasonal vegetables on pizza. “We try to do something unique to the vegetable, so it stands out,” he says. So, for instance, on a summer-season pie that sports summer vegetables, such as zucchini and bell peppers from the farmers’ market, he’ll grill them, then cut them into chunks, say, rather than slices. “It gives them a different look and mouthfeel, and really highlights them on the pizza,” he says.

Or he’ll add character and menu interest in how he prepares the seasonal vegetable. In winter, a daily special pizza may feature escarole or kale braised in Barolo, a robust Italian red wine. He’ll use fontina to match the heartier greens. Or diners may see a root-vegetable pizza in the fall or winter at Zocca. Foresman thinly slices and caramelizes red and yellow beets, parsnips and sweet potatoes. He lays them over a very thin layer of housemade pomodoro sauce and then bakes the pizza. As a crispy finish, he adds fried spinach.

For more delicate vegetables, he highlights them as a finish on the seasonal-vegetable pizzas. In the spring, diners might see a pizza topped with roasted eggplant, caramelized garlic and Asiago cheese with a very light tomato sauce (diced tomatoes sweated with garlic and olive oil). He finishes the pizza with farmers’ market arugula tossed in extra-virgin olive oil. In the fall, a duck confit and local goat cheese pizza gets a finish of fresh figs. “Showcasing the best of what the season has to offer isn’t difficult,” says Foresman. “Pick a few simple, fresh ingredients and let those guide you.”

Katie Ayoub is a frequent contributor to Pizza Today. She lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.



//Seasonal \\ Veggies

Corn, Pears, Vidalia
Onions, Artichokes,
Asparagus, Sweet
Potatoes, Apples,
Broccoli Rabe

/// SEASONAL VEGETABLES

5 Summer Pizza Toppings Corn
Figs
Heirloom tomatoes
Pears
Vidalia onions

5 Fall Pizza Toppings
Apples
Fennel
Kale
Pumpkin
Sweet potatoes

5 Winter Pizza Toppings
Broccoli rabe/rapini
Escarole
Parsnips
Rutabaga
Winter squash

5 Spring Pizza Toppings
Artichokes
Asparagus
Green garlic
Leeks
Zucchini

• Use the correct glassware, says Allen. Have recipes for everything. 
  
  
• Calculate in things like refills on coffee, tea and fountain drinks, say both consultants, adding this is something commonly over­looked. Remember, when pricing beverages, people use things like cream, lemon, sweeteners and stirrers. 
  
  
• It’s challenging to gener­alize about profit margins, says Allen, since different beverages — alcoholic, juices, water, sodas, bottled, fountain, and so on — all have different profit ranges, he explains. Fazio says for beverages as a whole, profit margins should average 20 to 25 percent. “Although if you’re a really upscale op­eration you should look at the competition,” she says. “Because even at 20 percent, you could still be charging several dollars less than the competition.” 

• The concept, format and clientele. Are you mainly dine-in, takeout or delivery? Fast casual, QSr or fine dining? Positioning is also important, Allen says. “Some may want to be perceived as higher end, some may want to be more value-added.” 

• The competition. “Competitive analysis is important; we don’t want to charge more than the competition,” says wilson. “See what competitors are charging and don’t charge more; charge less if you can.” 

• Compare concepts in the same tier as yours; like to like, says Miller. 
• Be thorough, advises Allen. Check type, size, if refills are free and what incidentals and add-ons are provided. 
• Consider your marketing and positioning strategy; the experience you’re offering guests, says Allen. If the experience is upscale or unique, you may be able to get away with charging a bit more. And keep your competitors confused; make your own signature drinks, says Fazio, and “you can charge more for these. Plus customers like them and it won’t be as easy for the competition to shop you.” 
• Consider your costs. when wilson first opened, he priced on what the market would bear. Now, although he doesn’t want to charge more than the competition, he does factor in costs, raising prices if costs demand it (wilson’s end-of-month beverage costs run 30 to 33 percent). 

Tony and Harry Disilvestro aren’t your typical beach town residents. their company, ynot Pizza & italian Cuisine, doesn’t cater to the hoards of tourists who fill Virginia beach during the warm months. they don’t cater to spring breakers, and they don’t feature portraits of sandy scenery on their walls. what they do bring to the proverbial table is a taste of home –– the Jersey shore, about a 20-minute drive outside of New York, where they spent their formative years spinning pies before transplanting to Virginia beach in the early 1990s.

“We started as kids, you know, 15 years old (and) making pizza,” tony says. “A friend of the family just kind of roped us in at a young age, and we’ve been doing it ever since. We’ve just run the gamut from there –– fine dining, italian restaurants, pizzerias …we’ve probably (worked in) 20 different pizzerias.”

When the time came to open their own, “at first, we thought we were going to open up and people were going to come to the counter and order,” Tony adds. “The first customer came in and sat down at the table, and all of a sudden we have waitress service.”
The company was founded by tony and his wife, Cindy. Harry Disilvestro later joined the couple in the venture, which has since evolved to five pizzerias in the region with sales expected at more than $9.5 million by the end of 2012. “Our demographic is families, obviously,” says Tony.
“That’s where we like to be.” still the most recent location opened on the campus of old Dominion University, so they’re able to target both students and neighborhoods. Dine-in accounts for 50 percent of sales, with delivery at 30 percent and carryout at about 20 percent.

YNOT’s menu started with pizza and pasta but has evolved to include appetizers, chopped salads, pasta creations, plated entrées like veal Parmigiana and mussels marinara, cold and hot subs, gluten-free pizzas (up
to 70 a week) wraps and desserts ––including house-made gelato.
“We’re just constantly making sure that the brand is fresh and new,” says tony. “That’s very important to us. we don’t sit still well.”
Harry is quick to add that “we never jeopardize quality. it’s always been to improve quality and service.” “I think the second you start sitting idle, you’re in trouble,” Tony adds, “especially in this changing industry that we’re in today.”

Pizza accounts for 40- to 50-percent of sales, and they make as much in- house as possible, including dough, sauces, lasagna and soups. “obviously, pizza is our no. 1 item,” Tony says, and while pepperoni is an obvious choice, the white pizza with spinach and tomato ($15.50 for a 14-inch and $18.50 for an 18-inch) is popular.

They added chopped salads, which lend a healthier option to their menu to keep up with customer demand. (the Cindy salad, a greek salad named after Tony’s wife, is a favorite.) the chopped salad menu offers 36 different options from which to choose, “and it’s just opened us up to a whole different market,” Tony says.
“We started looking at other chains and seeing what they were doing and their positioning towards, say, women and athletes and helping people try to be healthy. it was pretty obvious that being in the pizza industry, we didn’t have that appeal.”

Since pizza already encourages customization, adding that create-your-own element to both their salads and pastas has allowed them a greater market share. “It really comes down to (the fact that) the customer has many choices and they’re not just stuck to a menu,” harry says. “you can truly create your own meal.”

Ynot has impressive display cases in its stores that show off their desserts, which includes cakes, cookies and pastries sourced from New Jersey, New york and local bakeries. They used to make their own because “when we first opened down here, we didn’t have the availability,”Tony says. “So now, with distributors consolidating as much as they are, it’s much easier to bring in product from New York and New Jersey.”

Beer, wine and a full bar are available but make up only about 10 percent of sales. Much of that is craft beer. with 40 different offerings from which to choose, “it’s just a huge niche market for us,” Tony says.
“For years, you paired wine with food,” harry says. “now it’s getting to the point where our servers are actually savvy enough to start pairing beer with certain dishes.”

While making so much in-house is labor intensive, “Tony and I are out there every day trying to find the best prices that we can get for the best product out there that we can get,” Harry says. “and that’s a big part of our job every week.”
they use their POS system to keep track of labor and food costs “and we apply that to our everyday business not only with us but with our managers at weekly meetings –– knowing where their food cost is and where the labor cost is,” Harry says. “It’s a daily conversation at our restaurants.”

Harry says utilizing their Pos system is key to keeping track of rising costs and encourages other operators to learn how to best utilize their own equipment. “I do think there are a lot of people out there who do spend a lot of money (on POS systems) and don’t get a lot of bang for their buck.”

Ynot also has one manager for every 10 staff members, “and they really keep a close eye on their scheduling and overtime predictors,” Tony says.
Management is open with the company’s 260 employees, and shares those critical food and labor numbers with them to foster a sense of awareness and responsibility. “in the restaurant business, that day-to- day operation can be overwhelming to the point where you’re not taking the time to look at those numbers,” Harry says.

Cross-utilizing products, such as using some salad ingredients on pizzas and receiving deliveries twice a week, ensures freshness. “We try not to keep (product) more than three days on our shelves,” Tony says.

And when it comes to getting the word out about YNot, they don’t shy away from marketing, “which is huge for us,” Tony says. “We do a ton of social media, e-mail blasts, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest … If there’s something new out there, we’re trying it.”

“Probably about four years ago we realized we were doing the same thing year after year and how quick everything was changing,” adds harry. they dropped more traditional marketing avenues, such as the local telephone book, in favor of more dynamic opportunities and they hired an outside company to manage most of their media. still, word of mouth remains their best marketing outlet. as part of their brand awareness, they hold events with local college and sports teams, participate in the special olympics and charity walks and even host their own event, known as the Ynot Pizza olympics (contestants attend qualifying events similar to those at the world Pizza games at international Pizza expo at each store before competing at a local italian festival.) “that’s the kind of branding that we do,” Tony says. “we’re all about the community.”

E-mail blasts have been successful –– packed with videos from their events –– and online ordering adds $2 to $3 to each guest check. “retaining e-mail addresses is a huge part of our business,” Tony says.


The DiSilvestros own the majority of the stock in their restaurants, with three franchised by long-term employees. “expansion is coming from our employees. it’s coming from within,”tony says. “these people have been standing beside us for 60 hours a week for 19 years and when you put them in their own store, they know the business, and they know it well.”

Says Harry: “I think you always hear about owners who start multiple locations and spread themselves out too thin. with all of our other locations, there’s peace of mind knowing somebody’s doing the right job on the other side of town.” they’ve had locations with partners in the past but found it difficult to control brand consistency. Franchising with their own employees seems to work and a sixth location is under negotiation, but “we’ll never expand faster than our crew,” tony says. “Our expansion plans are just to continue growth and to control growth.”

The focus, say the Disilvestros, is quality over quantity, and they’re not out actively selling franchises just for the sake of expansion. “we could stop now if we wanted,” harry says, “but as long as these employees are coming up and they’re willing to march on with us, let’s do it.”

Mandy Detwiler is managing editor of Pizza Today.