Smoother Operations

Menu Profitability

Attracting loyal patrons requires maximizing ingredient quality. So remaining profitable requires adjusting menu prices to keep up with inflation impacting those premium ingredients.To smooth these adjustments, On a quarterly basis, Angelo Randazzo recalculates his total ingredient cost to make each menu item. This reveals where his menu pricing may be falling behind. Gradual adjustments keep Angelo’s menu equally profitable over time and avoids surprising customers with big “all-at-once” price increases.

Angelo Randazzo, Owner Angelo’s Pizzeria Williamstown, NJ

Maximizing Prep Consistency

In pleasing loyal customers, consistency is king! To help his employees internalize the importance of consistent preparation, Mark Gracz weighs out freshly sliced sandwich meats each morning and wraps each portion in cellophane. Prior to each shift, his team also pre-weighs his shredded pizza cheese into plastic cups provided by his cheese company. Removing guesswork helps Mark ensure that his regulars can count on receiving identically generous portions every time!

Mark Gracz, Owner DiMarco’s Pizza Buffalo, NY

Applicant Pre-Screening

Great employees aren’t always easy to find. But Ryan Wilder has found one way to boost the odds. He gives job applicants a totally blank piece of paper and a pencil. He then asks them to write their name, phone number, available hours, date they can start, recent work history, and what personal traits would make them a good employee. In addition to their answers, the exercise reveals the candidate’s ability to follow simple instructions.

Ryan Wilder, Owner Italian Village Pizza Orlando, FL

Successful Habits

As a restaurant consultant, artisan pizzaiolo Anthony Falco has spent plenty of time observing what factors help separate truly successful Independent restaurateurs from the crowd.

In Anthony’s experience, one of the greatest predictors of above average restaurateur success is cleanliness. It is not just that insisting on spotless dining rooms (and restrooms) reinforces guests’ perceptions of quality excellence.

Instead, Anthony’s definition of “cleanliness” goes beyond whether a kitchen looks clean. It also indicates a leader’s organizational skills, ability to delegate and hold team members accountable, and attention to operational detail.

Anthony says that especially well-run restaurants often spend time thinking about how to better organize work stations, including finding ways to ease and speed cleanup. For example, for restaurants baking bread or making other kinds of dough, upgrading work surfaces to include lipped edges keeps flour on the table and off the floor.

Similarly, organizing pantries and walk-ins with clearly labeled “homes” for each ingredient promotes regular inventory rotation, more accurate inventory management, and even reduced “shrink” because missing or outdated stock becomes easier to spot.

More importantly, employees naturally follow the path of least resistance. So teams are more likely to keep things neat and tidy when their workspace is structured to make that the easiest path to follow. In turn, increasingly consistent work environments make it easier for team members to internalize an attitude of consistency in their own work!