Opening a Pizzeria

While pizza parlors were once the most popular way to enjoy pizza, today, most people don't want to be limited to eating pizza in a restaurant. Pizza is incredibly popular as a delivery, takeout, and even take-and-bake option; pizza is easy to eat and a universal favorite for corporate parties, birthdays, and sporting events, as well as small get-togethers. When opening a pizzeria, you have many options for bringing your unique recipe to the masses.

Many times, even small towns can support a number of pizza joints, so location may not be as key as your overall concept. You'll certainly want a place with adequate parking and heavy traffic if you can find it, but with so much of a pizzeria's business being delivery or takeout, you won't need as much as other types of restaurant. Once you've settled on location, you can focus on making your venture a successful one.

Table of Contents

• Dine In, Carryout, Delivery, or Take 'n Bake?
• Franchise or Independent?
• Pizzeria Equipment
• Flesh Out Your Menu
• The Business Side of Things

Dine In, Carryout, Delivery, or Take 'n Bake?

Dine in: Atmosphere is everything in the restaurant business, and a dine-in pizzeria is no exception. From furniture to lighting and music, if you go this route, you'll have to go all in to make your restaurant a viable one.

Carryout: Often the least expensive option in terms of equipment, labor, and space, carryout pizza is the best of both worlds. You won't need waitstaff, delivery equipment, or furniture, and you'll also need less tableware and fewer janitorial supplies. While this type of business won't provide you with as much face-to-face interaction as a dine-in pizzeria, you should be able to tackle high volumes easily.

Delivery: Delivery can be either in house or third party, and the costs and benefits vary greatly. With in-house delivery, you'll have to consider the costs of insurance, vehicle maintenance, and the safety of your drivers. However, third-party delivery services will take as much as 30 percent of each sale. The cost of both delivery and third-party services can be significant, but they also open up a huge customer base. According to PMQ, about a third of pizza sales are from delivery, with sit down and carryout splitting the other two thirds.¹

Take 'n bake: Take 'n bake stores take minimalism to the next level by eliminating the need for ovens and warming equipment. You may need more refrigeration capability and refrigerated display cases to help increase impulse buys.

Franchise or Independent?

Franchises

There are benefits and drawbacks to both independent ownership and franchising. A franchise pizzeria provides instant brand recognition and a committed customer base. On the flip side, your dreams of entrepreneurship and creativity may be tempered. You may not be able to offer all the items you've dreamed of serving if your franchise won't accept substitutions.

The dedicated fan base of a franchise isn't always a benefit; it comes with set expectations. You want to make sure that your quality and service reach the standards that have made the franchise so popular. If you don't have the ability to meet those standards, you could be worse off than if you'd started with an original brand.

Franchises can be expensive when you start one up, but the revenue generated from an established brand may outweigh the costs in the long run. Opening a franchise enables you to capitalize on the brand's name, and in return, you'll pay royalties to the corporation whose name you're using. The exact numbers will vary depending on the location and various other factors, but these fees will most likely cover training, site selection, and the initial launch of your business. The following table reviews the most popular chains and their startup costs:

Independent Enterprise

There are roughly 60,000 pizzerias in the United States today. Of those, 40 percent are independent, so you needn't feel that your independent store will be overpowered by major chains. A growing interest in specialty toppings and trend-specific ingredients means there's nowhere to go but up with a well-conceived pie that stands out in the crowd. So go ahead and grab a slice of that action.

Once you decide to start a pizzeria, you'll need to choose whether you'll franchise or go it alone. Once that's done, it's time to choose the right equipment for the job. Your two most critical needs will be an oven and a dough mixer.

Pizzeria Equipment

Choosing an Oven

The first pizzas were baked in wood-fired masonry ovens, and that's still the way most purists prefer. However, to compensate for time constraints and high volumes, alternatives have arisen. When the industry began utilizing deck ovens, pizzerias began using low-moisture mozzarella to prevent the cheese from breaking down before the crust gets baked. All pizza oven options have benefits and drawbacks, so you'll need to choose an oven based on your individual volume and menu options. They may be wood-, electric-, or gas-heated or employ a combination of the three.

• Brick ovens: Full-size, all-brick ovens have been around since antiquity, and many pizza purists believe they impart the most authentic flavor and texture. They tend to be large, so not every kitchen has room for one. These ovens can cook between 10 and 12 pies at a time, a feat that's very handy in high-volume pizzerias. They're very attractive and can make a great focal point for the front of the house. In a brick pizza oven, the temperature gets much hotter, and heat radiates more effectively; thus, the mozzarella remains intact because it doesn't have time to break down.
• Convection ovens: One possible solution for smaller kitchens is the convection oven. They circulate air to cook pizzas rapidly; however, the capacity of these ovens is limited to one or two pies. A convection oven is best suited for low-volume restaurants. A pizza stone can help direct heat to the right place and create a similar crust to that achieved in a brick oven. There are countertop versions that are ideal for snack bars and concessions stands, and some units can be stacked to provide as many as 12 levels of baking. One drawback to convection ovens is that they can require a long recovery period, which is the time it takes an oven to get back to temperature when products are added or the oven door is opened. They may also not offer the same crispy vegetables or soft, chewy crust that an authentic brick oven provides.
• Deck ovens: Deck ovens are very popular in many pizzerias. Ones that are brick-lined with stone bottoms offer very similar results to those of a brick oven. They're available in compact countertop models and stackable units that can stand six decks high, with each deck accommodating between four and six pizzas at once. Deck ovens with stone bottoms and brick liners can come close to replicating the traditional Sicilian pie.
• Conveyor ovens: Conveyor ovens have made a niche for themselves in high-volume chain restaurants because they can help increase production, particularly with unskilled workers. These ovens are essentially hands free once you place the prepared pizza on the feeder. The constant heat inside the oven and the adjustable speed of the belt create a process that can bake pies nearly as quickly as you can make them. While the biggest drawback to conveyor ovens is their large size, they can be stacked three conveyors high for even greater output while taking up less space in your kitchen. Another thing to take into consideration is that you can't bake different types of pizza, such as Chicago-style deep dish and New York-style thin crust, at the same time.
• Impinger ovens: The impinger oven is excellent for pizzerias because the hot bursts of air that disrupt the cold halo surrounding food has been found to speed up cooking times by as much as 30 percent. This saves on production costs and keeps customers satisfied because they won't have to wait as long to get their pizza. Often, impingement is coupled with a conveyor, so the process is hands free, quick, and consistent. These ovens may be countertop or floor models with one or two levels, and they can usually be stacked, providing more ovens with the same amount of floor space.

The Dough Mixer

Your crust can make or break your pizza recipe and, in turn, your restaurant. Some chains furnish dough, but if you're making your own, you'll need a dough mixer that has the appropriate power to meet demand. Dough (or spiral) mixers are specially designed to mix, knead, and stretch dense dough constantly and consistently. A planetary mixer won't be able to handle dense dough, so save yourself a lot of headache by getting the right tool to start with. These mixers come in capacities ranging from 15 to more than 300 pounds.

Other Equipment

While the following is by no means an exhaustive list, you'll need these items regardless of how simple or extensive your service will be:

Reach-in refrigerators	Freezers	Work tables	Pizza prep tables	Dough prep equipment
Peels and peel holders	Pizza pans	Utensils	Hot-holding cabinets	Delivery bags

Flesh Out Your Menu

Many customers will expect more options than just pizzas when they enter a pizzeria. By expanding your menu to include pasta dishes, sandwiches, soups, salads, appetizers, and desserts, you can draw in more customers and increase profits. In order to do this, however, you'll need to invest in some additional equipment:

• Pasta dishes: Dishes such as eggplant or chicken parmesan, manicotti, and fettuccine alfredo are must haves if you're going to provide variety in the Italian vein. These dishes can be added by incorporating a pasta cooker into your line. You may need to add some specialty dishes to serve them in, and you may want a cheese melter if finishing them in your existing oven isn't convenient.
• Sandwiches & salads: These are easy to offer because you'll have most of the needed ingredients already on hand. You may need to round out your inventory with buns and fresh produce that you normally wouldn't see on a pizza, such as lettuce. If your establishment is a full-blown pizzeria, you may choose to offer a self-serve salad bar. In this case, you'll need a cold food bar, crocks to hold your fresh ingredients, and utensils to serve them properly.
• Appetizers: Wings, cheese sticks, and breaded vegetables are popular additions to any pizzeria menu. A deep fryer is the best way to achieve appetizers that are as flavorful and popular as the pies themselves.
• Desserts: If you're going upscale, you may want to consider a dessert cart for displaying your selection of Italian cream cake, cheesecake, tiramisu, and cannoli.
• Beverages: Offering beverages such as tea and soft drinks can provide a nice profit. Soft drink distributors will generally provide drink machines, but for other beverages, you'll need drink dispensers, ice machines, and cup dispensers to see positive returns quickly.

Pizza & Beer?

One of the more famous food pairings is beer and pizza, and adding beer service to your pizzeria is a simple matter of obtaining an ABC license and the right bar equipment. You can offer famous and local specialty brands or brew your own. Once you've decided on what you'll serve, make sure you have the equipment to keep it cold and flowing. Such equipment includes kegerators, bottle coolers, and beer systems.

The Business Side of Things

Over 40 percent of pizza sales occur online, so you'll want to make sure you have computers and networking capabilities to keep up with that demand. You'll also need to include business management supplies on your shopping list.

Licensing & Permits

Before you open your doors, you'll need a number of licenses and permits that'll vary depending on your state and locality. You can expect a health inspection, a business license, and a food vendor's permit to be part of that, along with obtaining a federal employer identification number (EIN) so you can pay in taxes on your employees. You'll also need to file with the state for unemployment insurance and sales tax. To discover what rules, regulations, licenses, and permits are required in your area, or if you have general questions about how to start a pizza shop, consult the Small Business Administration website.

Third-party delivery services have become commonplace and are by far the easiest way to implement delivery. However, they also take a significant chunk of the profit, as well. For more information on third-party delivery services, check out our third-party delivery and food safety article.

Sources

1. PMQ Pizza Survey. PMQ. Accessed March 2021.