Pittsburgh-based Dan Tallarico, who runs the website PizzaWalkWithMe.com and posts a weekly newsletter on Substack, isn’t just a pizza-centric pencil-pusher. He’s actually worked in pizzerias, which (along with his obvious love and passion for the industry) gives him an edge in his pizza reporting. 

It also means he has strong opinions on what pizzas and pizzerias are worth covering—and why. Tallarico recently talked to PMQ about his life in pizza, the top advice he wants to share with operators, and why he thinks pizzeria owners might want to consider Substack as a marketing tool.

PMQ: Tell us about how you got into pizza and what your pizza journey has been like.

Dan Tallarico: I’ve worked in pizzerias growing up in the Pittsburgh area and even when I went to college, where I studied journalism. I enjoy writing and pizza, and around 2010 I decided to start publishing pizza news and articles online. It started with a Tumblr, but now I have a website and a weekly newsletter. Pizza has been a great way to explore the world. Even in my hometown of Pittsburgh, I’ve seen areas and places I otherwise wouldn’t venture [to] if not for trying out different pizzas. Plus, you meet phenomenal people and pizza shop owners who have such unique perspectives on pizza and their place in the pizza ecosystem.

PMQ: When and why did you start your pizza-related Substack? What are its focus, content and readers like?

Tallarico: I started the Substack near the end of 2021. I published a book about pizza at the end of 2019, a week before my daughter was born. The book is called Pizza Walk Pittsburgh—A Guidebook and can be downloaded for free. In the book, I capture a 10-year span of new pizza places that popped up in Pittsburgh. I had a pretty successful Kickstarter that allowed me to print a couple of hundred copies, which all sold out.

After the book, I took some time off of writing about pizza and struggled with how to fit it into my lifestyle. Instead of focusing on publishing multiples times a week on a blog, I decided I’d stick to a weekly newsletter. This seemed low-stakes and something I could build a habit of. At first, I was collecting relevant Pittsburgh pizza news and publishing that, but it has evolved to include reviews, news and interviews with people in the pizza community. I publish what I think are insightful articles to help people think about pizza differently, maybe more critically. There’s a lot of depth to pizza and so many varieties, and the whole mission since I started in 2010 was to help raise awareness.

I’ll conduct interviews with shop owners and weave that into a narrative, like I did with Etna Slice House. Different conversations inspire different types of articles—I really enjoy this Gus Franco’s write-up that is barely about the pizza itself. I feel like some of these write-ups are way too self-indulgent, like this one about Big Jim’s, but people like them! Occasionally, when I don’t have much to write about, I’ll make up pizza horoscopes.

My readers are all based in Pittsburgh, because it’s all Pittsburgh-focused pizza news. Really, anything Pittsburgh- or pizza-related, they seem to enjoy. I would say a lot of the pizza shops are subscribed, too, so there’s a good mix of industry and consumer folks.

PMQ: Do you follow any other pizza-related Substack accounts, and is it a good platform for pizza info?

Tallarico: I don’t use much of the social features in Substack, but they’ve added some great community-building tools. The ability to have private chats, messaging, podcasts and video give you so many options to tell your story. There’s a couple of pizza Substacks I found early on, but they haven’t published much. I would very much be interested in seeing a pizza shop use this platform to connect with their customers—it’s easy to use and manage if you have some fundamental web experience.

PMQ: What are some of your favorite pizzerias and/or memorable pizzas you’ve had? What do you look for in a pizza or pizzeria?

Tallarico: So many great pizzas! There was a place in Pittsburgh called Pizza Taglio. After they closed, I wrote about every visit to the shop. My wife and I were there weekly, so many friends were taken there, and I got to know the owner, Tony, pretty well. He made some of the best pizzas in the city.

Visiting my sister in Brooklyn, we always go on pizza adventures. L’Industrie was one of my favorites. And here in Pittsburgh: just going out to Driftwood Oven, seeing my daughter fall in love with Spak Brothers pizza. It’s not even about the pizza itself; it’s the vibe and people. The special occasions, the birthday parties—it just happens that pizza is at the center of all those events.

I enjoy a pizzeria helmed by an underdog who wants to leave their mark on the pizza world and push the boundaries of what pizza is.

PMQ: What do you wish more pizzeria owners knew about serving their customers, or do you have any other advice you would share with them?

Tallarico: When it comes to serving customers, I think some low-hanging fruit is a very personable social media presence. So much of social media is manicured and over-produced, but a person in the kitchen with a front-facing camera—I’ll watch that all day. As long as you are authentic and serving food you believe in, you’ll make people happy. 

There are some pizza places around here that use artisan and local ingredients, and they pay their employees well, so the prices on the menu reflect that. For some people who don’t know the background of the pizza shop, the conversation becomes all about price. Being able to tell your story, explain the origin of the ingredients, and why you’re doing what you’re doing, helps to sell that price and helps the customers understand.

Consistency is the one pizza factor that I hear people complain about the most. Nothing worse than having the best pizza of your life and going back to that spot and getting a clunker.