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The Chicago Pizza Summit Sets an October Return After a Three-Year Hiatus

Anthony Spina created the event in 2016 and says there’s room for more than one pizza party in town

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Since 2015, the organizers behind the Chicago Pizza Summit have prided themselves in creating an event that brings together pizzerias from across the city. At the time Chicago was a city with festivals that celebrated burgers, hot dogs — and even, surprisingly for the region, lobster and oysters. So why not pizza?

Event founder Anthony Spina — a brand marketer who worked with Old Style beer — and his cohorts began building the infrastructure surrounding three core values: community, friendship, and dialog. Spina wanted an event that could endure, not just a festival that would pop up and tank after a few years. The event sold out all four years as Chicagoans entered a new era of pizza awareness, paving the way for the recent national discovery that Chicago sports multiple styles of pizza, not just deep dish. But after four years of fests, the pandemic struck stunting any momentum.

Now, after a three-year pandemic hiatus, the summit returns: “This is Chicago pizza for the people by the people,” Spina says.

This year’s event is on Sunday, October 15, at the Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club in Bucktown. Organizers will host two sessions with unlimited pizza including an early all-ages time when families can bring kids. Spina is waiting to release the pizza vendor lineup. In past years, Pizza Summit has had restaurants like Angelo’s, Aurelio’s, Bacci, Connie’s, Dimo’s, and Home Run Inn . The maker of Chicago’s beloved Pizza Puff, Iltaco Foods, has even appeared. There will also be special food items only available at the festival. Spina says it’s important to listen to vendors and let them dictate what they want to serve.

Patrons will be able to play shuffleboard with pucks decorated like pizza and buy special merchandise. The hunger for shirts that display the city’s love for pizza has exploded since the inaugural event in 2016. Spina knows the allure of shirts sporting Chicago’s famous pizza bag or ones that remind patrons of the Old Style beer logo.

Throwing a pizza party takes “pizza math” that didn’t exist before summit organizers calculated how long it would take to warm up slices and if it made sense for vendors to bake pizza onsite or if they could time it right for oven-fresh deliveries direct from the restaurant to the festival. Taking a page from music festivals like Riot Fest, where organizers stagger when bands play, not all pizzas will be available at once, Spina says.

For Spina, it’s a chance to reunite with Chicago’s pizza community, a time to showcase different styles of pizza and to show Chicagoans what he’s learned since the inaugural event took place in 2016.

Spina and his team held the first summit at Chop Shop in Wicker Park and honored Vito & Nick’s matriarch Rose Barraco with a lifetime achievement award. That same year, they invited musician Andrew WK to deliver a keynote address that rallied the crowd with a message of pizza positivity. WK held no interest in judging regional styles or declaring one pizza style was better than another. He wasn’t trying to be cheesy, but WK believes in fostering an inclusive community where folks can just party. Spina shares this philosophy and doesn’t want to grow his event too quickly. He resisted overtures to move the event outdoors where he could draw more patrons. In 2018, they moved to Thalia Hall in Pilsen and held its last offering in 2019 at the Theater in the Lake in Lincoln Park. During COVID’s height, Spina says he missed the one-on-one interactions and people discovering pizzerias they hadn’t had a chance to try. Particularly, it was great to see a North Sider try a slice from a South Side pizzaiola. These little interactions are what fueled Spina to bring the summit back.

There are other pizza festivals these days. Spina watched what happened in late August at the Salt Shed with Steve Dolinsky’s Pizza City Fest. Dolinsky was a past speaker at the summit. Spina worked with the Salt Shed management when the summit was at Thalia Hall and raved about his past experiences. He didn’t want to comment on the other event’s challenges but noted how pizza brings out passion: “If you ask 100 Chicagoans who has the best pizza, there are going to be 100 different answers,” Spina says.

Spina adds that if another organization can put on a better pizza party, he’ll be the first in line for a ticket. There’s plenty of room in Chicago for more than one approach to a festival, he says. The summit won’t have panel discussions, it’s more about a fun reunion of friends over pizza.

There’s also no VIP section: “If you can’t eat pizza with your fellow Chicagoans — it doesn’t matter who are you eating pizza with here,” Spina says. “The whole point of the event is that there’s no separation.”

Chicago Pizza Summit , Sunday, October 15 at Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club, 1750 N. Milwaukee Avenue, tickets via Bucketlisters , tickets $65, $50 for patrons under 21; kids four and under free.

Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club Chicago

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Pizza Festival Schedule

• Scott Wiener
• July 21, 2023

Pizza festivals are becoming a big deal! Just a few years ago they were scattered and disconnected but that’s all changing right before our eyes. Here’s a list of pizza festivals you might want to check out this summer and beyond:

June 20 – Sept 3  Long Island City Pizza Festival (Queens) The 10-week event will feature a curated selection of the most recognized Pizzaioli in the world. All profits from the festival will be donated to the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City. FREE Admission

July 29 Staten Island Pizza Fest Enjoy pizza and craft beer at this event that raises funds for the Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden TICKETS

Aug 19 San Francisco Pizza, Bagel, and Beer Festival Pizza wizard Tony Gemignani has assembled 40 purveyors of all your favorite carbs for this 1-day event. Proceeds support several charities, including Slice Out Hunger. (FROM SCOTT : “Special bonus, I’ll be at this one!”) TICKETS

Aug 26 – 27 Pizza City Fest: Chicago Sample pizza from dozens of shops from Chicago and beyond over two glorious days while enjoying lectures and panels from some of the best in the biz.  TICKETS

October 15 Pizza on the Pier in Brooklyn Slice Out Hunger’s annual outdoor pizza celebration will return DETAILS TBA

November 4 Las Vegas Pizza Festival Pizza makers representing all styles will feature slices at this all-star event run by some of the city’s keystone pizza makers. TICKETS

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Pizza Tower, 2023's best platformer, is getting a free update where you play as one of the villains with his own music and moveset: 'Think of it as a sort of New Game+'

Avoid the Noise.

Pizza Tower might be the best 2D platformer I've played since Hollow Knight, and if you want to restrict that to non-metroidvanias, I gotta go back to 2014's Shovel Knight for anything this good. A year after launch, developer Tour de Pizza now seems close to adding a long-promised mode where you play as one of the game's main bosses .

The Noise isn't Pizza Tower's big bad, but he gets a lot of screen time and seems to have a more personal rivalry with protagonist Peppino Spaghetti⁠—he's less Bowser, more Wario. Actually, with Pizza Tower having so much Wario Land DNA, maybe the Noise is Mario? Anyway, you get it. See also pizza chain Dominos' contemptible former mascot, the Noid . I don't know why a company that large needed to do a lazy knockoff of an indie developer's character for its mascot, but maybe it should focus on putting out more appetizing pies instead.

Tour de Pizza's gameplay clips of the Noise show the same momentum-driven platforming we got with Peppino, though the new character does have an aerial spin move I'm excited to try for myself. Tour de Pizza describes the Noise "as a sort of new game+."

Given that this new guy's working with the same levels as Peppino, he's assuredly closer in feel to him than the base game's alt character(s) Gustavo and Brick, who were so distinct they had their own special areas to accommodate them. I'm curious to see how he feels, but I can already appreciate his unique animations, UI elements, and new level escape music for both the first and second rounds of " Pizza Time ."

Alternate playable characters seem to have been something Tour de Pizza experimented with a few times during development: the dev addressed playable Noise back at Pizza Tower's launch last January, while a YouTube teaser from 2020 shows a playable version of another boss, The Vigilante. The embedded YouTube video features an older WIP of the playable Noise from before Pizza Tower's release.

Given that the various levels' power-ups make Peppino control like a different character entirely, adding multiple alt characters to the mix on top of that was likely an untenable workload⁠—the Noise already needs bespoke sprites for every power-up, not to mention the end of level rank screen.

There's no set date for the Noise update, but it seems pretty close to completion. A post by Tour de Pizza in December mentions him not being " ready for Christmas ," which to me implies that he should be good to go soon after? Regardless, if you haven't checked out Pizza Tower for yourself already, there's no need to wait⁠—it's already a superb platformer. 

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Pizza Tower

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About Pizza Tower

Pizza Tower is a 2023 platform game. Tour De Pizza independently developed it. That was available for Windows and the Steam Deck only through the Steam store. In order to save his pizzeria, Peppino Spaghetti, a pizza chef, must navigate the game’s namesake tower.

The gameplay focuses on raising score, keeping combos going, collecting items, and moving quickly. A variety of moves and attacks are useful to accomplish these goals. The player starts an escape sequence at the end of each level, which forces them to race back to the beginning of the level.

Unlike the majority of other platform games, the player has no health or lives during normal gameplay. And there are no standard game difficulty levels; instead, the difficulty of most levels depends on the player’s performance.

Pizza Tower’s design takes heavy inspiration from entertainment during the 1990s, especially the fourth generation of video game consoles. The game’s elements and mechanics followed the Wario Land, Jazz Jackrabbit, Earthworm Jim, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Metroid video game series.

How to play Pizza Tower

Pizza Tower came out on January 26, 2023. This was to positive reception from critics, who praised its gameplay, aesthetics, music, humor, and similarities to the Wario Land series. In the platform game Pizza Tower, Peppino Spaghetti must make his way through each floor of a tower under the authority of the player. Each of the tower’s five floors has four levels and a boss (except Floor 5, which instead has three levels and a boss). Five Toppins (little animals that resemble pizza toppings) are trapped in each level.

And the player must free them in order to earn money and points needed to access boss stages. The player must gather and deliver the janitor Gerome to the entrance. So that it can unlock the door that conceals the hidden treasure on each level. Most levels also have three secret rooms, which are quick challenges that award extra points and enhance the level’s completion.

Peppino Pizza

Peppino may body slam adversaries from above (which also removes obstructions) or use a Grab Dash to grab them and launch them as a projectile. It can perform a Mach Run, which substantially enhances his speed and enables him to run up walls, defeat and stun adversaries. And it can help him smash most blocks by running into them, similar to Wario Land 4’s Dash Attack. Peppino may also do a Super Jump in this state, which is akin to a Shinespark in Super Metroid. With this move, he leaps straight up while destroying any impediments in his way until he hits a ceiling or exits the space.

Some moves, including the Parry are in the lesson. Also, the game has game mechanics, power-ups that alter Peppino’s powers, and several levels-specific transformations. They include Shotgun, which adds ranged attacks and the capacity to destroy certain blocks.

Pepper Pizza offers invincibility and levitation, and Knight allows the player to harm on touch and slide on slopes. Although their move sets are identical to Peppino’s, supporting characters Gustavo and Brick are available in specific stages. And they also have longer-range attacks and double jumps.

Control Guide

• Z – PLAY/Select/Jump
• Arrow keys – Move/Ladder
• Up + Z – Highjump
• Down while falling – Freefall

A combo starts when a defeated gets longer with each one after that. The combo expires after about 7 seconds. To continue the combo, the player must kill further foes or get more collectibles to raise their score, which extends the combo’s duration. The player is not injured when they take damage; instead, their score decreased.

This is to continue the combo and finish the timed objectives is smaller. Boss fights, when Peppino has a health bar and can be slain, are the only levels where this rule is disregarded. A combo starts when an adversary lose and gets longer with each one after that. The combo is timed and expires after about 7 seconds. To continue the combo, the player must kill further foes or get more collectibles to raise their score, which extends the combo’s duration.

The player is not injured when they take damage. Instead, they reduce the score and their window to continue the combo and finish the timed objectives is smaller. Boss fights, when Peppino has a health bar and can be slain, are the only levels.

Pizzaface will show up to follow the player through the stage if the countdown expires, murdering them if he makes contact with them, and pushing them out of the level if he doesn’t. With the exception of two fully-timed levels, which automatically fail when the timer expires, a level can still be finished even if the timer runs out. Pizzaface can still be outrun.

Player of the game

The player has a ranking after completing each level based on their performance and score: D, C, B, A, and S ranks. This is based on the player’s score, with D denoting an extremely low score and S denoting acquiring nearly all the points in a level. However, the player can only reach level P if the player accumulates enough points for a S rank.

They have to goes through all three secrets, collects Gerome and the tower secret treasure, completes the second lap, and maintains. In addition, money for the player for discovering Toppins in the level; this money helps with unlocking boss stages. In boss battles, the player’s rank depends on how often they got damaged. D for more than nine times, and P for never being damaged. With achievements or specific behaviors, players can obtain additional items, such as palette swap costumes for Peppino.

Development of the game Pizza Tower

McPig, one of the developers from Tour De Pizza , thought about making a horror-themed comic series about a deranged chef who fought pizza demons in his own restaurant, citing Courage the Cowardly Dog as inspiration. Pizza Tower began development around 2018, going through many different concepts, revisions, and demo builds over 5 years of development. Development was supported through Tour De Pizza’s Patreon. McPig was the project’s only artist and coder.

ClascyJitto/Frostix and Mr. Sauceman were the game’s primary composers. PostElvis composed the main menu theme, while Jack Knife and Kyoobot appeared on “Pizza Mayhem”. The game’s unused theme song featured as a bonus track on the official soundtrack.

Mr. Sauceman, had only viewed composing as “basically a hobby” and sent McPig an early version of “It’s Pizza Time!”. The theme in the Pizza Time escape phase and a leitmotif in other tracks, initially not expecting to hear anything back. The Pizza Tower soundtrack ultimately became his first published work.

Featured as a transformation in the level “Fun Farm” is Mort, a chicken that is the protagonist of the 2000 PlayStation game Mort the Chicken. Ed Annunziata, the creator of the character, gave Tour De Pizza permission for Mort to appear in the game.

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WATCH: 2023 International Pizza Expo show highlights and interviews (Las Vegas)

March 31, 2023 Jason Rzucidlo ENTERTAINMENT , Exclusive LIVE Interviews , Fairs and Festivals , Las Vegas News , Local News , National News , NEWS , Southern California News 0

AmericaJR’s Jason Rzucidlo reports from the Las Vegas Convention Center for the 2023 International Pizza Expo . The 39th annual event is considered the largest pizza show in the world. It features suppliers from across the globe, networking and educational sessions. BakeMark showed off their new pizza fries which are breadsticks made out of pizza dough mix. Otis Spunkmeyer introduced their new shareable pizza cookies. LA Brea Bakery premiered their new quarter sheet focaccia breads. Truffle Systems debuted their cloud-based point of sale system for restaurants, cafes, bars and more. It offers online ordering and contactless food pickup with display screens. Californo told me about their mobile pizza oven trailers. They can cook five to six pizzas at one time at just 80 seconds each!

Stay with AmericaJR for more coverage from the International Pizza Expo…

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Pizza Tour 2023 Results

Every year, our group of five (though just four for 2023) spends one entire evening tasting, reviewing and rating a slice of pizza from every ”legitimate” pizzeria on the Wildwood boardwalk, in search of our favorite slice. Here, we reveal our findings… For more info, read the ' About the Pizza Tour ' page!

2023 Pizza Tour Details

The best wildwood slices 2023, 1st place: olympic pizza - avg: 4.0.

2nd Place: Steak 'Em Up - Avg: 3.88

☛ The article continues below!

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3rd Place: Mack's Pizza - Avg: 3.75

4th Place: Franconi's - Avg: 3.63

5th Place: Little Angelo's Pizza Spot - Avg: 3.5

Little Angelo’s Pizza Spot surprised us immensely in 2022 with a top 5 slice and kept the good pizza going for 2023. One reviewer (an easy guess if you watched the video) gave this a 4.5 star rating, which is a rare achievement for any pizzeria. This cheesy slice hit the spot in the middle of the boardwalk.

☛ The article continues below!  

Best Value Slice (Taste, Price & Size)

In addition to our taste rating, we also record price and slice measurements to determine the best value slice. We have a special in-house formula to determine best value called P3R (Pizza to Price to Points Ratio) = Slice Area * (Points / Price).

1. Steak 'Em Up - Value Rating (P3R) = 45.72

Value (P3R) Rating:  45.72  

2: Mack's Pizza - P3R: 45.0 3: O lympic Flame  - P3R: 42.67 4: Original Hot Spot  - P3R: 41.17 5: Franconi's - P3R: 39.27  

Largest Wildwood Pizza Slices

Some days, you spend so much time walking the boards, catching waves, and having fun in the Wildwoods, that you're starving and just want to get your hands on the biggest slice you can possibly find. We know exactly what it's like and we've got you -- these are the largest slices we found on the boardwalk for 2022! If you normally order two slices, maybe start with one and go from there with these pizzerias!

1. Joe's Pizzeria -  13.0 x 8.0 in. (52.0 sq. in.)

2: Founders Grub & Pub - 11.5 x 8.0 in. (46.0 sq. in.) 3: TIE:  3 Brothers  /  Crazy Junkie  - 10.0 x 8.0 in. (40.0 sq. in.) 4: TIE:  Little Angelo's  /  Original Hot Spot  - 9.5 x 8.0 in. (38 sq. in.)

Most Improved Slice

Snow white - avg: 2.88 (rated 0.9 in 2022).

Most Controversial Slices

While some slices garner general agreement among the Pizza Tour reviewers, there are certainly some that result in mixed opinions. So, which slices were the most controversial this year?

Hot Spot Cafe, Original Hot Spot, Wally's, Founders

Our “most controversial” metric looks at which slices had the greatest range of ratings from the group. That is, what slices did we have most trouble all agreeing on?

This year, the center of the boardwalk, near Mariner’s Pier, was particularly controversial. 

The Original Hot Spot (3.25 overall rating, 2.5 range) and Founders Grub & Pub (3.25 overall rating, 2.0 range) both received very positive ratings from 3 out of 4 members of the group…but in each case, 1 reviewer was not a fan.

This is interesting. Since most of the group liked these slices, you might want to try these two slices and see for yourself…

Other notable controversial slices were Wally’s (2.0 range) and Hot Spot Cafe (2.5 range).

New Slice on the Boards

Kono pizza - avg: 2.75.

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2024 RBC Heritage odds, picks, field, predictions: Golf insider fading Rory McIlroy at Harbour Town

T hree-time major champion Jordan Spieth will attempt to get his game back on track when he tees off in the 2024 RBC Heritage beginning on Thursday at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, S.C. The 30-year-old Spieth has failed to reach the weekend in four of his last six starts. The slump began with a disqualification in The Genesis Invitational for signing an incorrect scorecard. He also has missed the cut in three of his last four starts. This week, Spieth, who won the RBC Heritage in 2022, is going off at +3500 to finish on top of the leaderboard. 

Meanwhile, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who is coming off a victory in last week's Masters, is the overwhelming favorite in the 2024 RBC Heritage odds at +400. Xander Schauffele, who finished eighth at the Masters, is the +1000 second choice. Rory McIlroy (+1200), Ludvig Aberg (+1200) and Patrick Cantlay (+1400) round out the top five choices in the RBC Heritage 2024 field. Before locking in any 2024 RBC Heritage picks, make sure you  see the PGA Tour predictions and best bets from golf betting and fantasy expert Sia Nejad .

Nejad specializes in betting and DFS in golf, among other sports. He's had incredible success in the outright and first-round leader markets and in betting head-to-head matchups. He also has been solid with his head-to-head matchups since last year's Charles Schwab Challenge, going 39-27-2 and returning 8.31 units over that span. That's a $831 profit for $100 bettors since May 2023.

Nejad also nailed 75-1 longshot Wyndham Clark as the outright winner at the Wells Fargo Championship. In 2023, SportsLine debuted "The Early Wedge," and in the first three months of the show, he hit two first-round leaders and three outright winners.

Now, Nejad has focused his attention on the 2024 RBC Heritage field and has locked in his best bets, top sleepers and favorites to avoid. See who they are at SportsLine .

Top 2024 RBC Heritage expert picks

One surprise: Nejad is completely fading Rory McIlroy, even though he is one of the favorites at +1200. The 34-year-old from Northern Ireland has been splitting his time this year between the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour. His best finish on the PGA Tour is a third at the Valero Texas Open two weeks ago, but that's his only result inside the top 18.

So far this season, McIlroy ranks 98th on tour in scoring average (70.44). "I have no interest in betting Rory McIlroy at a short number," Nejad told SportsLine.

However, Nejad is high on the chances of Will Zalatoris, who's listed as a +2800 longshot. No. 10 in the FedEx Cup standings, Zalatoris has returned from microdiscectomy surgery to correct two herniated discs in his back to post three top-10 and four top-25 finishes this season. 

He enters Harbour Town playing some good golf. He has finished inside the top 10 in three of his last five events and is coming off a T-9 showing in last week's Masters. "Zalatoris doesn't have much history at the RBC, but his recent history screams that a win is near," Nejad said.  See which other golfers to back at SportsLine .

How to make 2024 RBC Heritage picks

Nejad has locked in his best bets for the 2024 RBC Heritage and is backing several longshots, including one that is priced at more than +4000. This player is a "great course fit" and is a longshot who could surprise. You can see Nejad's PGA Tour picks only at SportsLine .

So which players should you target or avoid for the 2024 RBC Heritage, and which player in the   RBC Heritage 2024 field could bring a huge payday at more than +4000? Check out the odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Sia Nejad's top picks for the 2024 RBC Heritage , all from the expert who is 39-27-2 on his last 68 head-to-head picks.

2024 RBC Heritage odds, field

See Nejad's picks, best bets and predictions here .

Scottie Scheffler +400

Xander Schauffele +1000

Rory McIlroy +1200

Ludvig Aberg +1200

Patrick Cantlay +1400

Tommy Fleetwood +1800

Collin Morikawa +1800

Max Homa +2200

Matt Fitzpatrick +2200

Will Zalatoris +2500

Cameron Young +2500

Wyndham Clark +3000

Si Woo Kim +3000

Sahith Theegala +3500

Russell Henley +3500

Jordan Spieth +3500

Shane Lowry +3500

Sam Burns +4000

Tony Finau +4500

Tom Kim +4500

Justin Thomas +4500

Denny McCarthy +4500

Corey Conners +4500

Brian Harman +4500

J.T. Poston +5000

Chris Kirk +5000

Cameron Davis +5000

Sepp Straka +5500

Lucas Glover +5500

Jason Day +5500

Harris English +5500

Christiaan Bezuidenhout +5500

Akshay Bhatia +5500

Taylor Moore +6000

Byeong Hun An +6000

Sungjae Im +6500

Brendon Todd +6500

Matthieu Pavon +7000

Adam Hadwin +7000

Eric Cole +7500

Adam Schenk +7500

Tom Hoge +8000

Kurt Kitayama +8000

Keegan Bradley +8000

Emiliano Grillo +9000

Thomas Detry +10000

Stephan Jaeger +10000

Austin Eckroat +10000

Andrew Putnam +10000

Nick Taylor +11000

Mackenzie Hughes +11000

Erik Van Rooyen +11000

Rickie Fowler +13000

Adam Svensson +13000

Justin Rose +15000

Patrick Rodgers +18000

Lee Hodges +18000

Webb Simpson +18000

Seamus Power +25000

Peter Malnati +25000

Nick Dunlap +25000

Jake Knapp +25000

Erik Barnes +30000

Chandler Phillips +30000

Brice Garnett +30000

Alejandro Tosti +30000

Gary Woodland +30000

Grayson Murray +35000

Kevin Kisner +150000

• International Pizza Expo
• Exchange at Pizza Expo
• Pizza Today
• Cocina Sabrosa

March 25-27, 2025 | Las Vegas Convention Center

ABOUT THE SHOW

The Largest Pizza Show in the World offers you fresh content, competitions, and events each year! Now in its 40th year, the best is yet to come!

The annual International Pizza Expo remains unchallenged as the industry’s largest event. Thousands of pizzeria professionals convene in Las Vegas, Nevada each year for 3 days dedicated to all things pizza. Suppliers from across the globe, networking and educational sessions led by top industry professionals, and national competitions round out this unrivaled event.

Las Vegas Convention Center – West Exhibit Hall

Las Vegas, Nevada

Show Floor Dates & Hours

Tuesday – Thursday, March 25 – 27, 2025

Tuesday: 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM Wednesday: 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM Thursday: 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Education Schedule Dates & Hours

Sunday – Wednesday, March 23 – 26, 2025

Sunday, March 23: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM Monday, March 24: 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM Tuesday, March 25: 8:30 AM – 9:30 PM Wednesday, March 26: 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM

School of Pizzeria Management Workshop Dates

Sunday – Tuesday, March 23 – 25, 2025

New-Operator and Early-Arriving Attendee Programming

Monday, March 24, 2025

6:00 PM – 7:00 PM

March 25-27, 2025

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Seamus Power Betting Profile: RBC Heritage

Betting Profile

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - APRIL 04: Seamus Power of Ireland plays his tee shot on the 2nd hole during the first round of the Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio on April 04, 2024 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Brennan Asplen/Getty Images)

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Seamus Power looks to perform better in the 2024 RBC Heritage than the last time he played in this event in 2023 when he failed to make the cut.

The RBC Heritage Tournament & Course Info

• Date: April 18-21, 2024
• Location: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
• Course: Harbour Town Golf Links
• Par: 71 / 7,213 yards
• Purse: $20M
• Previous Winner: Matt Fitzpatrick

At the RBC Heritage

• Power's average finish has been sixth, and his average score -9, over his last two appearances at the RBC Heritage.
• Power last played at the RBC Heritage in 2023, missing the cut with a score of +7.
• When Matt Fitzpatrick won this tournament in 2023, he had 0.457 Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (39th in the field), 5.013 SG: Approach the Green (10th), and 2.732 SG: Putting (20th).
• In addition, Fitzpatrick's average driving distance was 303.6 (15th in field), he hit 66.67% of greens in regulation (23rd), and he averaged 25.25 putts per round (fourth).

Power's Recent History at the RBC Heritage

Power's recent performances.

• In his last five events, Power has an average finish of 36th.
• Out of the last five tournaments he's entered, he made the cut four times.
• Power has finished with a better-than-average score in two of his last five tournaments.
• He has carded an average score of -2 over his last five events.
• In terms of driving distance, Seamus Power has averaged 296.5 yards in his past five starts.
• In his past five starts, Power is averaging -0.162 Strokes Gained: Putting.
• Power is averaging 0.101 Strokes Gained: Total in his past five tournaments.

Power's Advanced Stats and Rankings

• Power's Strokes Gained: Off the Tee average of -0.141 ranks 122nd on TOUR this season, and his 60.4% driving accuracy average ranks 92nd.
• In terms of Strokes Gained: Approach, Power sports a -0.020 mark (97th on TOUR).
• On the greens, Power's -0.412 Strokes Gained: Putting mark ranks 150th this season, while he averages 29.14 putts per round (122nd).

Power's Best Finishes

• Power has participated in 10 tournaments this season, and he has not yet finished in the top 10.
• In those 10 events, he made the cut eight times, a success rate of 80%.
• Power, who has 210 points, currently ranks 87th in the FedExCup standings.

Power's Best Strokes Gained Performances

• This season, Power's best Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee performance came at the Valspar Championship, where he ranked 22nd in the field with a mark of 1.929 (he finished 26th in that tournament).
• Power's best Strokes Gained: Approach mark this season came at the Valspar Championship in March 2024, as he put up a 1.954 mark, which ranked him 30th in the field. He finished 26th in that event.
• When it comes to Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green, Power's best mark this season was at the WM Phoenix Open in February 2024, as he delivered a 2.676 mark, which ranked him 11th in the field. He finished 66th in that tournament.
• At the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February 2024, Power recorded a Strokes Gained: Putting mark of 3.900, his best mark so far this season. That ranked him fourth in the field (he finished 31st in that event).
• Power delivered his best Strokes Gained: Total mark this season (4.547) in March 2024 at the Valspar Championship, which ranked 26th in the field. He finished 26th in that event.

Power's Strokes Gained Rankings

Power's past results.

All stats in this article are accurate for Power as of the start of the RBC Heritage.

Note: The PGA TOUR has created this story via a machine-learning model using data from ShotLink , powered by CDW, in addition to player performance data. While we strive for accuracy and quality, please note that the information provided may not be entirely error-free.

• Country Music
• Sawyer Brown

Sawyer Brown Announce Fall Tour in 2024 with Shenandoah

by Em Casalena April 18, 2024, 10:27 am

Country band Sawyer Brown has quite a few tour dates lined up this year, and they’ve just added a Canadian leg with fellow country outfit Shenandoah. The Canadian leg of the tour will celebrate Sawyer Brown’s 40th anniversary with support from Shenandoah as well as special guest George Fox. Both of these bands were powerhouse country acts in the 1980s and 1990s, so it’s only fitting that they kick off this 12-date tour together!

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The next stop on the Sawyer Brown 2024 Tour will be today, April 18, in Big Spring, Texas at Tate’s Place Benefit. The final date of the tour will be November 2 in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada at Centre in the Square with Shenandoah.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by SHENANDOAH BAND (@shenandoahband)

Tickets will go on sale for the Shenandoah leg of Sawyer Brown’s tour this Friday, April 19, at 10:00 am local. Presale events are going on over at Ticketmaster as we speak. 

If you missed out on the presale events and still want to get in on the Canadian shows, we recommend using Viagogo to find last-minute seats. For the US dates, Stubhub might just be your best bet.

This is going to be an incredible country-packed tour! Get your tickets now before they’re gone.

Sawyer Brown 2024 Tour Dates

April 18 – Big Spring, TX – Tate’s Place Benefit

April 19 – San Antonio, TX – Stable Hall

April 27 – East Grand Forks, MN – East Grand Forks Civic Center

May 1 – Orange Park, FL – Thrasher-Horne Center

May 3 – Lagrange, GA – Sweetland Amphitheatre

May 4 – Weirsdale, FL – Orange Blossom Opry

May 11 – Nevada, IA – Nevada Pizza Pie-Looza

May 18 – New Zion, SC – Palmetto Pickle Music Festival

May 24 – Van Buren, MO – Hellbenders on the Current

May 25 – Denham Springs, LA – Cajun Country Jam 2024

May 31 – Batesville, MS – Batesville Civic Center

June 1 – Greers Ferry, AK – Greers Ferry City Park

June 6 – Nashville, TN – CMA Fest

June 7 – Henderson, TN – Williams Auditorium

June 8 – Franklin, OH – JD Legends

June 14 – Winthrop, IA – Winthrop Days

June 15 – Cumberland, MD – Wing-Off and Music Festival

June 20 – South Greenfield, MO – Baker-Spain Party in the Pasture

June 22 – Grand Junction, CO – Country Jam

June 26 – Cadott, WI – Country Fest Cadott

June 28 – Cresco, IA – Howard County Fairgrounds

June 29 – Redwood Falls, MN – Vicki’s Camp N Country Jam

July 3 – Quarryville, PA – Country Freedom Fest

July 5 – Hays, KS – Wild West Festival

July 6 – Rich Hill, MO – Rich Hill July 4th Festival

July 11 – Anderson, IN – Paramount Theatre

July 12 – Fisher, IL – Fisher Community Fair

July 13 – Columbus, NE – Platte County Fair

July 20 – Brooklyn, MI – Faster Horses Festival

July 24 – Pinot, ND – North Dakota State Fairgrounds

July 26 – Owensville, MO – Gasconade County Fair

July 27 – Mendon, IL – Adams County Fair

August 1 – Wabash, IN – Honeywell Center

August 2 – Trenton, MO – Black Silo Winery

August 3 – Corvallis, OR – Benton County Fair & Rodeo

August 7 – North Omak, WA – Omak Stampede Arena

August 8 – Grants Pass, OR – Josephine County Fairgrounds

August 9 – John Day, OR – Grant County Fairgrounds

August 14 – Aberdeen, SD – Brown County Fairgrounds

August 30 – Tulsa, OK – Skyline Event Center

September 5 – Puyallup, WA – Washington State Fair

September 8 – Grass Valley, CA – The Center for the Arts

September 13 – Helena, MT – Lewis & Clark County Fairgrounds

October 17 – Edmonton, AB – Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (with Shenandoah)

October 18 – Red Deer, AB – Peavey Mart Centrium (with Shenandoah)

October 19 – Saskatoon, SK – Sasktel Centre (with Shenandoah)

October 21 – Prince George, BC – CN Centre (with Shenandoah)

October 22 – Kelowna, BC – Prospera Place (with Shenandoah)

October 24 – Calgary, AB – Winsport Event Centre (with Shenandoah)

October 25 – Lethbridge, AB – Enmax Centre (with Shenandoah)

October 26 – Moose Jaw, SK – Moose Jaw Events Centre (with Shenandoah)

October 27 – Brandon, MB – Keystone Centre (with Shenandoah)

October 30 – Peterborough, ON – Peterborough Memorial Centre (with Shenandoah)

November 1 – Windsor, ON – The Colosseum (with Shenandoah)

November 2 – Kitchener, ON – Centre in the Square (with Shenandoah)

Photo Courtesy of Shore Fire Media

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Koe Wetzel Stops Country Thunder Festival After Fan Losses Service Dog

© 2024 American Songwriter

Home of the buy one get one free

Pizza Power Report 2022: Get Ready for the Robots

By Rick Hynum

As we reflect on the past year in the pizza industry, the old Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times,” comes to mind. For the record, there’s no evidence that the expression originated in China, but, wherever it came from, it packs a punch. For pizza restaurateurs, these are, indeed, “interesting times.” We all thought this crazy pandemic would be over by now—no such luck. Now we’re begging people to come work for us. Most customers are happy and grateful to grab a table in your pizzeria once again and order a pie from their favorite servers. But many of those servers have quit and moved on to new jobs—or they’re holding out for something different. And if you can find kitchen staff, you can’t find ingredients, or you’re paying a lot more for them, an added expense that you can either absorb or pass on to your customers, who might get a little peeved about it.

But here’s something even more interesting: Despite a slight decline in overall pizza sales this year, average sales per store went up a bit in 2021, for both independents and chains. So, although not everyone survived—the total number of pizza stores went down—the demand for your food is as high as ever. “Nationwide, we have seen an increase of 24% in foot traffic this year to pizza and Italian restaurants, which bodes well for our economy,” says Megan Wintersteen, vice president of marketing for Adentro , which specializes in marketing for brick-and-mortar restaurants. “With indoor mask mandates starting to lift, Adentro expects these numbers will continue to increase.”

What could be more interesting than that? Moreover, QSR magazine in August hailed “the invincibility of the pizza industry.” It noted that pizza “entered 2021 with an energized stride. The category has not only kept pace with its 2020 momentum, but it has accelerated.”

The Wide World of Pizza Pandemic aside, the global pizza market will keep growing in 2022, according to the latest data from Euromonitor International . The worldwide pizza market should total $141.1 billion in sales in 2022, a 6.7% increase, according to Euromonitor’s projections. The biggest explosion will happen in Eastern Europe (12.7% growth) and Latin America (12.2%). In North America, where the pizza market is more mature, Euromonitor projects overall sales growth of 5.3% to $56.5 billion. Full-service restaurants should experience a hefty sales jump of 9.7%, reaching $19.3 billion, next year, while limited-service pizza enjoys a 3.3% bump to $37.2 billion.

In other words, the pizza industry is well-positioned for 2022. “After reviewing the past year’s data, I keep thinking two words: stability and opportunity,” says PMQ publisher Steve Green. “We’re down a little, but we’re not mired in quicksand. The trends from the beginning of the pandemic up to the end of 2021 show that Americans want comfort and convenience, and they know that’s what pizzeria operators deliver.”

As for the labor crisis, help is on the way—and that’s where things get really interesting. For 2022, some pizzeria operators are considering an option that once felt unthinkable: minimizing the human touch in the pizza making process through automation. As this month’s cover image (created by PMQ art director Eric Summers) hints, a bunch of robotics companies—and several pizza chains—from around the world are counting on their Jetsons-style tech to change our industry in dramatic fashion. Will robots soon begin taking over the jobs that people don’t want and offset labor costs? We’ll get to that in a bit. Meanwhile, take heart: This year’s Pizza Power Report demonstrates that pizza is power in the restaurant industry. So let’s look at the numbers and count our blessings.

The Numbers Game

We’ll just get one thing out of the way now: Yes, according to research firm CHD Expert , total U.S. pizza sales for the period from October 2020 through September 2021 were down by about 1.5%, from $46,247,156,519 the previous year to $45,585,977,842 this year. For independent operators, total sales dropped by 3.75%, from $18,639,852,788 last year to $17,940,959,384 in 2021. The chains enjoyed a tiny bump of 0.14%, up from $27,607,303,732 last year to $27,645,018,457 this year.

The industry’s total number of pizzeria locations dipped from 78,092 last year to 75,117 in 2021. On the independent side, we saw a 4.95% drop in store count, from 41,879 stores to 39,808 this year—a loss of 2,071—while chain locations declined by 2.5%, from 36,213 in 2020 to 35,309, or 904 stores shuttered in 2021.

On the plus side, per CHD Expert, average sales per pizza store actually climbed by 2.5% industrywide, from $592,213 last year to $606,866 in 2021. That includes a boost for independents—from $445,088 last year to $450,687 per store in 2021—as well as for chains, from $762,358 to $782,945 per store in 2021.

How has the restaurant industry as a whole fared this year? In a midyear update report issued in September, the National Restaurant Association projected that overall food and beverage sales will total $789 billion in 2021, up 19.7% from 2020. “In the first half of ’21,” the report states, “restaurant sales were bolstered by rising vaccination numbers, healthy household balance sheets, and consumers’ pent-up desire to socialize and dine out.”

Related: This food truck operator has made pizza history in Atlanta

The national pizza chains, like Domino’s, Pizza Hut and Papa John’s, aren’t exactly hurting either. However, their growth mostly slowed down in 2021, with Domino’s finally breaking its 41-quarter same-store sales growth streak in the third quarter of this year. The country’s No. 1 chain saw its same-store sales growth drop by 1.9% in that quarter, due, it said, to labor issues and the COVID-19 Delta variant.

“Looking at the U.S. quarterly year-over-year same-store sales results for the three largest pizza players, we’re definitely seeing a slowdown in sales growth through the first three quarters of the year,” says Kevin Schimpf, senior manager of industry research for research firm Technomic . “Of course, some of that has to do with tough year-over-year comparisons from 2020, but there’s also the effect of consumers having significantly more options for dining out, now that restrictions have eased across the country.”

Domino’s did booming business once the pandemic hit in 2020, with same-store sales growth of 16.1% in the second quarter of that year, 17.5% in the third quarter and 11.2% in the fourth quarter. In the second quarter of 2021, however, growth began slowing down, with Domino’s reporting just a 3.5% increase and moving into minus territory in the third quarter.  

The pandemic seemed to help same-store sales growth for Pizza Hut and Papa John’s as well in 2020. Pizza Hut went from a 7% drop in growth in the first quarter of 2020 to a 5% rise by the next quarter, 6% in the third quarter and 8% in the fourth quarter. For the third quarter of 2021, however, its same-store sales growth was only at 2%—still better than Domino’s.

The major chain with bragging rights for most dramatic growth is Papa John’s. Talk about a comeback! The once-struggling company saw its same-store sales grow 28% in the second quarter of 2020, 23.8% in the third quarter and 13.5% in the last quarter of that year. In the first quarter of 2021, the number rose 26.2% but has since declined, showing a 5.2% gain in the second quarter of this year and 6.9% growth in the third quarter. Still, growth is growth.

Technomic says 38% of consumers eat desserts—like the Ooey Gooey Dough Bites from UNO Pizzeria & Grill—more than once a week.

What has been the secret to Papa John’s success over the past two years? CEO Rob Lynch attributed it to menu innovation, including the roll-out of the Epic Stuffed Crust Pizza last December, as well as a solid loyalty program that has driven higher ticket averages and frequency. Papa John’s also inked the largest franchisee development deal in its history with Sun Holdings in October. Sun Holdings will oversee the opening of 100 new Papa John’s stores in high-growth markets across Texas by 2029.

But don’t weep for Domino’s. Still the king of the pizza hill, the chain opened its 18,000th store in the world in July, this one in La Junta, Colorado, and has grown its total global store count by more than 5,100 in the past five years.

Coming Up Short

But who is going to make and serve all that pizza everyone loves so much? American workers have been quitting their jobs in record numbers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Restaurants have taken the hardest hit, with 892,000 employees walking out in August alone. For that month, the restaurant industry’s quit rate of 6.8% was the worst in the entire U.S. economy, more than twice the national average of 2.9%.

Of course, “labor shortage”—a term regularly bandied about these days—is a misnomer. There are plenty of workers—they’re just avoiding restaurant jobs, due in large part to relatively low wages and lack of benefits. “I don’t think there’s a shortage of people who want to work in our industry,” Michael Lastoria, co-founder and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based chain, &Pizza , told PMQ earlier this year. “I think there’s a shortage of people who are willing to accept the status quo.”

In a June-July survey by the National Restaurant Association, 75% of operators said recruiting and retaining employees was their top challenge. In January, that number was only 8%. Some restaurateurs blame the crisis on enhanced unemployment benefits. However, according to a Black Box Workforce Intelligence report in August, “Recent evidence shows that cutting those benefits doesn’t significantly reduce the labor shortage.”

Billy Manzo, owner of Federal Hill Pizza , with two locations in Rhode Island, sees it differently. “Sorry to say, but politics has a lot to do with this [problem],” he says. “East Coast blue states are paying people to stay home and stay masked, while red states are pushing their economy forward. The other part of it is, people who made our industry their part-time or full-time job have come to the conclusion they can make the same or more money with less stress doing something else. It’s just that simple. With all that being said, if you have an employee who’s doing a good job, pay them as well as you can while fostering a culture of positivity….You need to build the team.”

Detroit-style pizza went mainstream at shops like Square Pie Guys in San Francisco and Oakland. (Albert Law)

But do workers even want to join your team? For its Q2 2021 United States Job Market Report , Joblist surveyed 30,000-plus job seekers. A solid 60% of workers, with or without hospitality experience, said they wouldn’t consider a hospitality job for their next position. And 58% said they “prefer working in a different setting,” while 37% said the pay is too low. Twenty percent cited lack of benefits, and 16% cited lack of scheduling flexibility.

Even worse, 69% of all survey respondents said nothing could change their minds about working in the hospitality industry. Just 26% said higher pay could change their minds, and 14% said it would take increased benefits to lure them in.

This labor crisis “could force restaurant owners to innovate in order to create a better work environment and work flexibility,” says Doug Ramsthel, a partner at Burnham Benefits , an employee benefits brokerage and consulting firm in California. “It’s unclear what and how these changes would be made, but addressing worker needs in order to attract and retain talent will be more important than simply increasing wages.”

The Blackbox Intelligence report offers some clues. It found that 87% of restaurant workers surveyed said they want to earn a set livable wage rather than rely on tips. They also want promotion opportunities, more flexible schedules, health benefits, paid time off, and a better company culture and work environment. Thirty-five percent of hourly restaurant workers and job seekers are parents, the report says, and 18% had to leave their job to take care of their family or kids. For these workers, schedule flexibility is a must.

Fortunately, unlike Joblist’s survey, the Blackbox Intelligence survey found that 66% of workers said they would return to the restaurant industry “if the right conditions were met.” The report concludes, “This is a moment for restaurant owners and managers to take a look at how they do things and what their staff is up against. By creating a positive work environment and meeting workers’ needs, restaurants can reduce turnover and hire top talent in the tightest labor market we’ve ever seen.”

Alena Tikhova, xRobotics’ CMO, demonstrates the xPizza Cube robot.

Robots On the Way

But what if workers still don’t want to come back in sufficient numbers? Fortunately, there’s a solution to every problem, even if, at first glance, it looks scarier than the problem itself. Remember when you firmly believed customers would never order a pizza online? You thought they wanted to talk to you on the phone. Now everyone carries a phone in their pocket or purse, but they let their fingers do the talking.

Digital technology has proven a godsend in terms of order taking. So are automation and robotics the solution to the labor crisis—cute, fat little R2D2s delivering or serving pies, and mechanical arms spreading sauce and sprinkling cheese on a dough skin? Would your customers mind a fresh, hot pizza made by cold, unfeeling metal claws?

One pizza industry leader is ready to find out, PMQ has learned. We can’t reveal the details yet, but San Francisco-based xRobotics has inked a deal with one of the country’s top pizza chains, boasting thousands of locations around the world. xRobotics’ new xPizza Cube (or the Cube, for short) can prep up to 300 pies per hour, including sauce, cheese and pepperoni.The dough crust is placed on a fast-spinning platform; while it spins, dispensers add the toppings to precise proportions, prepping a 16” pepperoni pizza in under 50 seconds. Compact and designed for kitchens with limited space, the machine can be assembled in five minutes in the morning, according to xRobotics, and takes 10 minutes to clean each night.

Domino’s began testing a self-driving delivery car in Houston last spring.

Best of all: Under xRobotics’ Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) subscription model, pizzeria operators pay only $1,500 a month. The company estimates a pizzeria with $1 million in sales will save an average of $7,000 monthly with the bot. A restaurant with between $600,000 and $700,000 in annual sales could save $5,000 a month on average. Installation and maintenance are free, and every pizzeria gets two robots for the same price. “The service part is the key,” says Alena Tikhova, a former pizzeria owner and xRobotics’ current chief marketing officer. “If a robot breaks down and is just sitting there, the owner would be very unhappy. So we always give them two robots. And whenever we upgrade to a new model, the restaurant automatically receives it for the same payment. Once xPizza Cube 2 comes out, they’ll get it without having to ask for it.”

Video: Watch xRobotics xPizza Cube robot in action

Tikhova says the company has already sold 300 Cubes and is currently taking preorders from other pizza chains and independents.

In August, Picnic , another RaaS innovator, announced the pricing model for its Picnic Pizza System, which helps operators make up to 100 pizzas per hour. Monthly subscription prices for the system range between $3,500 and $5,000, depending on configuration and production volumes. Picnic plans to start shipping its system to pizzeria customers next year. “The continued labor challenge and the low operating margin of foodservice is putting a major squeeze on all types of operators and makes them more amenable to new technology solutions,” Picnic CEO Clayton Wood told PMQ back in January . “Since automation can deliver cost-effective, consistent quality, plus predictable timing and increased convenience for the consumer, its adoption is accelerating, and the momentum builds. The consumer still wants what they wanted before—quality, convenience, personalization—and automation of the food preparation process will be the best way to deliver on that need.”

Vending machines from Piestro will let customers pay using facial recognition technology. Courtesy Piestro.

Piestro , another leader in pizza automation, struck a deal with the 800 Degrees Pizza chain in August. Outfitted with moving robotic arms and dispensers for sauces and toppings, Piestro’s vending machines assemble and bake the pizza in about three minutes. Chef Anthony Carron, founder of 800 Degrees Pizza, has created recipes specifically for the machines, and the chain plans to place 3,600 units in high-traffic locations over the next five years. Piestro also announced a deal with Canadian pizza chain Fast Fired, which will market “Powered by Piestro” machines to its franchisees across the country.

A food-running bot from Bear Robotics

Robots have infiltrated the waitstaff in a few pizzerias, too. Dominic Mannino, owner of East Coast Pizza in Pueblo, Colorado, hired a new robotic food runner earlier this year. Mannino has been short-handed on the floor for much of the year, so Bella, built by Pudu Robotics, arrived just in time. And Bella always has a smile on “her” face, even without actual lips. “It’s a great help for the waitresses we have right now,” Mannino told Fox News 21 in late September. “It’ll greet you, take you to your table and bring the food out to you.”

Just punch in the table number for an order, and Bella zips off. The bot can “feel” its way around the restaurant, keep a safe distance from customers and carry dirty dishes back to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Servi, from Bear Robotics , has been charming guests at Angelo’s Palace Pizza in Cumberland, Rhode Island, since the spring. Neither Servi nor Bella can take orders, but they free up human servers to spend more time with the customers. And so far, most guests love them.

Hordes of compact, knee-high delivery bots already swarm American college campuses—and a few cities—around the country. “We saw demand for robot usage just go through the ceiling,” Alastair Westgarth, CEO of Starship Technologies , told the Associated Press (AP) in early November. “I think demand was always there, but it was brought forward by the pandemic effect.”

Starship now has more than 1,000 delivery robots in its fleet, with hundreds more on the way. They’re delivering food, especially pizza, on 20 U.S. campuses, and 25 more will be added soon, the AP reports. Starship’s rival, Kiwibot , says it has dispatched 400 robots to college campuses as well as downtown Miami, while Grubhub has deployed 50 robots from Russian tech company Yandex at Ohio State University.

Robots build, bake and box the pizzas at Pazzi in Paris.

Then there’s Pazzi , an automated pizzeria in every sense of the term. Located in Paris, Pazzi opened this year with a storefront sign that reads, “Come for the show. Stay for the pizza.” Robots are the stars, pressing out dough skins, spreading sauce, topping the pies and placing them in the oven. The bots can reportedly build, bake and box up to 80 pizzas an hour. “Pazzi” is the plural of the Italian noun meaning “crazy,” but co-founders Sebastien Roverso and Cyrill Hamon’s goal to build Pazzi into a global chain might not be as cuckoo as it sounds.

Click the image for our breakdown of the Top 50 Pizza Chains

The Price We Pay

Until the robots take over, though, running a pizzeria will remain a mostly human enterprise. And since other industries, including processing plants, farms and trucking companies, are facing their own labor problems, food costs keep shooting up, and supplier bottlenecks and shipping delays are kinking up the works. According to the BLS, wholesale food prices in September jumped 12.9% compared to the previous September—the biggest 12-month increase in more than 40 years. In that same month, a survey by the National Restaurant Association found that 95% of restaurant operators had experienced supply delays or shortages of key food or beverage items in recent months. Ninety-one percent said their total food costs (as a percentage of sales) are higher than they were prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Restaurant owners hate raising menu prices, but inflationary pressures have given them little choice. A late October report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) showed that the Consumer Price Index for “food-away-from-home” (restaurant purchases) in September was 4.7% higher than September 2020. The USDA also estimated those prices would increase between 3% and 4% in 2022.

If you have to raise your menu prices, make sure you explain to your customers why you’re doing it—and why the higher price they’re paying is worth it, a recent Technomic report advises. “Although consumers are aware that costs in general are rising, transparency about the impact of inflation on the restaurant and refined messages that underscore the value consumers receive through quality or uniqueness of these items can help consumers to justify that increased expense—and make the additional purchase with their order.”

Billy Manzo of Federal Hill Pizza

At Federal Hill Pizza, menu prices fluctuate from week to week, and customers don’t mind. “We examine our pricing weekly based on the rising cost of goods and labor and adjust accordingly,” Manzo says. “Some items go up during some weeks, some go back down during some weeks, and some stay the same. Our customers understand what is happening because they see the trend in their own lives. Groceries and gas and the general cost of living are up due to inflation. They realize that, if they go out to eat, prices simply can’t be where they were two years ago or a year ago or, in some cases, even a week ago.”

Shahpour Nejad, the president and CEO of Pizza Guys , a 70-store pizza chain based in Sacramento, California, says his company has raised menu prices, “but not across the board.” He adds, “The increase was not drastic but a small increase. We figured it would not have a big impact on our customers and gives us room to reevaluate next year if needed.” His patrons aren’t complaining either, he says. “I believe that, since many restaurants, stores, etc. are increasing their prices, our customers are not too shocked that we have slightly increased ours.”

Planting the Seeds

Speaking of menus, yours probably has—or soon will have—more vegan items nowadays. Plant-based proteins exploded in 2021, splattering soy and pea protein all over the place. As The NPD Group reported in August, units of plant-based meat substitutes and ingredients shipped to pizzeria operators from foodservice distributors jumped 56% in the second quarter of 2021 compared to a year earlier. According to Datassential, cauliflower wings have grown nearly 1,100% on menus in the past four years, offering an intriguing alternative to the real thing, which keeps getting more and more expensive. Chickens of the world, rejoice! (Sorry, chicken farmers.)

“Plant-based is no longer just a niche player in the foodservice market,” says Tim Fires, president of NPD’s SupplyTrack service. “It’s a mainstream ingredient that appeals to a broad section of consumers. It makes perfect sense that a popular food like pizza would now offer plant-based options.”

Li’l Nonna’s in Austin offers pepperoni made from beets. (Hunter Townsend)

It definitely makes sense to the chains. They brought a veritable smorgasbord of new vegan pizzas to the masses this summer. MOD Pizza , based in Seattle, unveiled a plant-based Italian sausage—made by Plantly —at all of its 500-plus stores nationwide on August 31. That same month, Chicago-based Sarpino’s , with 41 franchised locations, rolled out a pea protein-based pepperoni from Field Roast after unveiling Beyond Chicken Tenders in July. In fact, Sarpino’s now offers a full vegan menu at most of its stores, including specialty pizzas, calzones, pastas and sandwiches.

But some of the bigger U.S. chains haven’t shown the plant-based market any love (we’re looking at you, Domino’s), while others don’t seem ready to commit just yet. In July, Little Caesars introduced the Planteroni pizza, topped with a plant-based pepperoni from Field Roast but still featuring dairy-based cheese. Pizza Hut, meanwhile, debuted a vegan pepperoni topping from Beyond Meat as a limited-time offer at 70 stores in August, but it came with non-vegan cheese as well.

Related: Stay on top of the latest vegan pizza news at PMQ’s sister website, PizzaVegan.com .

Of course, many pizzaioli struggle to find a vegan cheese that offers the right flavor profile with their recipes. Miyoko’s Creamery believes it has the solution. The vegan cheese brand this year unveiled a potentially revolutionary liquid vegan mozzarella made with cashew milk. An alternative to the traditional block of vegan cheese, it’s pourable and, the company says, delivers a better melt on pizza.

If you want to keep your options open and conduct your own tests, vegan cheeses and meat substitutes are getting easier to find, thanks to fast-growing companies like Daiya Foods , Field Roast, Violife , Numu , Pleese Foods and others. Just know this: If you’re thinking of topping a pie with a plant-based meat substitute and regular dairy cheese, vegan consumers will ask why.

Eating in Style (Bonus Website-Only Content)

It only took about 80 years, but Detroit-style pizza has captured Americans’ imaginations, and the trend shows no sign of slowing down next year. When a chain like Pizza Hut jumps on board—introducing its own version of the pie in early 2021—you know it must be hot. Although Shawn Randazzo, one of the style’s modern-day champions, passed away in December 2020, square fare kept chugging along this year. Pizzerias like Down North Pizza in Philadelphia, Mario’s in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Square Pie Guys in San Francisco and Oakland have been spreading the Motor City gospel from east to west.

Related: Square Pie Guy’s journey from Instagram to to grand opening

At the same time, Roman-style pizza continues to attract its own fan base with its airy, bubbly focaccia-like crust, creating a fast-growing niche filled by legends like Gabriele Bonci . Pizza al Taglio, Pizza al Palla and pinsa are the most popular variations of the Roman style; there’s even a culinary school, the Roman Pizza Academy in Miami, dedicated to it. In the UK, a Roman-style pie created by Francesco Canzani of Mike’s Peckham (located in south London) captured the top prize in the kingdom’s National Pizza Awards. It featured housemade ‘nduja, roasted corno peppers dressed with white balsamic vinegar, pickled jalapenos, sheep’s milk ricotta and finocchiona salami.

At Via Roma in Camp Springs, Maryland, owner Biagio Cepollaro is an evangelist for pinsa. As he explained in PMQ’s August issue, the amount of water used in pinsa dough is key. “For one kilogram of flour, we add 900 grams of water,” he wrote. “This means our dough has a hydration of about 90%, while other pizzas, such as the Neapolitan, do not go higher than a hydration of about 75%.”

Gabriele Bonci’s Roman-style pizza

Due to the pandemic, chicken wings are getting harder to find and afford, but they’re flying as high as ever with customers. Some restaurateurs, like Matt Ensero of Wing It On ! , have begun to substitute thighs for wings—and just calling them thigh wings, which seems both oxymoronic and smart. As for sauces, hot, barbecue and teriyaki flavors are selling well, along with hot honey blends and dry rubs.

Meanwhile, drizzles are a’sizzle, from balsamic vinegar of Modena and fruit-infused vinegars to the Hot Maple Drizzle (Canadian maple syrup infused with a blend of chilis) created by Blaze Pizza specifically for its Canadian stores as well as popular spicy-sweet concoctions like Mike’s Hot Honey .

“Picual olive oil, with its fresh basil and tomato plant aromas, pairs well drizzled over Italian flavors, while Cornicabra works well on pizzas, especially white pies,” Adriana Perez, owner of Driana Foods in San Diego, told PMQ back in March . “Its refreshing aromas of arugula and green apple brighten the milder, creamy flavors. As an alternative to balsamic, I like Spanish sherry vinegar.”

Ghostly Whispers (Bonus Website-Only Content)

Tired of hearing about ghost kitchens? Get used to it. Even Walmart has horned in on the act, and that should tell you something. The big-box giant opened an “omniversal” foodservice concept at its store in Rochester, New York, this fall, offering takeout meals from national brands like Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, Nathan’s Famous, Quiznos and many others at a single site.

The aforementioned 800 Degrees Pizza sees ghost kitchens as key to its franchising and expansion strategy. In early October, the chain announced plans to add 500 delivery locations across the world over the next five years in partnership with REEF , a global network with 5,000 virtual “neighborhood kitchens.” 800 Degrees opened its first REEF location in Miami in September. This new strategy also means a new type of oven. Instead of the wood-burning type typically used for Neapolitan pizza, the pies for 800 Degrees’ ghost kitchens will employ smaller convection-style speed ovens used in Piestro’s robotic pizza making machines.

Related: The possibilities and pitfalls of ghost kitchens

Other chains have dipped their toes in the virtual water, too. In April, Round Table Pizza , with 415-plus locations nationwide, launched its first ghost kitchen in Los Angeles. Marco’s Pizza and Grimaldi’s Pizzeria have been test-driving virtual kitchens since early 2020, working with third-party delivery companies like DoorDash, Uber Eats, Postmates and Grubhub.

In another twist on the model, Phoenix-based Fired Pie opened ghost kitchens at two of its locations in March, but both feature fast-Asian street food from Wow Bao, headquartered in Chicago. Meanwhile, veteran pizzaiolo Gene McWilliams operates three virtual concepts, including a pizza shop, out of Kitchens Unlimited in Effingham, Illinois—but he owns all of them and doesn’t use third-party delivery.

Ghost kitchens are tailor-made for consumers who would rather get their food delivered than wait for a table in a busy, crowded restaurant. They’re cheaper to open and operate, too. That said, the concept has yet to take a firm hold on the pizza industry. Are ghost kitchens integral to the future of the pizza industry? We don’t know yet, but this is a trend we’ll keep a close eye on in 2022.

What to Do in ’22

Raise your prices if you need to. One of the industry’s true wise men, John Arena of Metro Pizza in Las Vegas, told PMQ years ago that pizza restaurateurs should never hesitate to raise their prices to stay in business. “That’s the biggest mistake people in our industry make,” Arena said in 2017. “They’re looking at the competition and saying, ‘I have to charge what they charge.’ I’m not interested in what the guy down the street is charging. I have to base what I charge on my expenses.”

Shahpour Nejad of Pizza Guys agrees. “Don’t be afraid to increase pricing,” he says. “Customers are understanding, especially during a time when many places are increasing their prices. I recommend not to do a dramatic increase, but a gradual one. That way, customers are not feeling it all at once.”

Meet your workers’ needs. Tom Feltenstein, the late marketing guru, termed employees as “internal customers.” Doug Ramsthel of Burnham Benefits believes you need to figure out what your prospective internal customers need from their job and do your best to offer it. “Is it funding for college tuition, work flexibility, a career path, a fun place to work and a place where they can truly contribute?” he says. “This could be a company cultural change that could help dramatically [with employee retention] before jumping to an increase in pay.”

Focus on service. Once you hire new employees, train them well. Andrew Hossom, director of data analytics for Merchant Centric , keeps tabs on customers’ complaints and praise about restaurant staffers’ dedication, on-the-job demeanor and timeliness (i.e., speedy service). The latest data on pizzeria employees could be better, he says. “Overall, guests’ opinions of dedication and demeanor continue to be an issue at pizza restaurants,” he warns. “Both wield a strong influence on perceptions of other themes, and continued underperformance will likely constrain improvement in other areas of the dining experience, such as Loyalty & Referral, Food, and Order Accuracy.” So drill your new employees not just on the basics of service, but on the social skills that customers expect.

Up your digital and data game. Yes, we keep telling you that, but if you don’t believe us, listen to Drew Kellogg and Stacie Colburn Hayes, respectively the CEO and CMO of Massachusetts-based Oath Pizza . “Invest in sustainable digital solutions that optimize your business as it exists today,” they say. “The most important would be an easy-to-use direct ordering system (on your company website or app, not a third-party platform) backed by a robust database growth strategy. If you’ve checked those boxes, make them better and continue to optimize every year. This won’t drive immediate results but is imperative to survive and thrive in the future.”    

Rick Hynum is PMQ’s editor in chief.

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