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Mooney’s Pizza Tavern pulled in more than $1 million during its first 100 days in Long Beach, California, and owner Hal Mooney is sharing how he and his wife, Cindy, achieved this impressive feat. From a tailored menu and staff training to a bucket list beer program, Mooney is pulling back the curtain to share what goes into a well-executed opening.

Plus: Learn how the Mooneys opted to redesign a vintage diner during the renovation, how they handle offering a large number of beers and why they chose not to offer carry-out and delivery while making a first impression on the community.

Show Notes:

Mooney’s Pizza Tavern: mooneyspizza.com

Pizza Expo Columbus: pizzaexpocolumbus.pizzatoday.com

Pizzeria Operator Survey: survey.alchemer.com

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Anthony Triolo, second-generation owner of Triano's Pizza in Chicago's Garfield Ridge, joins The Hot Slice to talk community, consistency and what really makes Chicago thin crust great. In this episode, we cover:

• How Triano's organized a dine-and-donate just two days after a fire closed neighboring Obbie's Pizza, raising more than $3,000 for displaced employees
• Why Anthony sees neighboring pizzerias as community, not competition, and how that mindset inspired other local shops to follow suit
• The neighborhood events Triano's shows up for year-round, from summer festivals to little league concession stands
• What's kept Triano's going strong for 42 years: scratch-made everything, monthly team meetings and a management-first culture
• The dough secrets behind Chicago thin crust, including a low-hydration formula, high oil content and 48-hour fermentation baked on straight metal stones
• How Triano's cross-utilizes its house-made Italian beef across sandwiches, beef rolls, beef bowls and specialty pizzas

Tune in to the full episode of The Hot Slice Podcast to hear it all!

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Listen to Gerardo Moceri Jr., co-owner of Gerardo’s Pizzeria in Sedona, Arizona, on The Hot Slice Podcast with Pizza Today.

What does it look like when the second generation of a pizzeria learns about the Slow Food movement and brings sustainable practices back to the family business? In the case of Gerardo Moceri Jr., it means stone-milled flour made from ancient grains, house-made mozzarella and a Snail of Approval.

In this episode of The Hot Slice podcast, we sit down with Gerardo Jr., who earned a degree in sustainability from Arizona State University and studied at Italy’s University of Gastronomic Sciences. He’s used the experience to improve the product and customer experience at the family-owned wood-fired pizzeria by deepening the commitment to regenerative agriculture and turning the restaurant into a working teaching kitchen for culinary interns.

Here's what Gerardo Jr. discusses:

• The Snail of Approval: What the Slow Food movement’s recognition means for a pizzeria and how it shapes everyday sourcing decisions.
• Flour first: Why he blends a stone-milled desert heritage wheat with a regeneratively farmed flour and what it does for dough hydration and flavor.
• Making mozzarella in-house: The labor, the craft and why it creates more menu flexibility than buying it ready-made.
• Sustainability in practice: Composting programs, recycled packaging and how to build greener operations incrementally without tanking your margins.
• Working with local farmers: Balancing menu consistency with seasonal availability, and why flexibility is the key to avoiding food waste.
• The teaching kitchen: How paid culinary internships pass down skills and fight kitchen burnout.
• Second-generation ownership: Bringing new ideas to a family business and why his parents’ openness made all the difference.
• The long game: His vision of a morning-to-night destination serving pastries, focaccia sandwiches and wood-fired pizza in the heart of West Sedona.

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In this episode of The Hot Slice Podcast, Michael Androw, owner of E&D Pizza Company, in Avon, Connecticut, gets honest about what it actually takes to open and survive in this industry. He shares the hard lessons that recipes and passion can't teach you, from the financial traps that can cost you your home to the relationships that can save your doors from closing. If you own a pizzeria or dream of opening one, this conversation delivers the "down and dirty" reality most people learn the hard way.

Here's what Michael covers:

• Relationships before you need them. Why building genuine, non-transactional ties with your building and health inspectors matters, and how those ties let him reopen the morning after disaster.
• Surviving disaster. The Thanksgiving a car crashed through his building, and what it takes to manage contractors, insurers and inspectors when everything falls apart.
• The brutal math of slow days. A Tuesday in February with $75 in total sales, and how to hold your nerve on labor, utilities and staff morale when the register goes quiet.
• Outsource the numbers. Why accounting and payroll should go to professionals, because you can't afford to get tax codes wrong on zero sleep.
• Learning to let go. How over-managing slows your team and hurts your labor metrics, and why delegation is the hardest skill for a perfectionist owner.
• Consistency and creativity. Following recipes to a T for customers who expect the same pizza every time, while giving staff room to build fun weekly slice specials.
• Lease and loan landmines. The commercial lease clauses and loan terms that carry personal liability, and how to tell good money from bad.
• The emotional cost. Seven days a week for two straight years, and the private toll of ownership no one warns you about.

Michael brings this same candor to his workshop at Pizza Expo Columbus: W01, You Want to Open a Pizza Restaurant? on Sunday, October 11, from 8 a.m. to noon ($250). 

Workshop Description: Dreaming of opening your own pizzeria from scratch? Michael Androw has been there, done that, and lived to tell the tale. This workshop is your crash course in everything from site selection and lease negotiations to zoning laws and start-up marketing. But it’s not just about the nuts and bolts — it’s about the blood, sweat, and tears (and maybe a few sleepless nights) that come with building your dream. Michael’s insights could be the difference between success and heartbreak. If you’re ready to take the plunge, this session is a must. 

Register now for Pizza Expo Columbus .

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Twelve years ago, two guys in a baby blue 1967 Chevy truck were blasting 90s hip-hop at a D.C. farmers market and slinging wood-fired pizza to anyone who'd listen. Today, that operation is closing in on 10 locations and building a national franchise.

In this episode, we sit down with Chris Brady, co-founder and president of Timber Pizza Co. Chris and his partner Andrew Dana traded tech sales careers for a pizza oven in 2014, opened their first brick-and-mortar in D.C.'s Petworth neighborhood in 2016 and have since expanded across the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Now he's focused on franchising the right way: slow, intentional and rooted in the same community-first values that started it all.

Here's what Chris gets into:

·         The origin story: Why he and Andrew walked away from tech sales, and how a Charlottesville pizza truck sparked the whole thing

·         Timber's pizza style: Marrying New York-style crunch and hold with Neapolitan wood-fired chew, plus why provolone earns a spot in the cheese blend

·         The 85/15 model: Keeping 85% of every Timber consistent while leaving 15% for local flair like regional craft beer and neighborhood decor

·         The dough non-negotiable: Scratch-made recipe with a strict 48-hour proof at every single location, no exceptions

·         Vetting franchise partners: Why integrity, a real operational plan and the right market matter more than the check that clears

·         Building employee culture: Tip pooling across the house, wages above the tipped minimum and a "we've got your back" approach that's driven five to six year average tenure

·         Advice for growing operators: Pay the pros, delegate your weaknesses early and be honest about where you're not the A player

·         The road ahead: Staying committed to the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, with a goal of five to six new stores in 2026 to reach the 15 to 16 unit range

Show Notes:

Timber Pizza Co.

Pizza Expo Columbus 

July 2026 issue of Pizza Today magazine 

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Like many family-owned businesses, Jasons NY Pizza had a moment of reflection during the COVID pandemic. If they wanted to continue to grow and expand, the leadership team would have to create more management positions and solidify a processes for employee pay structures and raises. 

Chief Experience Officer Zachary Black joins The Hot Slice podcast to share how these changes have allowed Jasons to double the number of stores it operates in Maine and permitted the owners time to work on the business – not just in the business. The pizzeria now adheres to a pay schedule, and workers know when they can expect raises – and how much. Such new systems have reduced turnover and freed up time to work on a new employee-training program.

SHOW NOTES

Jasons NY Pizza: jasonsnypizza.com

Employee Experience Edition of Pizza Today magazine

Pizza Expo Columbus

July 2026 issue of Pizza Today magazine

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What does it take to go from a 120-pound weight loss journey to landing on the 50 Top Pizza list in your very first year of business? In this episode of The Hot Slice, hosts Kate Lavin and Denise Greer sit down with Arpan Patel, the owner behind Lucky Dough Pizza in Pensacola, Florida, for a conversation packed with hard-won lessons every operator can use.

Arpan's story starts with a personal transformation. After losing 120 pounds, he discovered that clean eating wasn't about cutting out the food you love. It was about obsessing over ingredients. That obsession became the heartbeat of his pizzeria, where pizza and a health-conscious lifestyle live side by side!

Here's what we dig into:

• The origin story that took Arpan from home cook to award-winning pizzaiolo
• Sourdough and natural leavening mastery — why he ditched commercial yeast after spotting a synthetic emulsifier on the label, and how he never makes the same dough recipe twice
• Time and temperature as the make-or-break variables, especially when you're baking in Florida's humidity with no climate-controlled dough room
• Landing on the 50 Top Pizza list in year one (and why he first thought the email was a scam!)
• Surviving a demand surge after local press hit, including how he limited online orders, capped takeout, and made tough calls to protect the guest experience
• His alfresco, wood-fired setup — running two wood-fire ovens and learning to love the craft over convenience
• A relentless focus on premium ingredients: grass-fed buffalo mozzarella with A2 protein, organic olive oil shipped straight from Puglia, and Mountain Valley spring water in every batch of dough
• Pricing for quality — from a $15 marinara to a $32 prosciutto di Parma, and why his customers say it's worth the price and worth the wait
• What's next as he works toward an indoor location and keeps perfecting his wood-fired craft

Dough management, clean sourcing, and building a pizzeria that stands out in your market — Arpan's small-steps approach is a masterclass in patience, experimentation and staying true to your product.

Tune in now and get inspired! 🍕

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How do you win a world pizza championship with a pie you'd never fully made before? On this episode of The Hot Slice, presented by Pizza Today, we sit down with Carmela Williams of Antonio's Italian Ristorante in Elkhart, Indiana, fresh off her world champion title in the Americana division at the Caputo Cup in Naples, Italy.

It was Carmela's first time competing internationally, and almost nothing went according to plan. Airport officials confiscated her ingredients. Her hotel had no prep space or refrigeration. The competition ovens swung wildly from 320 to nearly 600 degrees. So, she improvised, blending mozzarella with scamorza she'd never worked with and leaning on instincts sharpened by her restaurant's 70-year-old Blodgett ovens.

Here's what you'll take away:

• How she built a winning pizza on the fly under real pressure
• Dough and cheese decisions that held up when conditions didn't
• Why her family legacy (father Paul and sister Gemma are also world champions) shaped her competitive mindset

With 14 years in the industry, Carmela also breaks down the operational philosophy behind Antonio's: open four days a week, no reservations, first-come, first-served. It's a candid look at craft, grit, and running a pizzeria your way.

Show Notes:

Check out a fun look at her competition attempt: https://www.instagram.com/p/DZx3TUiJQ4J/

Follow Antonio’s Italian Ristorante at  https://www.antoniositalian.com/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/antoniositalianelkhart/  

Register for Pizza Expo Columbus, bringing every element of the pizza industry together under one roof in the Midwest at the Greater Columbus Convention Center on October 11-12, 2026. Learn. Network. Shop. Eat. And compete. Register now!

Join Pizza Today for a “Future of Pizza Dough” panel discussion July 23rd, 2026 @ 2 PM ET. The webinar features hand-selected, award-winning pizzeria industry leaders, including Tony Gemignani, Laura Meyer and Will Grant. These experts are sitting down to share decades of hard-earned knowledge about the science behind the perfect crust. Register now.

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In this episode of The Hot Slice, we sit down with Mike Dew, the man behind one of the most intriguing pizza concepts in Northern Kentucky. Dew walks us through the realities of a longer-than-expected build-out, the quirks of a historic building and the creative ways he repurposed original wood flooring at Wayfarer Tavern in Dayton, Kentucky.

Beyond a pizzeria menu he likens to a steakhouse, Dew shares how a thoughtfully curated, value-driven wine list turned his spot into an unexpected wine destination. He also partners with neighbor New Riff Distilling to create a single-barrel bourbon program. 

For the pizza itself: Dew fuses three regional styles: Midwestern tavern square cuts, East Coast thin crust and the irresistible Detroit-style frico. You'll learn why he skips the curing step and how crowd-favorite pies like the Korean Corn Cheese and the legendary Pickle Power made it onto the menu.

EPISODE NOTES

Wayfarer Tavern: wayfarertavern.com

Pizza Expo Columbus: pizzaexpocolumbus.com

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What happens when a 19-year-old tastes life-changing pizza at a Buffalo Bills game? For Joe Powers, it sparks an obsession that transforms a college freshman into the owner of Jay’s Artisan Pizza by age 22. In this episode of The Hot Slice podcast, Powers shares his remarkable journey into the world of award-winning Neapolitan and Detroit-style pizza. 

Powers currently operates one of the most celebrated pizzerias in the country: 50 Top Pizza recently named Jay’s the No. 7 pizzeria in the United States! Listeners will discover how Powers’ thirst for knowledge led to innovative pizzas such as a French Onion soup pie topped with torched gruyere and served with a side of broth – or an Italian melon puree paired with radicchio and fresh mint.  

From learning the ropes under the original owner’s guidance to booking a spontaneous two-week trip to a pizza school in Naples, Italy, Powers details the transition from employee to Gen-Z business owner, discussing the realities of managing a staff that is mostly older than him. He emphasizes the importance of leading by example, trusting his instincts and leaning on experienced mentors. 

SHOW NOTES:  

Jay’s Artisan Pizza: https://www.jaysbuffalo.com/ 

50 Top Pizza Ranking: https://www.50toppizza.it/referenza/jays-2026/ 

Pizza Expo Columbus: https://pizzaexpocolumbus.pizzatoday.com/