Pizza King Podcast: Empowering Pizzeria Leadership

I sat down with Odie O'Connor, co-founder of Boxcar Pizza in Portland and Odie's Pizza Co. in Oceanside, California. Odie shares how he went from making vegan pizzas in his backyard to running two sourdough pizza shops across two states — and the systems, partnerships, and mindset that made it possible. Whether you run one shop or are planning your second, this episode has something you can use today.

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I talked to Eddie Stalewski — @eddiespizza412 — about going from the Pizza Bible in 2013 to standing on the main stage at Pizza Expo as a World Pizza Champion, and every connection, competition, and late Saturday pizza session that happened in between. 

If you have ever questioned whether the craft you are putting into your work actually leads somewhere, this episode will answer that.

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Brandon Herriott is a pizza and Italian food specialist at Performance Food Group Roma in Pittsburgh, where his team sells over 30,000 cases a week to independent operators. In this episode, Brandon talks about what operators get wrong about technique vs. ingredients, how to get more from your food rep, the Detroit style pizza opportunity, where pizza trends are heading, and what separates great operato...

Your slow season isn't coming — it's already scheduled. The question is whether you're ready for it.

In this Takeout Tips episode, Tyrell Reed breaks down how to plan for seasonal slow periods at your pizza shop. He covers why your slowest time of year is also your most expensive, how to adjust your hours and team schedule around seasonal patterns, and what he's doing right now to keep cash flow moving at his Tampa location du...

John Gristina grew up around pizza in the Bronx, fought it for years, lost a partnership, and walked away from the industry for 13 years. Then COVID hit. He started doing pop-ups. And the business that once burned him pulled him back in. 

Today John owns Pizza Fenice in Pelham, New York — Fenice meaning Phoenix in Italian. In this episode, he and Tyrell talk about the hard decision to walk away, the 13 years rebuilding hi...

In this week's Take Out Tips, Tyrell Reed gives you one practical tip for your shop this week: build accountability without being the bad guy. Vague expectations produce inconsistent results. 

Your team is not the problem - unclear standards are. 

Tyrell breaks down how to set measurable standards your team agrees to, how to make results visible so the numbers do the enforcing, how to build a leadership pipeline so accounta...

https://blacksicilian.com/bio/sedrick-crawley

Chef Sedrick Crawley built something that does not look like anything else in the pizza space. Black Sicilian Pizza Company is a ghost kitchen in Maryland delivering 100 to 120 pies a day — minimum 3-day cold fermentation, luxury-brand-named pizzas (the Birkin, the Louie, the Chanel No. 5), and a brand identity rooted in hip hop culture and Black identity. Most days they sell out. ...

The flour debate is here. New York just moved on potassium bromate. California already did it. And if you run a pizzeria, it's coming for you whether you're in those states or not.

On this Takeout Tips Thursday solo episode, Tyrell Reed breaks down the bleached and bromated flour conversation from an operator's perspective. No science degree required. Just real talk about what this means inside your kitchen, your dough, your food co...

Giovanni Labbate from Tievoli Pizza Bar joins the Pizza King Podcast to talk about building a premium pizza brand, growing from food truck operations into a successful restaurant, competing on major pizza stages, and refusing to race to the bottom on price.

In this episode, Giovanni shares lessons from growing up in the pizza business, working in corporate restaurant operations, opening Tievoli, using competitions to improve the men...

In this Takeout Tip episode of the Pizza King Podcast, Tyrell Reed gives a quick store update from Westshore Valrico as April wraps up. 

Sales were up in January, February, and March, but the bigger lesson is where that growth came from. A lot of the increase came from third-party sales, which can be some of the most expensive sales a pizza shop gets. 

Tyrell talks through the need to grow first-party sales, rewards members...

Chef Vincent Tropepe joins the Pizza King Podcast for a conversation every pizzeria owner, restaurant operator, and kitchen leader should hear. 

Chef Vincent has opened 95 restaurants, worked in serious New York kitchens, written multiple books, and now leads the Hospitality Mental Wellness Initiative USA. In this episode, we talk about what real hospitality looks like, why focus matters in the kitchen, how leaders set the tone...

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In this episode, I break down what we’re doing right now to market the store better and drive real results. 

We finally moved past the early setup stage and started building a real marketing system for April. I walk through how we’re using rewards, direct mail, box toppers, Facebook ads, and follow-up offers to bring in new customers...

Neel Vaidya from Troy’s Italian Kitchen joined me for a conversation packed with real lessons for pizza operators. We talked about smart pop-up strategy, local partnerships, vegan positioning, Pizza Expo, leadership, customer service, and how he uses AI and simple video content to grow without losing the human side of the business. This one is practical, personal, and full of ideas you can apply in your shop right away. 

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This week on the Pizza King Podcast, I’m bringing you a different kind of Takeout Tips episode.

Instead of one topic, I’m sharing a few quick conversations I recorded live from the Pizza Expo floor at the Perfect Crust booth. These are short interviews, but there’s a lot in them if you run a pizza shop, lead a team, or care about the craft.

You’ll hear from Tara Hattan of Andolini’s Pizza, world pizza ch...

What happens when an old-school pizza guy sits down and tells the truth?

In this episode of the Pizza King Podcast, I talk with Vito DeCandia of Angel City Pizza about what has changed in pizza, what still matters, and why so many operators get distracted by trends, lists, hype, and social media noise.

We get into old school vs new school pizza, what keeps customers coming back, why some shops should stop trying to be everything to e...

I turned down a 40-pizza order, and I want to tell you why.

On the surface, it sounded like easy business. Big order. Multiple pizzas. More revenue. But once I heard the full details, I knew it was not the right fit for our operation. This was not about being too busy or not wanting the sale. It was about protecting the flow of the shop, the team, and the kind of business we are trying to build.

In this Takeout Tip episode, I break d...

In this episode of the Pizza King Podcast, I talk with Frank Zocco from Dough Daddy Cooks and Slice Mob about pizza, community, and supporting local shops the right way. We get into positive reviews, ingredient quality, what real pizza people look for, and practical advice for anyone thinking about opening a pizzeria. Good conversation. Real lessons. A strong one for pizza owners, operators, and managers. 

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In this solo episode, I break down a simple truth a lot of operators miss. Social media is not your marketing plan. It is a platform. The real plan is how you drive traffic, get people to try your shop, capture them into your loyalty system, and bring them back again and again.

I also share where we are in week 13 at the store, why now is the right time for us to market harder, and what we are actually focused on. That includes grow...

In this episode of the Pizza King Podcast, I’m recapping my trip to Pizza Expo in Las Vegas and sharing what really stood out to me. 

Yes, there was plenty of new equipment, pizza tech, AI, and tools worth checking out. I talk about what caught my attention with Thrive POS, Wook AI, Pizza Cloud, and more. But the biggest takeaway had nothing to do with booths or product demos. 

The real value of Pizza Expo was the peo...