In this episode, I wanted to talk about a few things that have been on my mind lately. First, I just got back from a trip to Los Angeles, and we visited a bunch of great pizza shops while we were out there. One of the coolest things we did was attend the LA Pizza Alliance event at Lasorda’s Pizzeria near Dodger Stadium.
It was a great event—probably 60 or 70 shops all came together, each brought 10 to 15 pizzas, used different ovens, and made a ton of pizza. But it wasn’t just a hangout. They actually gave away all the pizza to people in need, like first responders, firefighters, and nurses.
It was cool to see that many people, who technically are all competitors, get together and do something good for the community. Just real pizza people doing real things. I’m going to have Tommy and David—who organized the whole thing—on the podcast soon to talk about how it all came together.
This got me thinking: what if something like this happened in other cities? Would people show up? Would they work together? I know not everybody wants to team up with competitors, especially if you’re old school. But maybe there’s something here. If you’re interested in something like that where you live, let me know.
On the Topic of Reviews…
OK, let’s talk about pizza reviews—specifically the whole Portnoy review thing.
I’ve been seeing a lot of shops put way too much focus on getting reviewed. Like, they’re doing countdown videos:
“Day 13 of making a pizza until Dave comes in.”
Some are even changing the style of their pizza just to get a better review, making what they think he’d like instead of what they actually want to make. That just doesn’t feel right to me.
Listen, I get it. Reviews help. If you’re struggling to get people in the door, you might be thinking, “Hey, maybe this is the thing that saves my business.” But if you’re relying on one person to show up and say something nice to keep your shop open… that’s not a great plan.
And what if he doesn’t like it? He has a specific style he likes. You might have a good pizza that doesn’t fit that mold—and now what?
Make the Pizza You Want to Make
You didn’t open a shop to make someone else’s version of a pizza. At least, I hope not. You opened it because you had something you wanted to share. Stick to that. Build your systems. Build your marketing. Build your team. Then let the rest take care of itself.
If a review happens, cool. If it doesn’t, that’s fine too. I’m working on opening a shop myself, and to be honest, I hope Portnoy never shows up. I just want to build something great and grow it the right way.
Maybe It’s Time to Close
The other thing I’ve been thinking about is something I posted on social: knowing when it’s time to close.
I’ve been through it. We had a second location that, looking back, I never should’ve opened. On paper, it looked fine. It didn’t fail financially. But it took way too much time and energy away from our main location—the one that was working.
We spent four or five years trying to fix that second shop. Changing the menu. Adjusting the recipe. Running promos. And yeah, it brought in some money, but it wasn’t worth it. In the time we wasted on that one, we could’ve opened another shop in a better spot.
So if you’re sitting there thinking, “Maybe this isn’t working,” it’s OK to walk away. That’s not a failure. It’s just learning. You take what you learned and move forward.
Closing Doesn’t Mean You Failed
Sometimes you open in a spot that just doesn’t have the volume you need. Or there’s too much competition. Or it’s just not the right fit. That happens. Instead of pouring money into something that won’t work, sometimes the smart move is to cut your losses and take that energy somewhere else.
We don’t talk about that enough. Everyone’s always talking about growing and expanding, but no one talks about when it’s OK to stop. To say, “This is as far as we can take it.”
And that’s fine. That’s business.