January 1, 2016

On T
h e Ro a d
L AT E
NIGHT
SLICE
5 6 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / J A N UA R Y 2 0 1 6
404 Washington Ave., Suite 730 - Miami Beach, FL 33139- o.305.438.9200 - [email protected]
LEFT: Tomato Basil slice with ricotta and mozzarella. TOP: Window marketing draws the attention of heavy foot traffic on Collins Avenue in South Beach.
SLICE HOUSE HEATS UP MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, WITH MENU UPGRADES
BY DENISE GREER
C
ollins Ave. is at the heart
of the dining concentration in Miami Beach,
Florida. A little slice
joint, Pizza Bar, has
carved its piece of the beach
community business with
giant slices, menu upgrades and
strong late-night and delivery
sales.
With a motto like “Size does
matter,” seven-year-old Pizza
Bar serves up the beach’s largest
slices, cut from a 30-inch pie. A
display case filled with options
is front and center in the galley
PHOTOS BY JOSH KEOWN
interior. The next feature that
draws attention is the rock-nroll theme showcased throughout the restaurant. Red walls,
black menu boards, red neon
signs, its guitar logo blazoned
prominently and pies named
after rock bands sell the rock-nroll vibe. A wall of mirrors gives
the illusion of a much larger
space.
It may look like a small,
counter-service pizza joint, but
Pizza Bar smashed through
sales of $1.8 million last year.
General manager German Dide
says he hopes to crack the
$2 million mark in 2016.
It wasn’t always that way.
When Dide joined the company nearly four years ago, he
ignited the pizzeria’s turnaround with a focus on the
delivery business and local
market.
Two branded and
wrapped smart cars and
scooters are critical to Pizza
Bar dominating beach delivery,
making up 20 percent of the
pizzeria’s sales. On weekends,
J A N UA R Y 2 0 1 6 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / 5 7
404 Washington Ave., Suite 730 - Miami Beach, FL 33139- o.305.438.9200 - [email protected]
TOP LEFT: A selection of six drafts offerred in chilled mugs. TOP MIDDLE: Chicken wings with five sauce options. TOP RIGHT: Pizza-pan decor displays Pizza Bar’s motto.
LEFT MIDDLE: General Manager German Dide details day-to-day operations to Associate Editor Denise Greer. BOTTOM LEFT: All the Way slice with pepperoni, sausage,
green pepper, mushroom and onion. BOTTOM RIGHT: Pizza Bar’s interior with the Tomato Basil pie.
5 8 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / J A N UA R Y 2 0 1 6
404 Washington Ave., Suite 730 - Miami Beach, FL 33139- o.305.438.9200 - [email protected]
when traffic is jammed, the scooters
come in handy to keep deliveries on
schedule.
The pizzeria’s sheer volume of
foot traffic can prove challenging for
deliveries. But, Dide says, they make
it work. It’s a balancing act for pizza
makers to keep the display windows
full and fulfill delivery and carryout
orders.
“Always on display, we have 16 to
18 pies,” he says. Pizza Bar’s deck
ovens can accommodate four of the
extra-large, 30-inch pizzas so it takes
a skilled, experienced pizza maker to
keep up with the demand for oven
space, Dide says.
Pizza Bar has tapped the local
employment force in the area to
keep a steady lunch crowd. Dide
offers discounts to area hotel
workers. A win-win, the initiative
generates both local and tourist sales.
Locals make up 40 percent of the
pizzeria’s sales in the tourism-rich
area.
Bernie Matz, culinary director at
Pizza Bar’s parent company, Menin
Hospitality, credits Dide’s efforts
to drive local traffic. “As tourist and
commercial as this place is, they’ve
been able to capture the local market,” Matz says. “If you don’t, you
won’t survive.”
Matz joined Menin nearly two
years ago and was instrumental in
taking Pizza Bar’s menu to the next
level. “They were buying bottled
dressing and I showed them how
to make their own and they were
cheaper and way better,” Matz says.
“If you are going to make a really
good salad, you have to start with the
dressing. The bread they were using
was wimpy.” Martz worked with
Dide to improve the salads and subs
and update Pizza Bar’s toppings list.
Dide went beyond just implementing the product changes. He
ran with the idea of bringing in new
products like prosciutto and arugula,
elevating the slice offerings. And
when it comes to products, Pizza Bar
makes as much as possible in house
and doesn’t skimp on ingredients,
opting to use higher quality pepperoni, sausage and cheese.
“What (Dide) has done is, little by
little...each menu that has evolved,
he’s gotten more and more success,”
Matz says. “The last menu has some
really great, over-the-top slices and
he’s done really well because it’s not
just pepperoni and mushroom slices.”
Matz applied a caveat to Pizza
Bar’s menu innovation. “I didn’t want
him to increase costs without being
able to increase revenue,” Matz says.
The ingredient upgrades have made
a huge impact. “The numbers are up
over 20 percent,” he adds.
Dide keeps a keen eye on the
display window. With a rotation of
fresh pies, the window makes it
apparent very quickly which items
are not selling. If a product isn’t
moving, Dide says that Matz takes a
very practical approach: if it doesn’t
sell, it is pulled from the menu.
The week following Pizza Today’s
visit last fall, Pizza Bar debuted a
new menu replacing a 16-month-old
menu with greater Italian influences.
One of the most popular pizzas is
a Chicken Alfredo with diced tomatoes, spinach and mozzarella ($19 for
a large). There’s also the Frisco that
features burrata, arugula, artichoke,
sun-dried tomato and pesto ($20 for
a large) and the Little Italy with anchovies, mozzarella, arugula, roasted
red peppers, black olives and tomato
sauce ($19 for a large).
Chicken wings and garlic knots
are crowd pleasers. Subs are also
popular. The Roman features one of
the Pizza Bar’s newest ingredients,
prosciutto, married with fresh
mozzarella, sun-dried tomato,
pepperoncini and pesto ($11).
Beach, known for its nightlife. Next
to the 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. slot, the
weekend 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. day part
drives the most sales.
Staffing and security can be difficult in the late-night hours. The
pizzeria used to cater to the latenight crowd with a DJ, but when the
people became unruly, Dide stopped
the event.
Protocols for late-night safety, like
cameras and staff training, are vital
during Pizza Bar’s extended hours.
“What I tell my employees is that
from opening to midnight be as nice
as you can,” Dide says. “After midnight, anyone drunk, get them in and
out.” If someone become belligerent
or violent, he advises his team to call
the police and let them handle any
altercations.
No matter the time of day, Pizza
Bar remains diligent with the quality
of its pizza-by-the-slice offering.
The counter display showcases the
variety and quality. The staff keeps a
log to be sure it’s full and fresh. With
few slow times, Dide says, most
pies move fast. The pizzeria sells an
average of 350 slices each day.
With the slices ranging from $5
to $7, Dide counts on his counterservice for add-on sales. “You have
to make sure your employees are on
point,” he says. “Make sure they are
offering drinks.” A new slushy
machine introduced over the summer proved to be a spot-on upsell
option on the beach.
Dide’s always on the lookout for
revenue generators that fit the concept. “We’re always thinking about
how to take it to the next step,” he
says. “You have to be able to compete
and you have to be able to keep up
with your numbers.” n
DENISE GREER
Pizza Today.
is associate editor of
Pizza Bar has become the latenight spot for slices on South
J A N UA R Y 2 0 1 6 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / 5 9
404 Washington Ave., Suite 730 - Miami Beach, FL 33139- o.305.438.9200 - [email protected]