By Charlie Pogacar
If you didn’t already know, PMQ’s goal is to help you, the pizzeria operator, sell more pizza. It’s why our print editions lead off with bite-sized, revenue-generating tips playfully dubbed “Moneymakers.”
Generally, these entries are stories we have run online summarized in 200 words or fewer. This month, we’ve decided to reverse engineer this process, too: Here we are sharing all three of the December edition’s “Moneymakers,” with links (where available) to each original story. Think of it as an “in-case-you-missed-it” type of deal.
Without further ado…
Pizza Lovers Waiting for a Train
(Originally appeared online as “Pizza in a Train Station: How Silver Beach Pizza Stays on Track in St. Joseph, Michigan“)
When Jay Costas opened Silver Beach Pizza inside a historic train station in St. Joseph, Michigan, 19 years ago, the location itself was enough to set it apart from the competition.
“People thought we were crazy, though,” Costas admits. “The station hadn’t had a successful restaurant tenant in three years, and the three that had been there before us all went out of business.”
But Costas had another secret weapon: signature frozen schooners filled with cold draft beer as well as cocktails like Bloody Marys and Margaritas. “The schooners are essential—they’re our identity,” Costa says. “But as we got busier, keeping enough schooners frozen became a challenge. We eventually invested around $20,000 in a blast freezer. When we added the Upper Deck, we installed another reach-in freezer specifically for schooners, and each bar has its own chest freezer.”
Meanwhile, the Amtrak station remains active, with trains rolling through every day. “The tracks are just 14 feet from our patio, which adds such a cool atmosphere,” Costas says, “especially for the kids who love watching the trains go by.”
Hunting for Bambi & Friends
(Originally appeared online as “Pizza Inn’s Controversial Bambi Pizza Returns in Time for Hunting Season“)
Pizza Inn took a shot at Bambi—yes, that Bambi—in a limited-time offer last fall, and many fans of the beloved Disney character weren’t amused. It was a bold move, launched at the beginning of hunting season, but the Bambi & Friends specialty pizza, topped with venison, boar and elk sausage, proved so successful, the chain brought it back in 2024 and let the haters hate.
Pizza Inn says the pie sold out “within a short time” last year at the select locations where it was offered, while the promotional campaign—with billboards featuring an adorable fawn, a grinning boar and a hulking elk in a woodland setting—won a coveted Golden OBIE award for advertising excellence. Granted, it stirred up some controversy on social media in 2023, with many followers expressing their distaste and even outrage.
But others appreciated the irreverent tone and message, indicating that Pizza Inn, a buffet concept with stores across the American South, knows its customer base. In a press release, the Dallas-based chain, owned by Rave Restaurant Group and led by CEO Brandon Solano, noted that the Bambi & Friends pizza was “perfect for the meat loving, hunting community.”
It was available from October 18 through November 8 at select stores in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and North Carolina.
Not Meant for Mere Mortals
Koby Wexler is “always cranking up the wow factor” at Death by Pizza in Delray Beach, Florida. That’s according to The Palm Beach Post, which touted a late October specialty pizza featuring the burnt ends from pastrami prepared at Boca Raton-based Beauregard’s Fine Meats & Butchery.
Wexler collaborated with Beauregard’s owner Cameron Falls to create the LTO pie, which, The Palm Beach Post said, “might not be meant for mere mortals.” The pastrami is soaked in brine for seven days, punched up with house seasonings and smoked for eight to 12 hours to make sandwiches.
When Falls couldn’t find a use for the flavorful burnt ends, Wexler, his friend, hit upon the answer: use them as toppings for a cheesesteak pizza. It features the pastrami burnt ends, Cooper sharp cheese, sautéed red onions, mozzarella, Pecorino, spicy brown mustard butter sauce and pastrami dust.
Wexler started offering a monthly specialty pizza in March 2023 as “a way of presenting something different,” he said, offering his guests “things they’re familiar with but with small twists.”
