By Charlie Pogacar
Seventeen years ago, Salvatore Reina opened his first pizzeria with help from his brother, Gino. He had no clue how to make a pizza. For several years, he rarely looked at the numbers that made his business run.
“I’ve said this before, but it shouldn’t have worked out,” Reina said, looking back on those early days, on the latest episode of Peel: A PMQ Pizza Podcast. But somehow, it did—and Francesca Pizza and Pasta, with locations in Glen Rock and Elmwood Park, New Jersey, has become a staple in its respective communities.
During the podcast interview, Reina talked through his evolution as a pizzeria owner and operator—from being the only one with a key (and locking up every night) to building a partnership model that allows him to be home for dinner with his kids. These days, he spends most of his time strategizing, but he’s often available for whatever needs to be done in his shops. He typically works one scheduled shift per week—a double on Fridays—and spends the rest of his time doing whatever needs to get done, whether that’s delivering pasta to a local school or diving into marketing strategies with his team.
Related: How a Pizzeria Added $250,000 In Annual Revenue Via School Lunch Programs
Over the years, Reina has learned the importance of his numbers. When he dug into them with his business partners, he realized he’d been underpricing some menu items for years, while others were even overpriced. He’s had to learn to build spreadsheets with every cost mapped out to the cent—and learning, for example, how much each meatball sold costs the business.
As far as marketing goes, Reina believes in the word-of-mouth strategy above all else. He said he has spent money on advertising fewer than five times. Instead, he’s looked to develop relationships with business owners in the community. He believes nailing catering orders—and even giving some away in order to get locals hooked on Francesca—is a key to a successful pizza business. “The best form of marketing is delivering what you promised well,” he said. “Get the food in people’s mouths.”
Reina also collaborates with local influencers and sponsors local schools and youth sports programs. Giving back to the community, he believes, is a more valuable way to get the Francesca name out there than any paid advertising could achieve. “I never say no to a donation request,” he says. “Even if it’s just a gift card for two pies, now 150 people at that fundraiser just heard your name.”
One of the most powerful stories Reina relayed on the podcast was advice he got from a mentor in the earliest days of his shop. The man was a veteran pizzeria owner who lost his son, which made him reflect on all of the milestones he’d missed out on by being in the pizza shop.
“He told me, ‘Don’t do what I did,’” Reina remembered. “Work your butt off now, but build something where you can be home for dinner.”
That’s exactly what Reina has done. To hear more, check out the latest episode of Peel: A PMQ Pizza Podcast:
