Pizza Marketplace Podcast

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com, chats with Jordan Krolick, president of Blue Moon Pizza and Jeff Goldt, chief operating officer of Blue Moon Pizza.

The Atlanta pizzeria brand, known for its unique hybrid pizzas and passionate customer base, is ready to expand with franchising. Today, it has five units.

Looking ahead five years, Krolick said he exp...

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to Mike Burns, CEO of &pizza based out of Washington, D.C.

The brand was founded in 2012 by Michael Astoria who's still involved with the brand today. Astoria traveled the country and found D.C. was a blank slate and ripe for a gourmet pizza brand.

"Really, there wasn't a staple pizza here in D.C.," Burns ...

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to Kevin King, who recently took over Donatos Pizza last October as president and CEO. Under King's leadership, the brand is embracing strategies to keep it relevant for both new and existing customers amidst rising pricing wars in the pizza industry.

Donatos started in 1963 when its founder, Jim Grote, started a small pizz...

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to Mary Jane Riva, CEO of California-based Pizza Factory.

The brand was founded in 1985 in two small California towns and will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year. Riva and her husband, Bob, came aboard as franchisees in 1990 and opened five of their own Pizza Factory locations. In 2012, the founders were ready to leave and...

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to John Stetson, CEO of Florida-based Stoner's Pizza Joint.

The brand was founded in 2013 in Savannah, Georgia. The first location had a stone oven, which is from where the brand takes its name. Though the brand enjoys its double entendre namesake, there's actually no cannabis involved in the recipes, though Stoner&apo...

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, Editor Mandy Detwiler talks to Carl Comeaux, CEO and partner of Texas-based Crust Pizza Co. Comeaux joined the company after being a fan of its pizza. Crust now has 30 units in Texas and Louisiana and plans to grow another 15 in 2025. It has seven corporate stores and 23 franchised units with a goal of 250 units in nine years.

"We're looking for owner-operators," Comea...

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to Jim Metevier, CEO of Mountain Mike's Pizza. The California chain of 240 restaurants is making waves on the West Coast with its toppings-heavy pies and tight operations.

Metevier has more than 30 years experience in the restaurant industry. He previously served as the company's president and COO before taking the reigns a...

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to Brandon Hunt and Zane Hunt, brothers who launched Via 313 in Austin, Texas.

Zane said he and his brother were raised in the Detroit, and grew up eating square pizza, now known as Detroit-style pizza.

"You thinking about where we're at right now in 2024 with the hyper gentrification of pizza," he said. "Back...

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to Little Caesars franchisee Vicki Dunn-Marshall. Dunn-Marshall's focus on philanthropy has led to start Pizza Paws, a campaign that raises money for police K-9 units across the country.

The idea came about after there was a prison break in one of the towns where she operates a Little Caesars store. They brought in K-9 unit...

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to Wesley Keegan, founder of TailGate Brewery, a nine-unit pizzeria and brew hall in Nashville, Tennessee.

Keegan started with a brewery, but found his customers would have a beer and then leave to go find food. He tried bringing in food trucks, but that didn't seem to work. Instead, he started his own pizzeria using the be...

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, and Jeff Hetsel, president of Cicis Pizza.

Hetsel says Cicis, which is a buffet concept, is doing well with positive sales, and the brand is currently looking for ways to leverage technology to increase those sales.

"One of the great things we try to do is if you don't see your favorite pizza, we'll make it for you,"...

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks with Les Tomlin, co-founder and president of PizzaForno, North America's first automated pizzeria, about the rise of food vending machines.

"The concept of automated pizza is relatively new to North America but has been around Europe for almost 20 years," Tomlin told Detwiler. "We found this technology platfo...

Pizzeria menus can range from small and tidy to large and complex, but they've all got one thing behind them: research and development.

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to Hisham Abdulfattah, partner and executive chef of Willow Street Pizza in Willow Glen and Los Gatos, California, about menu development.

Abdulfattah said his first job was working in a k...

 Scott Weiner holds the Guinness World Record for the Largest Collection of Pizza Boxes. Weiner, who owns a pizza touring company in New York City, has become an expert in pizza boxes. Today's boxes hold more than just pizza — they're an extension of the pizzerias themselves. In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, Pizza Marketplace Editor Mandy Detwiler talks to Weiner about his collection -- which she personal...