Pizza In The News

I found a few pizza articles in the news lately and have a few minutes to write about them.

First, a post on Yahoo!'s Slice America blog about the Best Delivery Pizza. This post compares the "Big 3" of Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, & Dominos. I'll let you read it for yourself, but the knock on Pizza Hut is "slow delivery". Hello? They obviously did not have had me as a driver!

Next, on the same blog, The Commandments of Perfect Pizza. This describes what goes into the "perfect pizza", including the various ingredients and cooking styles.

Third, a news article about Dominos giving away 11,000 free pizzas. Apparently they were preparing for an internet deal based on the word "bailout". Their computer programmers set up the deal in the system, and activated it. Somebody figured it out and then it spread by word-of-mouth for a few days until they figured it out.

Now speaking of the perfect pizza, when you have a family the size of mine, there is 1 word to describe the perfect pizza. FREE! Even these days when I'm only working 1-2 nights each week, I look forward to the mess-ups and crew pies that I munch on throughout the night while I am working.

Well, in May I'm planning to start the P90X Nutrition Plan. As well as the workouts. And I don't think I'll find pizza in the recommended dietary options. In fact, I'm sure of it. During the first phase I will be allowed 1 serving of carbs per day. During phase 2 and phase 3, I will be allowed 3 and 4 carb servings, but that still doesn't leave much room for pizza crust or breadsticks.

Employee Discounts and After Hours Calls

When I worked on Saturday, Sweetest Day, my wife got a pasta and I paid for it. We have a new policy that you can only get the employee 50% discount when you are working, which I was. So imagine my surprise when the manager on duty told me about the NEW new policy that there were no employee discounts, period. I paid full price for the pasta.

The next night we had a different manager. My wife picked up a cheese pizza for the kids and this time I got my discount. I'm planning to discuss it with the GM next chance I get.

Finally, last night about an hour after close, the phone rang. I answered it with my usual rhyme, "Thanks for calling our pizza place, this is Kevin, I'm sorry we close at eleven." The customer was bummed out and asked if I knew of anyplace that was open.

"Nope, sorry ... wait try DiGiorno." was my reply.

The guy actually asked for the number. I tried to say "Look it up in the book" without laughing but I couldn't.

Employee Discount On Beer?

We're a dine-in restaurant and we do serve beer. Also, employees get 50% off their purchases, up to $20 (maximum $10 discount). But I didn't think those 2 things could be combined.

Well tonight I saw a guest check for a single draft beer, with the ** Employee 50% Off ** line at the bottom. I had noticed our new waitress sitting chatting with a young man who was having a beer, I'm guessing she bought it for him at half-off.

I'm assuming it was a mix-up which will be corrected before the night was over, as I'm pretty sure the employee discount doesn't apply to beer. (Or 2-liters, or even chicken wings, which have a pretty high food cost).

I had a short (for me) shift tonight, 5:30 - 10 PM. I took 11 deliveries, drove 41 miles, and made $30 in tips. I usually like to close but I got scheduled for non-closing shifts for the next 3 nights, and I think I'll just work them as assigned and not try to trade. The per-hour money is definitely better when I just work the busy hours.

I had a pretty good night, with 8 of my 11 deliveries yielding tips of $2.42 to $4.44. The highlight was a double, with one of the runs being to a guy I remembered from his $5 tip on Monday. Of course I took his pizza first, and was rewarded with a $3.42 tip on a $11.58 order. The other order was a nice tip also and now I will remember their address as well.

Good tips are definitely remembered by the drivers, and are rewarded with extra-quick service whenever possible.

I filled my gas tank again, driving 230.1 miles on 6.936 gallons, or 33.2 MPG. Very nice!