How You Slice It

Andrew from Airport Pizza joins Bruce on How You Slice It to share his story of coming to America, building a pizza shop, and becoming part of the community he serves.

They talk about the reality of running a local pizza business, giving back, learning new technology, and how Slice’s phone ordering service helped make handling orders easier as the business grew.

If you own a pizza shop, are thinking about opening one, or just love hearing real stories from independent operators, this one is for you.

Cory from Two Guys Pizza was one of the first pizza shop owners I ever had on the podcast. More than a decade later, we catch up on how his business has changed, what he has learned, and why he is not in a rush to open a second location.

We talk about running a busy single-location pizza shop, balancing growth with family life, staffing, hours, delivery, rising food costs, using technology and AI, and how customers are finding restaurants today.

Night Owl Pizza’s co-owner joins the podcast to talk about opening during COVID, growing to three Atlanta-area locations, and running a pizza business from 4 PM to 4 AM, 365 days a year. We get into late-night sales, hiring struggles, scaling with conveyor ovens, managing multiple locations, and what he would do differently if he started over.

Nicky from Nicky Slices Pizza Club joins me to talk about the path from making Detroit-style pizza at home during COVID to opening a brick-and-mortar shop in St. Louis that is on pace to do over $1.3 million in its first year.

We get into building an audience before opening, finding the right partners, why they do online ordering and walk-ins only, controlling food and labor costs, and the expensive surprises that came with opening the shop.

If you’re thinking about opening a pizza shop, this is a good one to take notes on.

Follow Nicky Slices Pizza Club:
 Instagram: @nickyslicespizza

What happens when your pizza shop gets so busy that your biggest problem isn't getting customers... it's making enough pizza?

In this episode of How You Slice It, we're talking with Grumpy's Pizza in New Jersey to see how they've built one of the area's most talked-about pizzerias. We talk about learning sourdough, simplifying the menu, building systems, and why they're making the jump from an 800-square-foot shop into a much larger space.

What happens when you combine New York-style pizza, smash burgers, and a modern approach to running a restaurant?

In this episode, I sit down with Tony Parker from Smash & Slice to talk about building a business that's different from the typical pizza shop.

We get into:

•  Why they decided to serve both pizza and smash burgers 
•  Growing from one location to two 
•  Keeping a focused menu without sacrificing creativity 
•  Using influencers the right way 
•  Restaurant marketing that actually drives sales 
•  The operational decisions that make running the business easier 
•  Where the restaurant industry is headed 

If you're a restaurant owner looking for ideas on growth, marketing, operations, or building a stronger brand, this conversation is packed with practical takeaways.

Let me know what you think in the comments, and don't forget to subscribe for more conversations with independent restaurant operators.

Giuseppe Sacchetti didn't just open another pizza shop.

He spent years obsessing over dough, trained with Gabriele Bonci in Rome, opened during the pandemic, and built a business that now serves fresh pizza, wholesale dough, focaccia, and gourmet frozen pizzas across Montreal.

We talk about:

•  Why dough is the most important part of pizza 
•  What he learned from Bonci 
•  The science behind frozen pizza 
•  Why he slices pepperoni to order 
•  Montreal's unique pizza culture 
•  His plans to build a pizza brand across Canada

This week I'm joined by Santo, a second-generation pizza shop owner who walked away from the family business, spent five years in the corporate world, and then decided to come back and open his own pizzeria. We talk about what pulled him back into pizza, the realities of finding a location, negotiating a lease, build-out costs, equipment decisions, and what it's really like during those first few months after opening. If you're thinking about opening a pizza shop—or you're already in the process—this episode is packed with lessons that can save you time, money, and headaches.

Mark, owner of Leo's Pizza in Williamsport, PA, shares the story of closing his first shop, learning some tough business lessons, and reopening with a completely different mindset.

Today he's focused on running a simple operation, making great pizza, spending time with his family, and building the business around the life he actually wants.

In this episode we talk about:

•  Closing his first pizza shop and starting over 
•  The biggest financial mistakes he made 
•  Why he keeps the menu simple 
•  Running a one-man pizza operation 
•  Building a reputation through quality pizza 
•  His dough process and equipment 
•  Why he doesn't follow every trend 
•  Creating a business that fits your life 

If you're opening a pizza shop or trying to simplify your current operation, this conversation is packed with practical lessons from someone who's been through it.