By Charlie Pogacar
The restaurant industry is infamous for burnout and turnover. Fostering a culture that fights against those two problems can set a pizzeria up for success—while neglecting them will eventually lead to failure.
That’s what Alex Koons, owner of Hot Tongue Pizza in Los Angeles, delivered a sermon about at the Pizza Power Forum, hosted by PMQ, in early September. The session, titled “Culture is King: Attracting/Retaining Employees by Being Cooler Than the Competition,” was a fan favorite amongst attendees.
“Unfortunately, we all have to work, you know, you have to pay your bills,” Koons said. “And creating a space that doesn’t suck is really important.”
Related: Alex Koons: 5 Steps for Interviewing Potential Pizzeria Employees
For Koons, building a positive working environment—one where people want to spend their time—begins with the hiring process. Koons employs a five-part interview process designed not only to assess a candidate’s skills but also their ability to fit within the tight-knit, fast-paced environment of a pizzeria. While that might seem like overkill to pizzeria operators who are struggling to find warm bodies to work, Koons believes it’s imperative for the long-term health of a restaurant.
“Hiring sucks,” Koons said. “But front-loading all that struggle is really important because getting the right person into your program is going to save you time, money, and the investment of training someone who winds up being terrible.”
Using this five-part interview process has taught Koons many things about what to look for in a candidate. But each step is illuminating, from the way somebody responds to key questions in an email interview (step 1), then a phone interview and two in-person interviews (steps 2-4), and, finally, actually testing their skills and the way they move in the kitchen during the final step of the process.
“There’s one thing you can’t train, and that’s a sense of urgency,” Koons explained. “That’s why we do the 30-minute training where they come in and cut an onion or do a task. If you don’t move quickly in a kitchen, you don’t have a sense of urgency.”
Building Culture Through Empathy
Once employees are onboarded, maintaining culture becomes an everyday responsibility. For Koons, that responsibility begins with him and his leadership team.
“It’s about leading with empathy and kindness,” he said. “Life is hard. There are many problems in life, and it’s easy to bring those things into the workspace. As a leader, you’re fielding not just business problems but the problems of your team.”
Koons emphasized that empathy doesn’t just mean being kind for kindness’ sake. It means understanding where employees are coming from, acknowledging their personal struggles, and creating a workplace where they feel supported even on tough days.
“Empathy is really just putting yourself in somebody else’s position,” Koons said. “I’ve been lucky enough through 17 years of working in the restaurant industry to be in every position, to be made to feel like [garbage], to know what makes me, personally, feel like [garbage]. So it’s important for me to never let anyone feel that way.”
Related: Building Employee Loyalty Through Empathetic Leadership
Processes, Systems, and Accountability
While empathy is a key pillar of Koons’ culture, he is quick to point out that structure and accountability are just as important. He found this out the hard way when he took over as co-owner of Purgatory Pizza, a shop where he was once a delivery driver. He found gaping holes in the pizzeria’s structure: For example, employees would sign up for shifts via handwriting on a paper calendar and expected to never have a shift moved.
Rebuilding the culture at Purgatory Pizza wasn’t easy for Koons, but the lessons he learned doing that have helped him run Hot Tongue Pizza. To ensure his team understands expectations, Koons relies on detailed systems and processes. From opening and closing checklists to recipe guidelines and weekly meetings, establishing structure actually gives his employees the freedom to focus on their work and have fun doing it.
“You want to know what you’re supposed to do and how you’re supposed to do it,” he said. “When you have that, it frees up a lot of bandwidth, and you can goof off after everything’s done. You can have a good time.”
But having a system in place isn’t about micromanaging. In fact, Koons credits these processes for allowing him to step back from day-to-day operations and let his team take ownership of their roles.
“I realized in 2020 that I needed to step back and stop micromanaging,” Koons says. “My managers needed less micromanaging and more systems. That’s how I helped them grow.”
This has also given Koons the space to spend more time with his son—a benefit so many pizzeria owners are not subject to.
Authenticity on Social Media
One of the more unique aspects of Koons’ culture is the way he brings his authenticity to social media. Known for creating quirky and sometimes outrageous reels with his team, Koons uses social media not just as a marketing tool but as an extension of his company culture.
“We’ll be like, all right, I got this crazy idea,” Koons said. “What if Jesus comes in and he’s the biggest influencer in the world? You know, that kind of stuff. Social media is a [marketing] tool, but it’s also a lot of fun for us.”
Because, at the end of the day, running a pizzeria can and should be fun—at least most of the time, Koons said. And if it’s not, there is really only one person who can change it: you, the owner of the pizzeria.
“At the end of the day, it’s about being kind and honest with yourself and your team,” Koons reflects. “If your culture sucks, you have to go into the bathroom, look in the mirror, and realize you’re the problem. And that’s the hardest thing to do.”
