goodfella's pizza commercial

Of Course Fast Casual Pizza

Spin Neapolitan Pizza Fast Casual

 Along with so many new concepts arriving on the scene such as Pie Craft, Lotsa Mozza, Genaro's, Fire Pie, Revolve, Cucinova and a an ever growing list of incredible pizza places there is a trend spreading across the country for Fast Casual Pizza. 

Spin Neapolitan Pizza is a prime example of the hottest trend in the fast casual segment. Pizza can now be prepared in a very consistent and fast manner, with each pie individualized for the customer baked to order. This has brought pizza to the forefront as a lunch option. In the past your only choice was to pick up a quick slice of whatever has been laying around but those days are gone. Enter the Chipotle concept of fast, fresh casual at a reasonable price and you can see that the pizza industry was ripe for the picking. What was holding it back was the long bake times and inability to produce a quality product very quickly. Enter the brick oven and moreover, the revolving brick oven which has taken all the great attributes of the brick oven and removed virtually all the downside by making it easier, faster and more consistent with less skill. Taking a great and well-loved food item such as pizza and making it so much easier to deliver is the answer. What are the main components? A casual environment that is trendy, a pizza assembly line where your customers can see and choose their own toppings, a visible revolving brick oven where the pizza man bakes the customers hand assembled pizza and gets it to him in just a couple of minute vs. the usual 15-20 minutes for a deck oven pie. When you add locally grown produce, organic toppings and dough made on premise each day with a tasty recipe, it’s hard to lose.

So join the revolution and get your slice of the pie. Happy Pizza!

Fast Casual Pizza From NY Brick Oven Co.

Fast Casual Pizza

Adding pizza to your bar menu is easier than you think!

Lady Ga Ga Pizza

Lady Ga Ga Pizza by Marc Cosentino NY Brick oven Co. 

I made this pizza in our revolving brick oven at the original Goodfella's Pizza on Staten island as a tribute to Lady Ga Ga some because I was amazed at her ability to capture the media and create a true monster of press and followers. I have huge admiration for her talent to to make this happen. Looking forward to meeting her one day.

Adding pizza to your bar or restaurant?

Pizza = happy customers :)

Brick Oven Pizza 

If you own a bar, pub, amusement park restaurant or deli and have wondered how difficult it would be to make incredible pizza or how much space you would need we have an answer for you. It's easy and only requires a small space of of about 66 square feet for a pizza station and the high production bistro model from the New York Brick Oven Company. Fast, easy brick oven pizza from a one man show-wow! Not only that but you can attend the Pizza School of New York and learn to make pizza with world champion pizza men. Still intimidated? Well there is also consulting available. No excuses. Make the decision and start making dough today. Call now! 1-800-OVEN-053

Brick Oven Pizza

5 Top Pizza Success Tips

Fast Casual Pizza 

There are several areas that are key to success and while all these areas are important any one is not the end all and be all to a successful formula. I’m sure you can think that local chain that has the worst pizza in town and yet you see their delivery vehicles everywhere you go. My own personal mystery was a pizza place in Brooklyn that was run by a guy with no personality that I am sure inspired the soup Nazi years later with his disrespect and rudeness to his customers. Aside from the pizza makers smoking while they made pizza, he would tell you to eat the unburnt part of the pie if you dared to complain. How about the places that are so far off the beaten path you need a guide to find them or better yet they have no name on the joint? You can’t make this stuff up but it gives one hope that there is room for all of us to succeed. I want to qualify this as my own personal opinion from working with, knowing and visiting with hundreds of pizza men and women all over the country. By no means is this THE BIBLE OF PIZZA or to be taken as law but it will give you a pretty good idea of what to concern yourself with if your new to the game, stale or in deep trouble.

1) Location, Location, Location-the best way is to be the only game in town or be in a tourist location where there are no other options available or the ones available are of no consequence due to being very expensive or a different and specialized category like a fish house.  Some the most successful places specialized in malls, theme parks, schools, military bases or small town USA.   

2) Make the best pizza known to man or there about. If you are making a really top notch product people will find you and not only that, people will talk. Word of mouth is the best advertising it has been said. The reason for this is that people will trust the opinion of friends and family over silly unfounded claims of the best pizza in town and such advertised in the local paper.

3) Be unique. Examples of this are everywhere but they may not seem apparent. Like making a Chicago pie where there never was one, having a wood burning brick oven, using insects as a topping or having a pizza drive through like OL Jose’s in Pineville West Virginia where they are using a revolving brick oven.

4) Be a social maniac. Take pride in being part of your community. Before there was social media, there were social men and women. These wonderful people actually cared about the people they met and considered customers as friends to share joys and sorrows with. One very moving example of this is when people would come to Goodfella’s Pizza in Staten Island on their way home from work in the days after 911 just to get out of the house and be with people who cared in a friendly and safe environment. There are many examples I can think of; like the guy who coaches the local little league, the girl who hosts local heroes with pizza parties, the place that supports boy scouts, the place that sponsors Special Olympics or the guys that collect donations for slices to feed the homeless. There are so many ways to build good will in a community and give back while earning respect and loyalty that I could write a book about it but you get the idea.  

5) Service. Run a tight ship that gives service and shows genuine care for the customer’s experience. I don’t know about you but when I am ignored, the host is not pleasant, the server acts like he is doing me a favor, the table is dirty when I am seated or my unfamiliarity with ordering and the menu is treated with impatience, you have lost me, and more importantly, any future income my patronage may have brought. This may seem like a given but if you are not on top of this and setting a good example for your crew it will never happen. A little thing like a smile or help and directions can go a long way in building a relationship with your customers. One terrible example I won’t forget was having my little daughter with me in a new town when she had to use a bathroom so we walked into a place and we were treated so rudely I swore I would never visit that place. I understand the old “Bathrooms are for paying customers” routine but sometimes being human and having discretion can earn you a great deal of loyalty. In other words, if it isn’t costing you anything to be kind-always be kind. Believe it or not but this also includes salesmen wasting your time. Those salesmen are not only people but potential customers with family and friends that also eat.

While no list will guarantee your success, if you follow these points your odds will greatly be increased and if you earnestly follow point 5 you will contribute to a better world by treating your fellow citizens with courtesy. Happy pizza my friend and best wishes.

Opening a Fast Casual Pizza Concept?

Many people about to embark on the Fast Casual Pizza adventure are wondering should I or shouldn’t I? When asking opinions remember that:

Opinions are like belly buttons-everybody has one so the best advice is to do it your way and follow your own vision. Ultimately you are the person putting in your monies and sweat equity so being the chief cook and bottle washer gives you the final say-good or bad.

A couple things to look at though are as follows:

1) Does your location have enough potential traffic to warrant a fast casual concept? In other words, is it in a place with people that need to eat fast and (usually) inexpensively?

2) Is there a potential for foot traffic and a lunch crowd verses a destination location that people will have to drive up to? If they have to drive to your location, is there ample parking?

3) Is the size of the space conducive to fast casual and laid out to facilitate easy entry? Service? Exit?

4) Do you have the proper oven and recipes for fast production?

5) Is your potential customer base and product in sync?

6) Do you have a trendy design?

7) Is your pizza any good or is just something to fill up on?

8) Is your model workable without wait staff?

If you have already looked at these questions you are way ahead of the game and stand a good chance of competing in the fast casual race. If you haven’t then you may want to consider speaking to someone with experience or going out and making the rounds to see what is and what is not working in different areas and environments. Personally I feel that a quality product delivered in a nice environment by a pleasant, courteous, professional staff will always find an audience if you can promote and survive long enough for word to get out. However most people are looking for the elusive “sure thing” which is mystical and not real because most of the successful places have had huge research, trial and error before they found the “formula” for success. Persistence, hard work and the ability to think and change on your feet will get you far but following what the big boys are doing and have already figured out will eliminate some of the trail and hopefully most of the error. For those about to jump in the arena-I salute you.

Here are some places you may want to visit in your quest and some contacts you may wish to make:

Revolve Pizza, Blaze, Pizza Locale, Spin Neapolitan, Pie Five, Piology, Fired Pie, Fuel Pizza, Goodfella’s Pizza School New York, Cucinova, 800 Degree, Papa Pancho, Pizza Studio and a host of others. The reason I mention Pizza School New York is for those who have no idea about pizza or brick oven pizza and want a first-hand view of a live pizza operation featuring the Mack Daddy of ovens from the NewYork Brick Oven Company for training. Many roads lead to Rome but as any tourist can tell you the easiest and simplest direction is best for strangers. Happy Pizza! May you roll in the dough and enjoy the adventure.