In a career of high-flying ups and rock-bottom downs, Katie Lee catches a rising wave with Walmart. But she’s still captain of the ship.
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GRANDMA’S HAUNTING WORDS
When Kerry Steed took over the family pizza business in Wilmington, Ohio, more than 30 years ago, his grandmother gave him a dire warning. “She leaned in,” he recalls, “and she goes, ‘Now, Sonny, don’t you ruin what I spent my life building.’” He didn’t. But he had to make some hard decisions. One was rebranding the pizzeria, a Cassano’s Pizza King franchise since 1962, into an independent restaurant called Generations Pizza. He knew it would be an uphill battle, but it was also a chance to set his business apart and create a more personalized experience. These days, he gives his phone number to every coach, athletic director and church in town. He uses direct mail targeting middle and upper-middleclass neighborhoods. “We realized early on that if we tried to compete…on discounts, coupons and flyers, we were going to lose every time,” he says. Instead, his mailed pieces showcase Generations’ specialty pizzas that customers can’t get elsewhere. When he relocated in 2005, he added a drive-thru window, which now generates 20% of his sales. The result: His single-unit pizzeria hauled in $2 million last year. “Everything we’ve done,” Steed says, “it’s because my grandmother’s words haunt me every day.”
ELEVATING THE BUSINESS OF PIZZA
WTWH MEDIA, LLC
CEO Matt Logan mlogan@wtwhmedia.com
CONTENT
EDITOR IN CHIEF Rick Hynum rhynum@wtwhmedia.com
SENIOR EDITOR Charlie Pogacar cpogacar@wtwhmedia.com
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Tracy Morin tmorin@wtwhmedia.com
ASSOCIATE EDITOR/USPT COORDINATOR Brian Hernandez bhernandez@wtwhmedia.com
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ART & PRODUCTION
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A Publication of WTWH Media, LLC 662-234-5481
Volume 29, Issue 4 May 2025 ISSN 1937-5263
CONTENT STUDIO
VICE PRESIDENT Peggy Carouthers pcarouthers@wtwhmedia.com
WRITER Drew Filipski dfilipski@wtwhmedia.com
WRITER Ya’el McCloud ymccloud@wtwhmedia.com
WRITER Abby Winterburn awinterburn@wtwhmedia.com
SALES & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
VP, SALES Lindsay Buck lbuck@wtwhmedia.com
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Tom Boyles tboyles@wtwhmedia.com
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Mike Weinreich mweinreich@wtwhmedia.com
VP, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Eugene Drezner edrezner@wtwhmedia.com
CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE Brandy Pinion bpinion@wtwhmedia.com
CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE Tracy Doubts tdoubts@wtwhmedia.com
FOUNDER Steve Green
PMQ PIZZA Issue 4 May 2025 (ISSN 1937-5263) is published monthly in January, March, April, May, June, August, September, October, November and December by WTWH Media, LLC, 1111 Superior Ave #2600, Cleveland, OH 44114-2560.
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Opinions expressed by the editors and contributing writers are strictly their own and not necessarily those of the advertisers. All rights reserved. No portion of PMQ PIZZA may be reproduced in whole or part without written consent.
May 2025
28 Limited Additions
The best limited-time offers tick several markers of success: a ton of buzz, a significant sales boost and attracting new customers to your pizza business.
35
Mission Accomplished
Customers want to know you care about more than profits. Three brands explain how they give back to the community and entice others to do the same.
42 Screen Time
Finding high-performing employees—while keeping your company culture intact—could be simply a matter of landing on the right interviewing strategies.
48 Circle of Crust: Meet the New USPT Champs
Two new warriors—Ray Cullison of Charlie’s Pizzeria and Enrico Aguila of Uncle Rico’s Pizza— have joined the ranks of USPT’s flour-dusted army.
The Golden Ticket
Consummate businesswoman Katie Lee has climbed from rock bottom to the pinnacle of retail with her line of frozen pizzas, pastas and dry goods.
By RICK HYNUM
COVER PHOTO BY GREGG GOLDMAN
GREGG GOLDMAN
HOWIE S/ F A CEBOOK
SAYING “PI DO” AT &PIZZA
MID-MARCH MIGHT NOT SEEM LIKE the most romantic time for a wedding, but don’t tell that to &pizza, the Washington, D.C.-based chain launched in 2012. Founder Michael Lastoria presided over two Pi Day ceremonies on March 14, hitching couples who share an “irrational” love for the brand. (That’s not a slam—pi is the most celebrated irrational number in mathematics.) The blessed events took place at The Hive Rooftop at Hotel Hive in D.C., where &pizza transformed the space into an intimate wedding venue, complete with decor, dessert,
music and photography, plus all-you-can-eat pizza and, for added symbolism, the brand’s five varieties of Knots. One couple renewed their vows after first saying “Pi Do” in a Pi Day wedding at &pizza’s Astor Place location in New York City five years earlier. The other pair of lovebirds, who officially “tied the Knots,” made &pizza their regular date-night spot after meeting in architecture school. “We’re here to turn up the volume on love, throw out the rule book and give these couples a wedding that’s anything but ordinary,” said &pizza CEO Mike Burns.
&PIZZA
Founder Michael Lastoria presides over Pi Day weddings at &pizza.
SCORING AN A+ IN FREE PR
If you want to craft a signature pizza with guaranteed youth appeal, why not let local high schoolers create it for you? Wise Guys Pizzeria, with two locations in Grapevine and Roanoke, Texas, recently partnered with an advanced culinary class taught at the GrapevineColleyville Independent School District (GCISD) and ended up scoring three unique pizzas—and an A+ in media relations. Wise Guys co-owner Kevin McNamara worked with GCISD teacher Kaylie Kotecki on the project, in which Kotecki’s students were split into groups and tasked with coming up with pizzas to be tested on the Grapevine store’s menu. The students also calculated each pizza’s food costs to ensure it would fit Wise Guys’ budget. They pitched three pies—the Maui Monster, the OG Twist and the Don MacaLoni. Only one was expected to make the cut. But, after reviewing the options, McNamara shrewdly took the contest a step further: He featured them all and let customers make the final decision. The move ensured that the students’ friends and family members would visit the pizzeria, order the pies and, hopefully, become Wise Guys regulars. McNamara ran each pizza on the menu for two weeks, with the top seller claiming the win. Best of all, the contest earned coverage from local TV news stations, and that counts as extra credit in our grade book.
PIZZA FOR MEMBERS TO REMEMBER
Owner/chef Basil Moscharis promises “pizza to reMEMBER” at Pizza 316, which opened on September 4 in West Chester, Pennsylvania. That’s not just a motto—it’s a play on words alluding to the veteran restaurateur’s unique subscription program. While a typical pizzeria subscription guarantees a free pie on a weekly basis, Pizza 316 incentivizes members with significant discounts on its popular Brooklyn-style specialty pizzas, such as the Upside Down Pizza (cheese on the bottom, sauce on top), the Yia Yias or the Honey Chicken Sriracha. Non-members pay $23 for any specialty pie, while members get the same item for $16 every time they order. Members can also enjoy the Roll A Boli (a stromboli featuring rib eye steak, Cooper sharp American cheese and caramelized onions) for $10, compared to $15 for non-members. The membership itself costs $10 a month for individuals and $19.99 for families and businesses. Pizza 316 calculates that the membership pays for itself with the first two pizzas. It also includes invitations to member-only events where guests get to sample new menu items and seasonal offerings.
PIZZA 316
Students in an advanced culinary class were spotlighted on a local TV news station after creating specialty pies for Wise Guys.
WISE GUYS
PIZZERIA
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Pennsylvania pizzaiolo Basil Moscharis, a Greek immigrant, previously owned Amore Pizza in West Chester and 1010 Pizza in Media.
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Katie Lee scored the deal of a lifetime with Walmart for her frozen pizzas, slowdried pastas and bottled sauces. But she remains focused on smartly navigating the unpredictable path to retail success.
TICKET Golden THE
Story By: RICK HYNUM
Photos By: GREGG GOLDMAN + TRÉ PARMALEE
GREGG GOLDMAN
St. Louis pizzaiola KATIE LEE, winning Walmart’s Golden Ticket last September was a remarkable milestone in a career of high-flying ups and rock-bottom downs. And talk about an “up.”
An achievement like that—the opportunity to get her line of frozen pizzas, pasta bakes and other consumer packaged goods (CPGs) on the world’s largest retailer’s shelves—would be enough to make many entrepreneurs forget all of the setbacks. But not Lee. The downs helped make her who she is today, and she knows it.
Lee wears many hats, as arguably St. Louis’ most acclaimed restaurateur, the media-savvy
founder of Katie’s (formerly Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria), and a consummate businesswoman who has built a fast-growing nationwide CPG brand entirely, thus far, on her own dime. She’s also a recovering alcoholic and high-school dropout. And talk about “downs.” When she was dropped off at a rehab center in 2011, she couldn’t even remember who brought her there— and anxiously pondered making a getaway as soon as she walked through the door.
“Washed up on shore. That’s the thing. I never know where I’ll wash up and if I’ll be dead or swimming. There are no rescue missions. No shuttle every 15 minutes. I have to float and hope.”
That’s from Lee’s autobiography, The Katie Lee Story, released this month. (Learn more in the sidebar
on page 19). But lest you think it sounds like a depressing read, think again: Lee is swimming now and swimming fast, setting the pace and winning the race while learning from every loss she ever suffered. And she’s about to become one of the pizza community’s most recognizable figures.
“A Survival Mechanism”
PMQ Pizza first profiled Lee in the May 2017 issue, in which we dubbed her “the queen of all St. Louis media” and “an unstoppable force, a driven, laser-focused entrepreneur who does pretty much everything right.”
That hasn’t changed, although she now oversees three locations (with a fourth coming soon) and in 2024 rebranded her business to simply Katie’s. She still prizes clean ingredients, as local and seasonal as possible. And “artisan” seems a feeble descriptor for pizzas like the Bomba Prawn and the Tuscan Anchovy or pastas like squid-ink spaghetti and Potato Agnolotti with sturgeon caviar.
Katie’s, owned by Katie Lee (left), is such a go-to spot in St. Louis, the restaurants served 3,200 guests on this year’s opening day of the Cardinals’ baseball season.
KATIE’S/INSTAGRAM
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“We call it affordable luxury,” Lee says. “Real food. All of our food is made with extra-virgin olive oil, no seed oils, no additives, no chemicals, no sugar….All of our flours are organic and ancient-grain. We use real tomatoes, fresh garlic, fresh basil. So it’s an unusually healthy product for pizza. I call it clean comfort food.”
It’s also exactly what many consumers are looking for today. And Lee, who has been a clean-food evangelist for years, knows it. But even she was taken aback when she introduced St. Louis to frozen versions of her pizzas in 2020, at the start of the pandemic.
With a shutdown order in place, Lee’s high-end culinary style didn’t exactly lend itself to traditional delivery. “So we prototyped a frozen pizza and pivoted to that in about 72 hours,” she recalls. “We launched a simple e-commerce site on Shopify and sold 50,000 pizzas in the first six weeks, just in the metropolitan St. Louis area. We turned the dining rooms into assembly lines, and our cooks were making all of the pizzas there. We turned all of our servers and bartenders into delivery drivers, and they were delivering boxes
“It’s like when someone strikes oil or gold. I thought, holy cow, we sold 50,000 pizzas in the first six weeks! This is an incredible product.”
Katie Lee
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of frozen pizzas across the metro area….We kept everybody working that wanted to work, and we were still hiring the whole time. So it was a beautiful experience.”
Other large pizza brands were shipping frozen pies in 2020, but Lee’s brand was hardly large—or even particularly well-known outside of St. Louis. And she certainly didn’t envision launching a CPG line that would eventually get
Walmart’s attention. “It was really a survival mechanism,” she says. A few years earlier, she had started a meal kit brand called Vero Pasta, but it never took off. “After that failed, I was very worried that this might not work. But it was an instant success. My restaurants have always been a success, and I’m lucky like that. But this was the first time where I felt like, oh, my goodness! It’s like when someone strikes oil or gold. I
“Our team is phenomenal,” Lee says. “They stood by me during COVID while we developed the frozen pizza, and we stayed in business. That really showed me how important our people are.”
thought, holy cow, we sold 50,000 pizzas in the first six weeks! And I realized that this wasn’t just the community supporting restaurants. This is an incredible product.”
Suddenly, that facility where Lee had made her meal kits—a space she still owned—was paying off in an unexpected way. She installed wood-fired pizza ovens and walk-in freezers, transforming it into a manufacturing plant that’s still
Coming Clean:
The Katie Lee Story
Clean ingredients are important to Katie Lee, owner of Katie’s in St. Louis. So is staying clean and sober. She became addicted to alcohol in her early teens and tried for years—and kept failing— to get sober. While she dropped in and out of rehab, the restaurant business remained her first love. As she recently told Forbes, “It’s probably the only industry that welcomes 15-year-old dropout addicts.” Sober for about 15 years now, Lee’s victory over addiction is a tale in itself, described in both painful and funny detail in The Katie Lee Story, her illustrated, magazine-format autobiography released this month. “It’s a very vulnerable story,” she says. “I share a lot of things that maybe people wouldn’t necessarily want to share, but I’m an open book and really want to connect with people. We all go through painful events and struggles, but never in the book do you get the sense that I… feel like a victim. I’m grateful for all that I have and all I’ve been through. And hopefully that can inspire others who are going through a tough time.”
The Katie Lee Story can be purchased in hard copy at any Katie’s restaurant or in digital and audiobook format at Katies.com and KatieLeeStory.com
growing today as she has added more products.
So, aside from building out the facility, what did Lee have to do differently to create her nowburgeoning line of frozen pizzas and other products? “Nothing,” she says. “Here’s the innovative part about our company. People want to cut costs and think they need to use different cheeses and different processes to make food. So what you find in the grocery store is overly processed food with a lot of science and junk behind it. Because we had to pivot so quickly, we made the exact same pizza, sealed it and froze it. And then we realized that’s the best way to do it….And it’s what everyone is afraid to do. So there is no leap. There is no difference. It’s literally the exact same chefs, the same dough, the same flour, the same everything. We hand-stretch
it. We fire it in the same ovens with the same Missouri white oak. The only difference is that we seal it and freeze it [at the plant].”
“A Chicken-and-Egg Situation”
It should be noted that Lee did all of that without outside funding. “The restaurants are very successful, so they funded the frozen business in its startup phase,” she notes. “We already had the plant. We just put in the ovens and the walk-ins. It’s much less expensive than building a restaurant.”
Lee knew she was onto something huge. If she could sell 50,000 pizzas in six weeks via a Shopify site, what if she got her frozen line into grocery stores? In St. Louis, regional chains like Diersbergs Markets and Straubs signed on first, followed by Balducci’s, Fresh
Lee’s
Market and Fresh Thyme. Then a deal with Unified Natural Foods, a nationwide distribution center (DC) for specialty foods, expanded her company’s reach significantly.
But none of it came easily.
“It’s very hard to make it into a distribution center, because you need the buyers,” Lee explains. “But the buyers don’t want you until you have a distribution center. So it’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation. Certain DCs believe in the product so much that they bring you on, but it’s very unusual for them to take that risk. And sometimes we have to get those accounts with the grocers first and get enough grocers in, say, Oregon that the DC in the Northwest will take us on. It’s a very, very hard thing to do. The DCs need to know they’re going to sell your product and need to see deals [with retailers]. But the retailers also need to see you in a DC so they can pick up the product.”
Which leads us back to Walmart. Lee had already gotten Katie’s
products into 800 stores prior to securing the Golden Ticket— “without a broker, without a marketing spend, without anything,” she notes. Then, in September 2024, Lee and her culinary director, Jake Sanderson, attended Walmart’s Open Call pitch day in Bentonville, Arkansas. On offer was the full line of Katie’s frozen pizzas and pasta bakes, plus her sauces (arrabbiata, marinara and lemon cream); barrelaged balsamic and EVOO; and slowdried pastas like bucatini and fiori.
A Golden Ticket is the grand prize, signifying that Walmart intends to move forward with the product for placement in stores, on Walmart.com or both. Selected applicants pitch their products in 30-minute meetings. Lee’s team had been pursuing Walmart for nearly five years, sending samples and showing products off to the retailer’s reps at expos. But her expectations were not high. “We had no idea it was possible to get a deal like that,” Lee says. “We thought it would be
“It’s very hard to make it into a distribution center, because you need the buyers. But the buyers don’t want you until you have a distribution center.”
Katie Lee
all-star Chef Collective—Cary McDowell, Derek Woodley and Jake Sanderson—amassed decades of experience at some of the country’s most renowned restaurants.
KATIE’S/INSTAGRAM
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like all the other trade shows or tabletop shows, where you meet the buyers, build a relationship and plant seeds, hoping it develops over time, which is how we’ve done everything else. And then over the next year or two, hopefully, we could get into a couple of stores or something like that.”
Instead, Lee got her Golden Ticket in less than an hour. And that deal quickly led to more opportunities. “Since we got it,” she says, “it’s been a great experience watching the company get a lot of attention from all of these other retailers that maybe weren’t taking notice yet.”
Decisions to Make
But Lee is, in a sense, her own “golden ticket.” Her company has now cut deals with Whole Foods, the Big Y supermarket chain in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and the Sprouts Farmers Market chain in Arizona. “We’re working on Winn-Dixie—we’re very close with that—and Target,” she says. “We’ve had a lot of meetings with Kroger. So we’ve made a lot of headway, with hopefully another 1,500 doors from the Natural Products Expo West that we’re working on. We’re very close with about 20 retailers right now and have another 50 just waiting for reviews.”
Meanwhile, the Katie’s CPG line has seen about 50% growth month over month—and that’s without any Walmart stores yet. Winning the Golden Ticket validated Lee’s brand, but how it plays out is currently up in the air, she says. Right now, she’s looking at a launch in Q3 or Q4 of this year. Still, there’s a lot to figure out.
“We have to make a decision about what’s best for Walmart and
for us,” Lee says. “If we proceed with it, are we ready to give them our all and give them the price they want? There’s an option to choose how many locations we go into. We have a lot to determine, and we want to make the best decision not just for us, but for the retailer. One thing we’ve learned this year is the importance of building real partnerships with the retailers. We didn’t really understand that in the beginning, and we’re learning that it’s a partnership—making sure we can support them as much as they can support us. So I really can’t answer that yet, except to say that we’re just trying to figure it out.”
It’s a good problem to have, and Lee is confident she’ll crack it. Her autobiography—a unique, magazine-style work of art with striking illustrations and her own tight, crisp yet tender prose—will help raise her profile, and she’s brought in Magrino Public Relations (Martha Stewart’s publicist) to build
more buzz. “They will help get that book out and get me on podcasts, sharing the story, with the ultimate goal to drive sales to retailers and get Americans connected with my family and with what we’ve built.”
In other words, wherever that Golden Ticket might take her, Lee’s still the captain of the ship, setting her own course. Not too shabby for a dropout who once had to “hope and float.”
“I’m not in a position where everything is riding on Walmart,” she says. “It’s amazing, it’s absolutely gonna take us to the next level. But we’re grateful for what we have already….I always believed we will be in Walmart. I know we’re going to be in Target and Costco. I know we’ll be in every retailer across the country. It’s just a matter of how long—and how much hard work—it will take to get there. [The Golden Ticket] just made it easier.”
Rick Hynum is PMQ’s editor in chief.
Lee considers the late Rolando Colon a co-founder of Katie’s. Her longtime dear friend, he cooked every day in the restaurant—not for customers but for Lee’s employees. “He’d dance and sing and kiss and hug,” she says.
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• Auto attendants— ”If you have arrived for curbside pickup press one ”
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SOLVING THE PIZZA COMMUNITY’S PROBLEMS TOGETHER
Dear PMQ Pizza Readers:
In my nearly 14 years at PMQ, I have come to dislike the term “pizza industry.” It sounds so…industrial, like “automotive industry” or “tech industry.”
We’re not an industry. We’re a community.
We’re building relationships, not machines. We’re serving the people we love, nurturing bodies and souls, celebrating special moments in life, and making folks happy—all with the world’s greatest food.
As a community, we learn from each other. We grow with each other. We lift each other up. When one of us succeeds, we all succeed. That’s what pizza has always been about. And that’s what the 2nd annual Pizza Power Forum is about, too.
PMQ Pizza is bringing together more than two dozen speakers for 14 educational sessions to solve common problems, share wisdom, sell more pizza, increase profits and make more money. And we’ll have some fun doing it!
With the Pizza Power Forum, we’re building something special in Atlanta. Come join us, and let’s build it together.
Rick Hynum Editor in Chief, PMQ Pizza
25 Speakers / 14 Educational Sessions:
• Get Your Toughest Dough Questions Answered!
• The Mad Scientists of Pizza: Mastering the Intricacies of Pizza Perfection
• Culture and Leadership: Training, Coaching Up and Getting Buy-In From Employees
• TV Fame and the Pizza Game: Behind the Scenes of TV’s Hottest Cooking Shows
• Pre-Loading 2026: Pump Up Your Sales With a Full Year’s Worth of Moneymaking Promotions
• Get Your Pizza Marketing Questions Answered!
• Opening Store No. 2: How to Know When You’re Ready and How to Do It Right
• Go Bigger, Go Faster! Engineering Your Pizzeria for Phenomenal Success and Growth
• Think and Grow Like a Chain Operator
• Franchising 101: How to Grow Your Brand Using a Time- Tested Model
• The InTouch Insight DELCO Report: Beating the Chains at Their Own Game
• Reclaim Your Life: Building a Pizzeria Operation That Runs With or Without You
• Some Like It Cold: Shipping Your Frozen Pizza to Build a National Brand
• Supercharge Your Menu With Game-Changing LTOs and Signature Pizzas SEPTEMBER 2-4, 2025
EMAILS THAT SELL
Use these four types of automated email campaigns to drive customer engagement, sales and profits at your pizzeria.
BY MATT PLAPP
IN 2010, I READ AN ARTICLE TITLED “Email Marketing Is Dead.” I was worried—I trusted the source, but I also believed in emails. I’d been using them for our business since 1999. I thought, “How could it be? Tell me they’re wrong.” Well, they were wrong. It’s 2025, and email remains one of the pillars of your pizzeria’s marketing plan that will keep customers’ attention.
There are two types of essential marketing emails: automated and one-offs. The latter are sent manually for specific events or promotions. Here, we’ll focus on automated emails, where you don’t have to do anything except add people to your email database.
You have three audiences: new customers, frequent customers and lost customers. You have four ways to increase sales among these customers: drive new sales, increase visit frequency, recapture lost customers and increase customers’ spend when they visit. You need campaigns that attack all of these customer segments and sales levers. So you should focus on four automated campaigns: welcome emails, reward emails, lost customer emails and sales emails.
Welcome Emails
It’s pretty simple: Welcome them with a bribe—an offer that’s so good they’d feel stupid not using it. This can’t be a coupon; it must be an incredible 100% free offer. This is the start of your email relationship, and these customers need to know you mean business. If the first email they get from you is merely a 10% off coupon, you’ve set the tone, and they’re less likely to open future marketing emails.
Some of you think, “I already have their business. Why give them something for free?” No, you believe you have their business. Without having a customer in your database, you’re simply hoping and praying they return. By gathering their data, you now control the opportunity to bring them back. A customer’s contact information is 100 times more valuable than the free promo you give on day one.
Plus, an awesome offer gives you an opportunity for a much better sales pitch. Imagine your team member asking a customer one of the following two questions, and tell me which one lands harder: “Hey, want to join
our email program and get 10% off your next order?” or “Hey, do you want a free appetizer on your next visit? Of course you do. What’s your email?” The better your offer, the more confident your team will be when delivering it to your customers.
Reward Emails
These emails hit harder with your top customers—the ones in your loyalty program. Birthday promos, rewards unlocked with points earned, etc., keep you top-of-mind with them and gamify their experience.
Lost Customer Emails
COVID-19 should have taught us the importance of having customer information. So many customers went missing during this time due to working from home, changing driving patterns, etc. Thousands of customers simply forgot about your restaurant. An email marketing program that reaches out on autopilot is gold.
Sales Emails
You’ve gathered—and spent money on—all of this data, so why not use it to sell stuff? In these emails, you go right to the point: “Walk in here and eat some food this week.”
Now, for the proof. See the chart below for stats from one of our clients from May 2024 to November 2024.
Across all of these campaigns, the client saw 1,657 redemptions of email promotions for $128,507 in gross sales. With regard to open rates and redemption rates, you’ll typically see diminishing returns the lower you go on this chart. People are more excited initially, and the farther away you get from their signup and engagement, the lower rates will go. You must study the numbers, make tweaks and constantly find ways to improve the results.
This client drives email engagement and, more importantly, sales across all customer segments and in each sales category. Plus, these emails reach customers who’ve forgotten the client—while encouraging others to spend more. The lost customer campaign saved 476 customers who had stopped visiting the restaurant. When you look at the sales associated with those customers, that’s “incremental sales,” meaning it would not have happened without this campaign. And factoring in your only cost—the food cost—these campaigns brought in $16,660 in profit!
The sales campaigns are similar in driving incremental sales and profits. They rewarded customers with bonus loyalty points for visiting in a particular week and spending $10 more than usual. This forced customers to spend more on their visits and interrupted their pattern. In this case, these customers accounted for $7,529 in incremental profit. (You’ll also notice the terrible redemption rate of 1% on the sales campaigns, due to targeting an overly broad audience. This should be closer to 5%!)
To summarize, build a solid email marketing strategy, and you’ll keep customers’ attention and drive more sales!
Matt Plapp is a contributing writer for PMQ.com.
Learn how to create—and promote— smash-hit limited-time offers that build buzz and profits while attracting a new customer base.
BY TRACY MORIN
IN THE SUMMER OF 2022, HUNGRY HOWIE’S MADE A MAJOR SPLASH with the intro of its Pickle Bacon Ranch pizza, a limited-time offer (LTO) quickly dissected on social media and taste-tested by YouTubers and TikTokers alike. “Just the talk on social media— people were like, ‘What is this?’” recalls Patrick Shannon, owner of nine Hungry Howie’s locations in Michigan and Ohio. “Then they said, ‘I gotta try this.’ That pizza, and our Mac ’N Cheese pizza [in 2023], created a buzz and got people talking. They may not even order it, but talking about it drives traffic. And both of those pizzas made up about 40% of sales when they ran.”
KINAMOTO
As Shannon’s tale demonstrates, the best LTOs tick several markers of success: a ton of buzz, a significant sales boost, and attracting customers who may have never eaten at your business before. But how do you create and carry out a winning LTO? Read on—our experts will guide you through the entire process from start to finish.
The Right Stuff
What are the key components of a great limited-time offer? “It’s all about excitement and attention—LTOs are a great way to stop people’s scrolling on social media and create virality,” says Matt Plapp, CEO (chief energy officer) of America’s Best Restaurants in Florence, Kentucky, and a contributor to PMQ.com. “There are two possibilities: to get attention and go viral with very few sales expectations, or to sell in a big way, embracing a ‘bigger is better’ mentality with substantial profit margins.”
Indeed, before you set out to create an LTO, ask yourself what you hope to achieve. “The success of an LTO, like most other initiatives, should be measured on the goals set,” says Loredana Gianino, director of marketing for Rosati’s Pizza Enterprises, based in Geneva, Illinois, with 135 locations. “Are you looking to reach a new audience, drive traffic, increase sales or incentivize trial of a more profitable menu item?”
To maximize sales and traffic, Gianino recommends making the best use of current ingredients while carefully considering the addition of one or two other key items that create excitement and interest. Ideally, these new additions can then be cross-utilized with other items on the menu.
“Too many LTOs end too soon…. Only 3% to 5% of your audience will see it every time you market it. It could take 30 days to really catch their attention.”
Matt Plapp, America’s Best Restaurants
This process may even inspire future innovation. Avery Ward, owner of Little Italy Ristorante in Groveport, Ohio, uses LTOs as a way to test potential new menu items while creating excitement around specific occasions. “We often tie LTOs to holidays—for example, a Valentine’s Day four-course dinner special where we introduce a new appetizer and entree while incorporating existing menu items like salads and desserts,” Ward explains. “While we
Divisive but attention-grabbing, the unique Pickle Bacon Ranch LTO at Hungry Howie’s Pizza created invaluable buzz on social media.
aim to use ingredients we already stock, we also take the opportunity to test out new ones to gauge guest response.”
You’ll also want to determine how long the LTO will run. Plapp recommends a 60-day period—enough to get the word out and see how it performs. “Too many LTOs end too soon,” he says. “We tend to assume in marketing that everyone will see what you put out there, when only 3% to 5% of your audience will see it every time you market it. This means it could take 30 days to really catch their attention.”
to your team, a good rollout plan can be just as critical as your external marketing initiatives, since these are the folks on the front lines selling the product.”
To get employees on board, Gianino suggests video (or in-person) training, supported by in-store pointof-purchase materials, such as table tents or window clings for them to reference when talking with customers. “A well-constructed employee contest that awards top LTO sales with a prize is another tool for an effective rollout to incentivize and engage the team,” she adds.
Finally, consider tapping into other brands and businesses in your area for your next LTO. “Partnerships with other local businesses can be incredible, especially when both marketing departments promote it,” Plapp says. “Graeters Ice Cream in Cincinnati recently collaborated for a chili-inspired ice cream flavor with a local restaurant, Skyline Chili, and the social media attention has been insane. Many people are not even interested in that LTO, but they’re now thinking about ice cream—and people love sharing crazy menu items on social media.”
Building Buzz
Now that you have a winning LTO in place, you’ll need to market it successfully—but you should start thinking about this step well before you launch. “Bring your audience into the process and invite them on social media to be a part of the taste-test panel, or create teasers where you launch a ‘secret menu item’ as an exclusive to mobile app or social media followers first,” Gianino recommends. “Then, when introducing an LTO
Meanwhile, Plapp recommends the following formula when marketing LTOs:
1. In-store: Get new shirts for these items and ensure your staff always wears them. Buttons, hats and necklaces are also a great touch.
2. Social media and email: Don’t let your LTOs be all you talk about for that period. The LTO should be the headliner, but don’t abandon your regular menu.
3. Contests: On social media, leverage contests with posts for LTOs. The more engagement you get, the better your chance of going viral. Guessing what the LTO will be or having customers create their own LTO in the comments will build interest.
4. Influencers: They can be instrumental in helping launch LTOs. Get ahead of the curve and have them talking about the upcoming promo weeks before it’s going to drop. Then, when it does, have them revisit and post again.
Don’t forget to monitor your LTO’s progress. To track guest feedback, Ward’s team tags all LTO orders in its
“We
build anticipation through social media videos, where a team member introduces the item or tries it on camera to generate excitement. We support this with email campaigns, Facebook Messenger blasts and targeted database outreach.”
Avery Ward, Little Italy Ristorante
guest feedback platform. This allows the company to follow up with customers via a two-question survey to gather direct insights. Additionally, managers are required to table-touch every LTO order, asking guests specific questions about their experience. This hands-on approach helps Little Italy collect valuable qualitative feedback in real time.
“From a marketing perspective, we build anticipation through social media videos, where a team member introduces the item or tries it on camera to generate excitement,” Ward adds. “We support this with email campaigns, Facebook Messenger blasts and targeted database outreach. Finally, employee training is critical to an LTO’s success. The team needs to be fully knowledgeable about the item—how it tastes, what makes it unique, and how to recommend it confidently. Tasting the item firsthand ensures they can authentically engage with guests about it.”
Rosati’s ensures that LTO ingredients can be cross-utilized with other items on the menu, like its appetizers, pastas, pizzas and sandwiches.
Ward also prioritizes in-store promotion, favoring menu inserts to highlight the new offering cost-effectively. “We also ensure consistent signage throughout the restaurant, including table placards, digital menu boards, and bathroom signage placed above urinals and on stall doors,” Ward says. “If a restaurant has TV advertising boards, featuring LTOs in an engaging way helps reinforce awareness.”
The LTO Aftermath
Had a super-successful LTO launch? You might be wondering if it should become a permanent menu item. “LTOs are great ways to test menu items, but you also have to be careful not to lose the magic the LTO brings every time you launch it,” Plapp warns. “There are many LTOs that hinge on an ingredient with seasonal availability, but assuming that hurdle doesn’t exist, add items that don’t require a lot of new inventory.”
Alternatively, you might want to shelve your LTO for a relaunch in the future. “Let the data tell you if it has earned a place on your menu—or consider how you might best harness its power,” Gianino advises. “When you have a successful LTO that drives both traffic and sales, bring it back strategically during a time when you have soft sales and traffic, or when you have an additional campaign that could benefit from an infusion of traffic. McDonald’s often uses the McRib in this way.” When it comes to evaluating long-term potential, Ward compares an LTO’s performance against core menu items. “Some successful LTOs have transitioned into permanent additions,” he says. “Others rotate seasonally or are retired if they don’t meet expectations.”
Shannon found a different happy medium for the much-buzzed-about Pickle Bacon Ranch LTO at his locations: placing it on a “secret menu.” With this strategy, customers can still order the specialty pie and feel like insiders, while the pizza maintains its mystique. It’s another win-win for the business and its guests—a creative way to keep that LTO magic alive.
Tracy Morin is PMQ’s associate editor.
ROSATI’S PIZZA ENTERPRISES (4)
Pizzeria Achieved A 17 Percent Increase in YoY Comp Sales
The power of smart engagement strategies.
Pizzeria restaurants operate in a highly competitive industry where standing out requires more than great pizza.
With shifting consumer preferences, evolving digital marketing trends, and the need for strong customer relationships, many pizzerias struggle to connect with their audience effectively.
From managing online reviews and social media engagement to creating targeted promotions and loyalty programs, navigating modern marketing strategies can be overwhelming. Without the right approach, even
the best pizzerias risk losing customers to competitors who have mastered the art of digital connection and brand storytelling.
PizzaCloud provides pizzerias with innovative solutions to enhance customer connections and streamline marketing efforts. With advanced VoIP phone systems—a technology that allows customers to make voice calls using a broadband internet connection—data-driven call tracking, and seamless integration with online ordering
By Abby Winterburn | Sponsored by PizzaCloud
platforms, PizzaCloud ensures restaurants never miss a call or order.
Their technology improves customer service by reducing hold time, enabling call forwarding, and offering detailed analytics to optimize marketing campaigns. Additionally, PizzaCloud’s marketing tools help pizzerias implement effective customer loyalty programs, targeted promotions, and automated outreach, making it easier to engage with customers and drive repeat business. One popular pizzeria, Rosati’s Pizza, has integrated PizzaCloud to enhance its franchise operations and maintain a strong customer connection.
With over 60 years of experience and five generations of serving up secret family recipes, Rosati’s Pizza has built a reputation for quality and authenticity.
“Successfully operating more than 130 locations nationwide, Rosati’s success is driven by its unwavering commitment to quality and an exceptional customer experience,” says Loredana Gianino, director of marketing for Rosati’s Pizza Enterprises, Inc.
The brand offers three franchise models—Sports Pub, featuring a full bar
“We now have 100 percent uptime, improved labor and consistency, expanded call management with re-routing options, and added an additional marketing tool with their on-hold and SMS messaging.”
— Loredana Gianino, Rosati’s Pizza Enterprises, Inc.
and TVs; Fast Casual, with dedicated dining space; and Carryout/Delivery, designed for a more economical footprint and streamlined operations. “We have above-average AUVs, so the tech stack we provide to support our franchisees is critical to the overall health of the system,” Gianino says. “The technology must be simple and integrate seamlessly with our existing systems. We are always looking to improve our tech stack because it’s one of the most important pieces in offering a great model for prospective franchisees and for providing a great customer experience.”
Rosati’s has been partnered with PizzaCloud for over a decade due to PizzaCloud’s vast experience in this
arena and its motivation to advance Rosati’s technology and integrations. “PizzaCloud grows with us, which is what we want out of any partnership,” Gianino says. “Restaurants rely on a lot of digital and online technologies to provide great service to our customers and when that technology fails for reasons out of our control sales can suffer greatly. PizzaCloud steps in during those hiccups with cellular backup to ensure our POS, phone, and credit card processing all remain in operation during an outage. If you have power and a partnership with PizzaCloud, you are still running your business.”
Since integrating PizzaCloud, Rosati’s day-to-day operations have improved. “We now have 100 percent uptime, improved labor and consistency, expanded call management with re-routing options, and added an additional marketing tool with their on-hold and SMS messaging,” Gianino says.
Additionally, the platform has helped streamline customer interactions and order management. “Their Caller ID integrates with our POS system, so when a customer calls into the restaurant, their information, order history, and rewards status are all in front of the order taker, helping to expedite and streamline the ordering process while building our reward database,” Gianino says. “This has also helped us stay top-of-mind with consumers by going beyond traditional marketing and advertising channels, where competition for attention is high,
ADOBE
and instead fostering a more personal, one-on-one connection with our customers.”
Rosati’s recently leveraged PizzaCloud’s SMS service to run a highly successful marketing campaign during one of the biggest pizza days of the year—Super Bowl Sunday, which coincided with National Pizza Day. By utilizing targeted text messaging, Rosati’s was able to directly reach thousands of customers with timely messages, ensuring they were top-of-mind for game day orders.
“The main goal of our recent text campaign was to create Top of Mind awareness leading into National Pizza Day and Super Bowl Sunday,” Gianino says. “Knowing pizza was already a top consumer choice that day, rather than leading with an offer, we simply wanted our customers to think of Rosati’s. We targeted consumers who had purchased in the last 120 days and we gave them an ordering link for their favorite Rosati’s location to place the order ahead of time for the game.”
The results yielded a 17 percent increase in YoY comp sales and a 12 percent increase in YoY comp traffic on Super Bowl Sunday. “We will continue to explore non-offer vs offerbased SMS messaging since we saw such great results without an offer,” Gianino says.
Rosati’s franchisees have responded positively to PizzaCloud’s text messaging functionality, praising its
ease of use, precise targeting, and, most importantly, its affordability.
“This is one of the most cost-effective, paid marketing channels for franchisees that delivers an immediate ROI,” Gianino says. With the ability to reach 1,000 customers for just $10—at only a penny per message—franchisees see a return on investment from just a single order. This high-impact, low-cost marketing tool has not only boosted sales but also strengthened franchise satisfaction, contributing to a thriving and successful franchise system.
Rosati’s is always looking ahead when it comes to implementing new tools and technology into their daily operations, ensuring they stay ahead in an ever-evolving industry. They understand innovation is key to maintaining a competitive edge, which is why they continuously evaluate and invest in solutions that enhance efficiency, improve customer experience, and support their franchisees.
“We will continue to leverage PizzaCloud’s messaging services and expand into automation, allowing us to send personalized messages immediately after a guest dines in
“We will continue to leverage PizzaCloud’s messaging services and expand into automation, allowing us to send personalized messages immediately after a guest dines in or places an online order”
— Loredana Gianino, Rosati’s Pizza Enterprises, Inc.
or places an online order,” Gianino says. “This will enable us to thank them, invite them to share feedback through a survey, and seamlessly integrate loyalty by automatically notifying them when they’re close to their next reward—encouraging repeat visits and strengthening customer engagement.”
By embracing technology and innovative marketing strategies, Rosati’s Pizza continues to set itself apart in a competitive marketplace. Through its partnership with PizzaCloud, Rosati’s has enhanced operations, strengthened customer relationships, and provided franchisees with cost-effective tools that drive real results.
From improving call management and order processing to leveraging SMS marketing for increased customer engagement, these advancements ensure Rosati’s remains a lead in the pizza industry. As the brand looks to the future, its commitment to integrating cutting-edge solutions will support its franchisees and elevate the overall customer experience—solidifying Rosati’s as a go-to choice for quality pizza and exceptional service.
“SMS is a highly targeted, consistent, and relevant marketing tool,” Gianino says. “Moving forward, we will be exploring SMS automation to drive predictable, sustainable results and maximize customer engagement.”
To learn more about PizzaCloud’s messaging services, visit PizzaCloud.net.
IP Phone Service
Increase revenue and lower cost
• No Busy Signals
• Call Recording
• Call Queuing / Auto Answering
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• Callerid delivered to POS system
• Auto attendants ”If you have arrived for curbside pickup press one ”
Cellular Backup Internet
Protect
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• When your Internet fails our cellular backup router keeps your phones, credit card processing and web orders all working.
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“Press one to receive a text message with links to our onlne ordering ”.
SMS Marketing
Manage bulk text message marketing from our system to drive increased revenue. As low as $0.01 per message. Group text messaging to communicate with
Three pizzeria owners with a focus on philanthropy share the causes close to their hearts—and how they get their staff, customers and community on board to make maximum impact.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
By Tracy Morin
WHETHER THEY’RE SUPPORTING SCHOOL SPORTS teams or donating pies and gift cards to fundraisers, you’d be hard-pressed to find a successful pizzeria that isn’t giving back to its community in some way. Pizzeria owners universally understand how important it is to reciprocate the love they receive from local customers. But some of them go above and beyond when supporting causes that are especially dear to their hearts. Read on to hear, in their own words, the remarkable ways three brands are devoting themselves to giving back—and enticing their employees and customers to do the same.
KELLY GLYNN
Owner (with husband Brian Glynn), Village Idiot Pizza, Columbia, SC (two locations)
March of Dimes became our focus after our twins were born at just 28 weeks. They spent 71 days in the NICU, and over that time the research and development of lifesaving efforts for premature babies and healthy moms was very evident. We knew we wanted to support the organization that supported us.
We host an annual “Pizza for Preemies” campaign every November, which is Prematurity Awareness Month. This campaign is backed with a robust PR and marketing campaign to raise awareness of the cause and the fundraising efforts. All proceeds from the Feature of the Month, Pesto Preemie Vera, as well as all roundups, cutouts, straight donations and a percentage of sales for the month, are donated to March of Dimes. To date, that has been more than $72,000.
Our team members are well-versed in the cause and why it’s important to us. They have wearable buttons that say, “Ask me how to donate.” We also have cutouts that they can sell direct to customers, and the team member who sells the most wins a prize. Customers are engaged in many ways throughout the month—from team member engagement to the writing pens that we keep year-round that support Pizza for Preemies. We are also
not afraid to tell our story, although I still get choked up every time.
We host “percentage of sales” nights each week at both of our locations, where we invite groups to partner with us for the night, and they take a percentage of those sales back to their organization. We do programs with local libraries to encourage reading and give free pizza to those that participate. We fundraise for disaster relief and give back to organizations helping in the areas affected. Our Pizza-Gram program that started during COVID to feed hospital workers and first responders is still what we use to respond to need in our community, and more than 1,200 pizzas have been donated to date.
“We are not afraid to tell our story, although I still get choked up every time.”
We are no strangers to fundraising for smaller community organizations, so we realize the impact we can have fundraising through pizza. Giving back is part of our brand and not just a social mission campaign. We have been hosting “percent nights” weekly for more than a decade, and they have been very helpful to many local organizations. Our decision to make a larger impact on one organization because of our story was born out of the success we have seen with these smaller fundraising efforts as well as our COVID campaign. Pizza brings people together, and we leverage that to help others.
Kelly Glynn, Village Idiot Pizza
Village Idiot Pizza owners Kelly and Brian Glynn, inspired by their twins, who were born premature, support Prematurity Awareness Month and host weekly fundraisers for local community organizations year-round.
“While it’s true that guests gravitate toward businesses that are community-minded, our commitment to giving back started long before corporate social responsibility became a talking point.”
Jaime Spinato, Spinato’s Pizzeria & Family Kitchen
JAIME SPINATO
Brand manager and director of community outreach, Spinato’s Pizzeria & Family Kitchen, Tempe, AZ (six locations)
Giving back has always been part of who we are, and in 2009, we founded the Kenneth A. Spinato Foundation to further our commitment to serving others. Through our three pillars—kids, veterans and service animals—we strive to make a meaningful impact and continue our tradition of community support. Throughout the year, we work with more than 130 nonprofits. Spinato’s supports them with pizza parties, gift card donations and silent auction items—on top of funding their causes, which accounts for about $100,000 annually.
In 2024, for the second consecutive year, Spinato’s Pizzeria & Family Kitchen, in partnership with our Kenneth A. Spinato Foundation, issued “The Kindness Challenge” to our guests to help the homeless and raise funds for St. Vincent de Paul. This unique fundraiser takes place in September, National Kindness Month, and runs through October 31. We’re currently planning our third event this year.
Our 2024 event grew to include the support of other businesses, and thanks to the support of the new sponsors, our Spinato’s team members and other caring volunteers created nearly 1,000 Kindness Bags full of toiletries, snacks, water, socks and other items. The
Kindness Bags were located at each of our six restaurants for a donation of $5, with 100% of the proceeds going back to St. Vincent de Paul. We also encouraged our guests to purchase the Kindness Bags and distribute them to someone they saw who was in need of help. Meanwhile, the Nice List Holiday Kindness Challenge came about after Frost Communications, a local film and entertainment agency representing Amazon MGM Studios’ Red One movie, contacted us in the fall of 2024.
(Top to bottom) Jaime Spinato poses with Kindness Bags, part of the first Spinato's Kindness Challenge in 2023; Bryan, Kelli and Mara Northey accept free pizza for a year from Jaime Spinato in the 2024 Holiday Kindness Challenge.
We were challenged to devise an innovative, collaborative campaign that generated excitement among Spinato’s guests and movie fans. Spinato’s marketing director Erin Schultz and content creator Angela Moneyhon took the lead with developing a fun, creative campaign that included a “Nice List” contest, a Surprise & Delight kindness campaign (powered by Spinato’s elf interns) and a North Pole News broadcast. The grand prize for the Nice List contest was free pizza for a year.
Our winner, Mara Northey, was just 10 years old. When her parents nominated her, she was laser-focused on
collecting shoes for the homeless to help Trevor’s Vision, an Anthem-based nonprofit that provides meals, clothing and other needed human services to homeless adults in Phoenix. We were so impressed with Mara’s service heart that we decided to help her meet her goal of donating 250 pairs of new shoes for Trevor’s Vision’s holiday event in December. Spinato’s donated $1,500 worth of new shoes towards Mara’s goal, and we joined her at the event, where Spinato’s provided pizza for 250 attendees and volunteers.
Giving back is at the heart of who we are. It’s not just something we do; it’s part of our core values. We often say that we’re in the people business more than the pizza business, and we believe all businesses have a responsibility to support the communities that support them. Our success is built on the generosity, loyalty and kindness of others, and we believe in reciprocating that by using what we have to make a difference.
While it’s true that guests gravitate toward businesses that are community-minded, our commitment to giving back started long before corporate social responsibility became a talking point. For us, it has always been about sharing our blessings and never neglecting an opportunity to do good. We continually strive to build an authentic culture of kindness—one that we hope inspires our guests, team members and the broader community to do the same.
Spinato's Pizzeria CEO Anthony Spinato (middle), with Gary Michael Hamm and Chris Rose from Magicians On Mission, show off the Stay Golden Pizza, created to celebrate Spinato's 50th anniversary in 2024. A portion of proceeds benefited the nonprofit, which recruits magicians to boost morale for overseas American service members.
Nearly two dozen volunteers packed Kindness Bags in August 2024 to help the homeless and raise funds for St. Vincent de Paul.
JAY JERRIER
Owner/founder, PILF Restaurant Group, Dallas, TX (13 locations)
Dogs have always been a big part of my life—growing up, we always had a dog. When I moved to Texas, we adopted a Hungarian Vizsla, a retired hunting dog with red fur (that’s where our pizzeria name, Cane Rosso, comes from; it means “red dog” in Italian).
There’s a really big problem in the South with hunting dogs being dumped in shelters or in the fields when they’re older or won’t hunt. There is a famous quote from comedian Lily Tomlin: “I always wondered why somebody doesn’t do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody.” We decided that we wanted to use our restaurants’ popularity to raise awareness about the plight of dogs in the Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma area. So we started our own 501(c)3 charity called Cane Rosso Rescue. At first, we started with just raising money. Then we expanded into finding foster families and eventually opening our own rescue facility.
A portion of every single sale from every restaurant in our portfolio (Cane Rosso, Zoli’s NY Pizza, Thunderbird Pies and Cow Tipping Creamery) is donated to the rescue to help fund facilities, staff, medical expenses and foster support. We also host adoption events on our patios for rescue dogs.
“There’s a really big problem in the South with hunting dogs being dumped in shelters or in the fields when they’re older or won’t hunt….We use our restaurants’ popularity to raise awareness about [their] plight.”
Jay Jerrier, PILF Restaurant Group
Over the years, we’ve developed a really strong following on social media for our restaurants—but also for our rescue. Our pages, canerossorescue on Facebook and Instagram, are very active, and we post a lot of success stories about adoptions and medical cases. We’re able to post information about dogs needing fosters, and to request help for transport or to volunteer (opportunities such as to come walk the dogs or help at the rescue center).
We’re fortunate enough to be very popular, and I think it is really important to be able to use that good fortune to give back to the community. It’s really just part of our DNA.
Tracy Morin is PMQ’s associate editor.
Jay Jerrier's 501(c)3 charity, Cane Rosso Rescue, started as a fundraising effort but blossomed into a rescue facility for abandoned and homeless dogs.
Published three days a week— Monday, Wednesday and Friday— Pizza Pulse offers the latest industry news, pizzeria and chef profiles, marketing ideas, success stories and more.
Offered every Tuesday, Startup Shops guides industry newcomers and aspiring pizzaioli to success in dough-making, recipes, hiring/training, marketing, operations and more.
#PizzaGold delivers monthly news, recipes and strategies for success from members of the U.S. Pizza Team, plus info on pizza-making competitions around the U.S. and the world.
SCREEN TIME
From crafting
standout job postings
to asking beyondthe-basics questions and sussing out “soft skills,” experts share their top tips on orchestrating effective employee interviews.
BY TRACY MORIN
ALTHOUGH THE HIRING LANDSCAPE HAS IMPROVED IN RECENT YEARS, plenty of pizzeria owners still often repeat the old adage: Good help is hard to find. And as the next generation of employees enters the workforce, owners (like any solid prospective candidate) must be willing to change and adapt.
Fortunately, meeting and attracting quality employees—while keeping your company culture intact—is possible with the right strategies. Here, experts in the industry share the interviewing skills that help pinpoint top-notch team members, their best tips for weeding out weak candidates, and how honesty and consistency promote maximum harmony between guests, owners and employees.
OUR EXPERTS
PMQ: When hiring, how do you filter out weak candidates from the start?
CHRISTINA MARTIN: I have a killer job posting online that is far less “seeking qualified pizza making candidate” and a lot more “Are you freaking super awesome? Can you learn how to make pizza if we teach you? Are you cool to be around for an eight-hour shift?” Candidates get a feel for our culture and vibe right from the start.
ANDY SOMERS: I think it’s key to move past old-school mindsets and preconceived notions. We should recognize trends of the industry and of the younger generations. College-age workers may be transient, and we need to look past their number of jobs. For some, their most expensive clothes are designer jeans and sneakers, not a suit and tie—that’s them showing up in their personal best.
Most importantly, the weakest candidate will not be available to meet the needs of the guest. The restaurant business is not a Monday-to-Friday 9-to-5, so if they can’t meet those needs, that’s the No. 1 disqualifier.
PMQ: What kind of questions do you ask to identify high performers?
MARTIN: I love looking for former/current athletes, people who volunteer, have a hobby, etc.—just generally have something going on in their life that gives them purpose outside of their day to day. I want to employ a whole human with goals, drive, enthusiasm and zest for
“College-age workers may be transient, and we need to look past their number of jobs. For some, their most expensive clothes are designer jeans and sneakers… that’s them showing up in their personal best.”
Andy Somers, Old Chicago Pizzeria + Taproom
life, not just someone who can stretch a dough ball into a circle and press buttons on my POS. A monkey could do those things if taught properly. I want amazing people in my store.
I ask on the application itself, “If I schedule you for an interview, will you show up?” It’s playful but also weeds out the goofballs wasting my time. Additionally, my application prompts them to tell me what they’d do with an elephant if I gave it to them and they couldn’t sell it or give it away. This usually helps me gauge their sense of humor and entrepreneurial spirit (or lack of both—in which case, I’m likely not even going to call).
COURTNEY MARTINEZ: While we screen for potential and experience, we are also looking for cultural fit. We believe in our culture and are selective about whom we bring in the organization. We have interview guides for our teams to use, but it’s the most important role
CHRISTINA MARTIN, owner, Manizza’s Pizza, Las Vegas, NV
COURTNEY MARTINEZ, chief people officer, Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria, Buffalo Grove, IL
ANDY SOMERS, VP of operations, Old Chicago Pizza + Taproom, Houston, TX
SEPTEMBER 2-4, 2025 ATLANTA
IGNITING GROWTH IN THE PIZZA INDUSTRY
Join us in Atlanta on September 2-4
• Hear and share perspectives on igniting growth in the pizza business.
• Network with and learn from leading independents and emerging pizza chain operators from around the U.S.
• Explore the energy of the dynamic city with nearby attractions, pizza shops and other dining.
The Pizza Power Forum is the only event that focuses solely on the needs of independent pizzerias and emerging pizza chains. Veteran pizzeria operators and pizza makers will share their expertise and perspectives on igniting growth, making superior pizza and increasing sales and profits.
Topics covered include:
• Menu development
• Scaling your brand with integrity
• Leveraging the power of digital marketing and social media
• Perfecting your dough
• Robotics and automation in the pizza space
• Creating a thriving company culture
MARRIOTT MARQUIS
of a leader to identify a future hire based on their willingness to work hard, be open and curious, and commit to the team we have here. Our leaders, being high performers themselves, ask for examples of traits and behaviors indicative of a solid fit who will make the whole team or department better.
SOMERS: These questions translate to both hourly and managerial candidates:
Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond. What did you do, and what motivated you to do that? In hospitality, perfection is difficult to attain. How did you handle a past mistake? What was the mistake, and how did you recover?
Tell me about a time you had to adapt to a policy change. What did you do to adjust?
PMQ: Do you look for “soft skills” in potential employees, and if so, what are those skills?
MARTIN: I look for people who are friendly, resourceful and competitive. My make line and general operations are very consistent and clear, by design, so my team can use their personality to create an amazing guest interaction. I make things really simple and clear cut, so my team and their great personalities can shine.
MARTINEZ: Absolutely. We believe we can teach anyone how to make one of our amazing pizzas or use one of our systems. We can’t always teach kindness, hospitality, or looking out for the betterment of the entire team. In some cases, the interaction with our team members will tell us all we need to know. How they may hold a door for someone; how they ask questions or seek to find clarity if there is confusion; and showing interest in our environment and engaging with the team are a few behavioral indicators. We are committed to hospitality, so we seek people with that mindset of putting guests first.
SOMERS: Do they have the ability to communicate effectively and collaborate with their team in the front and back of house? Do they respond well to and learn from feedback? Adaptability is incredibly important in the restaurant industry, and it’s not easily taught. Also, are they a cultural fit? We love a little bit of passion for our pizza and craft beers on tap.
PMQ: Can you share any other hiring best practices?
MARTIN: I set expectations during the interview that while this is a small mom-and-pop shop, we’re hyperconsistent. No one does things “their way,” but I am totally open to feedback on how to drive efficiency or enhance their job/guest experience/product, and I always welcome their suggestions. If we love them and test them out and it’s a fit, we make that a new company play, but at no point should a team member freestyle a menu item. They seem to love having really clear expectations and thrive with consistency. This also allows me as the business owner to manage the standard instead of managing the personality. This saves me headaches. I’m also regularly interviewing, regardless of whether I have a position open or not. I keep good communication with great candidates, and nearly half my staff are people
From being “super awesome” to putting guests first, wellrounded and personable employees are a must for every successful pizzeria.
MANIZZA’S PIZZA
whom I interviewed, loved and didn’t quite have a spot for yet with the hours they wanted. So I communicated that clearly, and when the opportunity came up for a position, they were a phone call and some paperwork away. My team always knows they can count on my honesty and transparency by doing that from the jump, and that builds trust that I always have both their best interest and the business’ best interest at the top of my list.
SOMERS: During the interview, it can be evident how they’ll interact with the guest. Evaluate their active listening skills. Is the candidate interrupting you to ask questions? They might interrupt a guest. Are they asking clarifying questions at the appropriate time? If so, they’re more likely to follow up with guests to make sure they get it right. Recalling specific needs or requests is a great skill in a server.
Finally, watch for nonverbal cues: Do they make eye contact and engage in conversation? The body language
“My application prompts them to tell me what they’d do with an elephant if I gave it to them and they couldn’t sell it or give it away. This usually helps me gauge their sense of humor and entrepreneurial spirit.”
Christina Martin, Manizza’s Pizza
you see in the interview is likely to be what the guest will see. Do they come across as calm and confident, with an engaging tone? That puts the guest at ease, creating a relaxed and hospitable environment. Hospitality is as simple as being nice and smiling—that’s it!
Tracy
Morin is PMQ’s associate editor.
Circle of Crust: Meet the New USPT Champs
The U.S. Pizza Team kicks off its 25th year with the addition of two standout competitors: Ray Cullison of Charlie’s Pizzeria and Enrico Aguila of Uncle Rico’s Pizza. BY
BRIAN HERNANDEZ
AMONG THE U.S. PIZZA TEAM’S (USPT) flour-dusted army of champions stand two new warriors who are already slicing their way into team lore: Ray Cullison of Charlie’s Pizzeria in Kingman, Arizona, and Enrico Aguila of Uncle Rico’s Pizza in Fort Myers, Florida. Let’s find out more about them!
First, Meet Ray Cullison
Cullison started his pizza journey as a side hustle, selling handmade pies to family and friends. “My first pizza job—I really didn’t have one,” he says. “I worked at Jack in the Box when I was a teenager…then started making homemade pizzas out of my backyard and selling them
to family and friends and anybody that could get their hands on it.”
That humble DIY spirit eventually led to a food truck, and now he’s leveling up like Luigi on ’shrooms, heading toward a brick-and-mortar location. “I already have all of the equipment for it. It’d be more of a slice shop and an Italian bakery,” he says. “I have a new pizza oven that I’m anxiously waiting to use.”
Cullison’s introduction to pizza competitions wasn’t a gentle one—it was trial by fire, with no room for hesitation. “The scariest thing was using ovens and equipment that I was never really accustomed to.” Did he run away? Nope. He Ray Stantz-ed it, Ghostbusters-
Enrico admires his entry one last time before he offers it to the pizza judges...and history.
Ray shows off a test bake at the ʼ25 International Pizza Challenge.
USPT’S VEGAS JACKPOT: SILVER, CHEESE AND SANDWICH GLORY
The U.S. Pizza Team Racks Up Awards, Glory and Probably Some Extra Calories
The U.S. Pizza Team and their protégés dominated the pizza playing field at the ’25 International Pizza Challenge in Las Vegas, taking numerous regional titles as well as some serious precious metals. Here’s a look at a few of the shiniest pizza pros representing the USPT and their pizzerias:
Wilhelm Rodriguez, Papa’s Pizza, Cabo Rojo, PR
1st place: Traditional Prelims
1st place: Traditional Finals
1st place: Traditional International Competitor 2nd place: Pizza Maker of the year
McKenna Carney, The Nona Slice House, Safety Harbor, FL
1st place: Daiya Plant-Based Pizza Challenge
Chris Ostapenko, Slice On Broadway, Pittsburgh, PA
1st place: Best Cheese Slice Finals
1st place: Best Cheese Slice—Northeast
Tore Trupiano, Mangia e Bevi, Oceanside, CA
2nd place: Best of the Best
David Solum, Danger von Dempsey’s Pizzeria & Brewhäus ATY, Watertown, SD
2nd place: Daiya Plant-Based Pizza Challenge
Craig Allenbaugh, Sauced Pizza & Catering, Fairview Park, OH
2nd place: International Italian Sandwich Championship
David Conti, Red Planet Pizza, Ansonia, CT
3rd place: International Italian Sandwich Championship
Visit www.uspizzateam.com for a list of all results as well as photo galleries of the pizza shenanigans from Sin City, and stay tuned for the results of our team trip to the World Pizza Championship in Italy in the June/July issue of PMQ Pizza
For more info and pics visit www.uspizzateam.com.
Wilhelm Rodriguez
David Solum, Mark Zabrowski of Much Ado About Pizza & Chris Ostapenko
USPT 2025 Competing Galbani Pro Members, Pizza Expo, Las Vegas
Tore Trupiano
style—chin up, mind open, flour flying. “I didn’t really have fear. I wanted to go full steam ahead into all pizza—even if it meant me failing. I knew the only way I was going to improve was by doing it.”
Cullison is a past Real California Pizza Contest champion, which earned him some serious pizza cred and a cash prize. But he’s not in it just for the dough—at least, not the dollar kind. “We do a lot of donation work with Little League, with our local kids’ charities, and with Cornerstone Mission, which helps the homeless individuals in our location,” Cullison says.
With the U.S. Pizza Team, he sees the same values in action. “Everybody has been so cordial and informing and knowledgeable and helpful,” he says. His advice to future competitors? “Focus on the little things. Focus on the individual topping. Focus on how you bake your dough and how you make it.”
And his final message to pizza competitors? Classic Cullison: “Run! Don’t do it! I’m just kidding. It’s an awesome, supportive community that we have in pizza, and I’m just glad to be a part of it.”
Then There’s Uncle Rico
Born in Peru, raised in Hollywood, Florida, Enrico Aguila is the kind of guy who could throw a football over those mountains like a certain other, more famous Uncle Rico. At the very least, he aims to go over and above judges’ expectations. “My first pizza job was a small family-owned Italian restaurant, and, after years of making pies, I found my niche and decided it was time to take the step and open my own place.”
So how did he get into the competition game? “My wife, Cira, entered me in a competition without me knowing. That’s it.” (Let’s be real: That’s the origin story of many pizza superheroes and Roman emperors alike—thrust into greatness.) Cira’s fateful shove dropped Aguila into the pizza gauntlet, and once his hands touched the dough, he says, “It all went away.” Like stretching your first perfect dough—suddenly, it just feels right.
Aguila’s a champion in his own right, taking first place in the 2024 Galbani Professionale Pizza Cup’s Best Cheese division at the Pizza Tomorrow Summit in Orlando. But he credits the USPT with introducing him to a new world of pizza possibilities. “The benefit of the team for me is getting to know the people from all walks of pizza life and have access to that kind of knowledge across the industry.”
At Uncle Rico’s, he’s also committed to giving back. “We are yearly sponsors for Cops and Joggers, which benefits families of fallen law enforcement,” Aguila says. “We’re yearly sponsors of the City of Palms Classic. We also donate to local charities as often as we can.”
Not to mention that The Washington Post named Uncle Rico’s the third-best spot in Florida for New York-style pizza in 2023. Aguila’s advice to new competitors? “Be yourself, and be confident. It’s just making pizza. You do it every day.” And his final message? “Be humble.”
As the USPT celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, it remains committed to discovering, cultivating and unleashing talented leaders like Cullison and Aguila into the pizza community. But this pizza-powered machine doesn’t run on talent alone. We extend a huge thanks to Galbani Professionale, Margherita Meats, Real California Milk, and all of our sponsors who help keep the USPT rolling, competing and inspiring others. Their support allows us to support our team members, and they support the industry. It’s the ultimate circle of crust.
For more information about the U.S. Pizza Team, its members and sponsors, visit USPizzaTeam.com.
Brian Hernandez is PMQ’s associate editor and coordinator of the U.S. Pizza Team.
Ray Cullison not only gets his new USPT chef coat—he also gets Galbani Pro Team attire in preparation for pizza battle.
Enrico Aguila of Uncle Rico’s shines as “Master of the Curd” at the 2025 Galbani Professionale Pizza Cup at the Pizza Tomorrow Summit.
(Clockwise from top left) Helen and Andy Todaro opened Andy’s Pizza in the Hotel Peckville in 1945; the historic, possibly haunted building still houses Andy’s today; Joan Mikloiche, shown with her daughter Samantha, oversees Andy’s old-school operations; Samantha cheeses a pie; Andy welcomes customers in 1966.
Andy’s Pizza
Andy’s Pizza in Peckville, Pennsylvania, refuses to play by the rules. And its spirited co-owner, Joan Mikloiche, who’s helped by her husband, Jeff, and two daughters, Samantha and Danielle, wouldn’t have it any other way. From a cash-only policy and a divisive dough (“not everyone likes it,” Joan admits) to the original owners’ ghosts roaming the building, Andy’s is a step back in time—and an outlier in any age.
The pizzeria, celebrating 80 years this summer, began as a homebased business before founders Andy and Helen Todaro bought the 1800s-era Hotel Peckville in 1945. A few changes of ownership later, Joan’s mom and stepdad bequeathed her the business in 1993. Joan, who’d run a marketing agency in New Jersey, had no pizza experience— and, ironically, she does little traditional marketing today. “We’re busy for a rinky-dink hole in the wall!” Joan says with a laugh. “If I get my paycheck, the product’s good and people are happy, I’m happy. I do this because I love it.”
Joan pays homage to the spirit of bygone eras with walls, both in-store and on Facebook, covered in historic photos. These tributes extend to decades-long customers, some of whom never pay for pizza; to fallen
BY TRACY MORIN
STATE O F PENNSYLVAN I
ATEOFPENNS YLVANIA
friends who have inspired annual fundraisers; and, of course, to Andy and Helen, whose faces grace the pizza boxes—a move first met with resistance. “Everyone asked me, ‘Why would you do that?’” Joan recalls. “But the day I did, the phone went off the hook, and we’ve never been slow since. Everything that’s supposed to be, works. My philosophy is, when you don’t worry about the money and the bottom line, and you give because it’s the right thing to do, everything falls into place.”
With a pizza-only menu, pen-and-paper order taking, no website, one oven and streamlined operations (it’s open just 25 hours per week), Joan adopts an old-school approach. In other ways, she’s embraced innovations, selling take-and-bake pizzas in nearby stores, offering nationwide shipping, and adding creative specialty pies like the Hot & Sweet. But her intuitive, unconventional formula is clearly a success. “I don’t like recognition,” Joan says. “Eighty years is a great accomplishment, but I didn’t start it. I pay tribute to the original owners. I believe Andy and Helen are still here, watching over us.”
Tracy Morin is PMQ’s associate editor.
