Thanks Think Tankers

Pizza Shop Talk The Think Tank
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I believe that I owe the think tank a brief story of my start up for all the help and amazing info I got here. I’m starting to feel comfortable enough in the pizza biz to almost start offering my 2 cents etc here on the board

In a nut shell

I opened Panoli’s Pizzeria & Rotisserie October 5th / 08 in a resort town in Canada, wow getting a shop open can almost kill you. Anyways, Panoli’s is a 692 sq foot takeout and delivery place in a great location. The driving force that lead me to do this is that I have the marketing tools and knowledge to give the shop a serious competitive edge and the plain fact that there is no great pizza here and no take-out chicken and ribs. My partner a chef and no stranger to the restaurant and pizza biz in this town is doing his part, the food is amazing and costs are in control (24.2% food and 31% labor) so far to date and that’s with weekly costing and spot on labor forecasting. The locals are raving about our pizza, crustless pan pizza using a 75% mozza and 25% jack cheese blend with a med thick crispy crust. Our rotisserie chicken pizzas are a huge hit while our roasted veg. and carnivore are the best sellers. Our service rocks and delivery is hot and fast. Christmas rocked for us even through these tough times and terrible snow conditions and we are still going strong. Our pizza is not low end or cheap and you get what you pay for, as our customers say” that was so amazing there is no crust left” and “ I can eat a whole medium from Dominos myself but only 3 slices from your medium and I’m much fuller”. Check out the menu at http://www.pizzawhistler.com/ this is not a final version of the website as time is something I do not have but I’m doing an online ordering system and getting a photographer to get real shots of the pizzas etc… . I welcome any feedback you guys may have.

From the TT, I researched and bought Point of Success for the shop, all my pizza pans from Lloyd’s pans which were an amazing investment, bought a new triple stack MM PS 536 which is great, man we run everything through there. Got 5up electric bags to hold orders and for large deliveries, perfected our dough recipe (we still have bubbling issues) so not quite perfected yet and so much more.

My next 3 to 4 months…

1-Finally put to bed my accounting system and stick to it (I’m so far behind and would love to talk to someone about Point of Success tweaks and fine tunes)
2- The website
3- Marketing plan part 3 (corporate attack)
4- finish all the odds and ends that were neglected during start-up

Thanks again think tankers and I’ll try to be on the board more.

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Great to hear a success story!

You are right about opening a startup. It is about to kill the joy in me. One thing after another. Wish employees knew what an owner goes through. It is so much easier just collecting an hourly pay. I guess we do it for the challenge.

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Once you separate the “wheat from the chaff” there is goldmine of information on TT…Glad to hear about your success…

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Congrats my northern friend! I hope to join in the ranks of the newly opened and still standing someday soon and like you, the PMQ boards have been a great tool.

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RESORT PIZZA.
In your post Thanks Think Tankers, you rite.

The locals are raving about our crustless pan pizza using a 75% mozz and 25% jack cheese blend with a medium thick crust. ??? How do you make a crustless pizza using a crust.??? ( Hoping to learn something here )

Old doughball.

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When i say “Crustless” I mean we sauce and cheese right to the edge of the pan so there is no visible crust around the edge of the pizza. After baking at 530 degrees for 5.5 minutes the cheese and sauce form a visually pleasing slighly charred lip that is a deliciious and our signature on our pizzas. After 3 months in biz 2 people have complained that their pizza was burnt and those pizzas were for kids.

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We also do a crustless pizza which is popular with the Atkins and low carb dieters. These are most popular in Jan & Feb.
10 x 1/4 inch well seasoned pan, pizza cheese, toppings, bake til browned, pull it out and put a little sauce, sprinkle a little more cheese, 3 more minutes in oven. Have to tilt pan to drain some of the grease. Not for everyone, but as one customer says, he gets all the good stuff. If they want sausage I pre-cook it because we use fresh bulk and I want to make sure it is fully cooked. My kids love it. Just have to be careful to get the edges crispy and keep the middle stretchy.
I also have learned a great deal from TT. Such a generous & encouraging group!