Standing Out

Featuring Local Meat

To ensure that his sausages and meats are of the highest quality, pizzeria owner Richard Ames has them prepared fresh daily by a local butcher. In addition to flavor reasons, Richard also highlights that fact on his menu.

Richard’s menu explains that: “Our custom meats are hand prepared fresh daily by a local Independent butcher shop to ensure they contain no byproducts.” Furthermore, patronizing a local butcher allows Richard to truthfully reassure his guests that he knows his pepperoni and sausage contain only the best cuts of meat because he has personally watched them being made!

Richard Ames, Owner Daddio’s Pizzeria, Grande Prairie, AB

 

Cast Iron Cookery

Specializing in a distinctive cooking method can provide a memorable opportunity to stand out from the crowd. Take, for example, Chiodo’s Ferro Cucina (literally, Chiodo’s Iron Kitchen).

There, Frank Chiodo cooks exclusively in cast iron cookware, some of which is over a century old. His 175 seat dining room is also decorated in hundreds of lovingly restored cast iron pans and skillets collected over the years. Frank prefers cooking in cast iron because it retains and radiates heat in a longer, mellower way than sauce pans made of other metals!

Frank Chiodo, Owner Chiodo’s Ferro Cucina, Warren, PA

 

Celebrating Independents

Pizzeria owners Nick and Kimberli Sasso celebrate fellow Independent pizzerias via their “Wall of Menus.” There, they display menus from pizzerias around the country. Additionally, customers provide a steady stream of menus (and restaurant recommendations) from their own travels. In fact, the Sassos award a free pizza to the customer who brings them the most distant menu each month.

The Sassos hope that sharing their menu collection prompts their guests to patronize Independent restaurants, especially pizzerias, when they travel!

Kimberli and Nick Sasso, Owners Nick’s Pizzeria, Grantville, GA

 

Signature Boxes

Richard and Carolyn Booth take such pride in the quality of their pizza that they hand-sign every box. While the box manufacturer could mechanically reproduce their signatures for them, they prefer the personal approach of doing it themselves.

Over time, customers have complimented the highly personal gesture and said that it reminds them that the couple’s pies are not mass-produced, but hand-crafted individually with care!

Richard Booth, Owner Aloha Kauai Pizza Kapaa, HI

 

“Tell Us Your Story” Contest

As part of festivities leading up to her restaurant’s 75th anniversary, café owner Glenna Jones sponsored a “Tell Us Your Story” contest to encourage long time regulars to relive great memories made in the local landmark.

Participants told their stories to an employee, who wrote them down, snapped the storyteller’s photo, and rewarded them with a special treat! Unveiled at the anniversary party, notebooks containing the stories and photos are now displayed at the restaurant. The idea proved so popular that customers continued volunteering stories long after!

Glenna Jones, Owner Clay’s Café Hebron, OH

 

Graffiti Mural

A former New Yorker himself, pizzeria owner Ted Cioffi has attracted a loyal following among other NYC “expats” in Knoxville, TN. While they come for his authentic NY pies, they also get a kick out of his 30 foot long mural depicting the Big Apple.

What makes this art especially fun for guests is that it is interactive! That is, Ted actually encourages customers to add their names with permanent marker, “graffiti style,” to various landmarks and subway cars throughout the scene! Then, from time to time, he repaints portions of the mural to clear space for additional signatures.

Ted Cioffi, Owner I Love NY Pizza Knoxville, TN