Pizza By The Slice Operations

T

Trey

New member
I was just wondering if anyone here does or knows of any operations that do just pizza by the slice? We are looking into opening a location right across the highway from the local college and also by 2 high schools. The college has an attendence of 9,000 students. The spot we have picked out is right next to the student parking garage and the athletic fields. So most of the students have to walk right past the spot to get to the overpass that leads to the college. We would be using an 18" pizza cut into 6 slices and also selling the 18" pizza. Any advice on this? I know some will ask what we will do about the summer months when school is out. We are about 30 minutes away from the beach and are already looking into a spot on the boardwalk to also do a slice operation during that time. Any help or advice is appreciated.
 
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I personally think you should also offer a small 12" pizza that is hot and ready to go like LC does. The students would grab them up.
 
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I owned and ran that type of business for 10 years at the base of a ski resort. We did a 16" cut in 6 slices. I think that size is considerably easier to handle than 18". PM me with questions, I would be happy to help.
 
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  1. Keep them fresh and use timers so that pies do not sit too long. Fresh slices will keep them coming back. You don’t want them to think its hit and miss on whether they’ve been sitting for a while.
  2. Have a variety – at least during busy times. Most will get pepperoni or plain cheese but many want options. Some only want pepperoni and cheese but won’t come back often without variety.
  3. Always have pies skinned and topped and ready to go in the oven. Its easy to get wiped out quick.
  4. If you can afford it, get printed slice boxes made up. Nice to have advertising walking around campus.
 
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A couple years ago I wrote an article in PMQ on a new concept for pizza by the slice. You should be able to research the article. I’ve helped to open three stores using this new concept to date, and all three are doing quite well. One is here in Kansas, another is in Texas, and the third is in China.
If you want to get more details, please feel free to give me a call at 800-633-5137 (ext. 165) or call me on my direct line at 785-706-0165.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 
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Check out this video on the site:
http://www.pmq.com/tt2/videos/id_261/ti … w-Orleans/

Slice was right next door to our hotel and they had a huge selection of slices which were delicious. Richard, the manager (featured in the video) was more than happy to chat with me about any number of topics as this was about a month before I opened my restaurant.
 
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To see an interesting slice type of operation, check out Eagle Boys (Australia). PMQ did a story on them some time back.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 
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What is the rule of thumb when it comes to slices. How long do you keep them around and at what temp. I have a warmer that just heats by warm air, no moist heat. I also wrap the slices with plastic wrap on paper plates.
 
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Debbie;
One to two hours is probably the most that you will want to hold the slices, however, if you fully sauce, then apply only a small portion of the cheese, then apply the remainder of the cheese and reheat at the time of sale, you can probably get away with a somewhat longer holding time. But if you are baking, and holding, then selling directly from theheated cabinet, the appearance of the slicese will dictate their holding time.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 
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There is a trade off with keeping slices too long…If you keep them too long and you get the reputation for having poor quality it will cost you sales…So if you keep food fresher, your food cost may go up as a % but so do your gross sales and at the end of the day you have more in your jeans…

PS…A full display will also make more sales than an empty display…Along the same lines, we always used to keep a few extra empty boxes on top of our oven to give the impression we were busier than we were…
 
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royster13:
Along the same lines, we always used to keep a few extra empty boxes on top of our oven to give the impression we were busier than we were…
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I love that! It’s like when we’re dead and running a 20 minute delivery time. We don’t want to say that, so we say “We’re running about 45 minutes on delivery right now, but it looks like I’ll have a free driver just as your order is ready - should only be 20-30 minutes for you.” The customer thinks “Wow, they’re busy… but I’m SO special!”
 
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Thats about the lenght of time I keep slices no more than 2 hours. At what temp is best ? I usually keep it about 140
 
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We use a Hatco warmer that adds humidity and we keep the slices at about 145 degrees F. I think quality falls off significantly at about 40 minutes and we do not serve slices that are over an hour old.
 
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