Raising the Bar

Features // Il Pizzaiolo
PIZZA
FAMOUS
ORGASMICA
JOE’S PIZZERIA
- SAN FRANCISCO
- MADISON,
CALIFORNIA
ALABAMA
Raising the Bar
FA M O U S J O E ’ S B R I N G S A B I T E O F N E W Y O R K T O T H E S O U T H
Story by Denise Greer
Photos by Rick Daugherty
60 Pizza Today / www.pizzatoday.com / April 2012
N
otoriety. Famous Joe’s unique selling
proposition —you see it in its name
and logo. You see it when you walk
through its doors. It’s visible on the walls and
in a video playing over the carryout area. It’s
the owner, Joe Carlucci.
The three-time World Pizza Champion
holds the Guinness Book of World Records
for the highest pizza toss. Food Network,
ESPN, FOX News, the Travel Channel, the
Martha Stewart Show, and the Today Show
have showcased his acrobatics and pizza
baking talents. What better way to position
the Huntsville, Alabama, area pizzeria than
through its owner, who has received such
acclaim in the industry?
The pizzeria’s logo depicts Carlucci tossing
dough. The employees wear red sports jerseys
with No. 1 and Famous Joe’s in white or a
long-sleeved t-shirt with “Fastest Pizza Maker
in the World” on the front.
It’s a built-in marketing vehicle at Famous
Joe’s. His name carries a lot of weight in the
suburban community of Madison, where his
shop sits in a commercial retail building in
front of a large grocery chain. In its first year,
the 72-seat Famous Joe’s pulled just over
$1 million in sales in 2011.
Before opening Famous Joe’s, Carlucci got a
taste for Huntsville’s southern hospitality when he
consulted for Joe Moore at Tortora’s on the other
side of town. He liked what the South had to offer
so much that he stayed on as a general manager
at Tortora’s, while continuing to consult, for two
years before venturing on his own.
Joe Carlucci, World Pizza Champ™
and owner of Famous Joe’s Pizzeria
Carlucci has plenty of effective marketing
tools in his arsenal, from community
involvement to social media. Famous Joe’s is
going beyond the traditional means of wordof-mouth. A local television reporter had just
left Famous Joe’s when Pizza Today visited the
pizzeria in February. The Internet was buzzing
for the week prior about a Carlucci creation:
the Tim Tebow Pizza. Without divulging his
secret method, Carlucci created a portrait of
Tebow on the top of the pizza. And it went
viral. The pizzeria was able to capitalize on a
Tebow mania that has flooded the Internet for
the past several months.
Carlucci doesn’t just plan to put famous
faces on his pies. He sees a gold mine in
its application. Instead of simply hosting a
birthday party, he plans to offer portrait pizzas
April 2012 / www.pizzatoday.com / Pizza Today 61
to his customers. “We’re going out and
saying, ‘Hey, if it’s your son or your
daughter’s birthday, get their face on a
pizza,’” he says, adding that portraits
will be used for other occasions like
Valentine’s Day.
He’s constantly reading about and
studying the industry. He says he always
thinks of ideas to better his pizzeria. “It’s
just being one step ahead of the game,”
62 Pizza Today / www.pizzatoday.com / April 2012
he says. “I eat, sleep and drink pizza
24/7.”
Carlucci and his pizzaiolos perform
for a crowd of Famous Joe’s fans on
Monday nights. It’s kids night. Kids
12 and under get to not only eat
free, but also get their own dough
to throw with the pros. The night
pays off big for Carlucci. Parents
having a great time and buying a
beer or glass of wine more than pay
for the 50-cent pizza that Famous Joe’s
gives away, he says. “Would you rather
have $3,000 on a Monday or $1,200,”
he says, adding that he has earned
returning customers by giving away
$200 worth of kid’s pizzas.
With more than 26,500 homes
within a five-mile radius, Carlucci has
targeted the area with direct mail.
doesn’t really affect Famous Joe’s 28
percent food cost since it’s such a
small offering. “It’s only six items,” he
says. “It’s a couple of pastas, a couple
of pizzas to let it work itself in.”
Carlucci sets high expectations for
his pizzeria. The first year, Carlucci was
focused on being a fixture in the growing
community. “This year, I’m raising the
bar even more.” He launched Famous
Joe’s online ordering, text ordering and
released an app for the iPhone and Droid.
He also recently beat out a top chain to
get contracts with the area’s parks and
recreations by providing incentives to the
departments of 10 percent back on the
pizzas they sell.
With a new high school being built
a mile away, he is working with area
schools to provide school nights and
pizza parties. He’s also in the process
of completing a nutrition menu so
that Famous Joe’s can provide school
lunches on Fridays.
Carlucci streamlined his labor
costs to 30 percent, including his
salary. After a bumpy beginning of
The pizzeria menu sells itself.
“The menu is a blend of my
grandmother’s recipes and my
recipes,” Carlucci says. Born and
raised in upstate New York, the New
York style pizza reflects his passion for
flavor combinations. “The Grant” is a
meaty favorite with seasoned sirloin
steak, peppers and onion, housemade marinara sauce and mozzarella
for $15.95 (12-inch). Famous Joe’s
specialty pizza menu features pies like
the “Haley” with Italian sautéed clams,
bacon, roasted garlic and mozzarella at
$16.95 (12-inch).
There is also the top-selling “Tony
G. Margherita”, a tribute to his mentor
Tony Gemignani, who he says has
helped drive his industry success. It’s
a Neapolitan-style Margherita only
available in the 12-inch size at $15.95.
Carlucci takes as much pride in his
other menu items as he does his pizza.
House specialties include the Lasagna
al Forno, ($9.95) a 20-year-old recipe;
Chicken Scarpariello ($12.95); Chicken
Sorrinto ($11.95); and Baked Manicotti
($8.95).
Famous Joe’s has debuted a glutenfree menu, sparked by customer
demand and his own health (Carlucci
has recently been diagnosed with Celiac
Disease, he says). Before launching a
full gluten-free menu, Carlucci tested
the market, running a few gluten-free
pasta specials with great success. There
is a separate oven in the back for the
gluten-free items and the dough is
brought in from Gemignani’s in San
Francisco.
The new gluten-free menu, he says,
manning the pizza line himself every
shift for three months and a high staff
turnover, he put a freeze on hiring to
focus on cross training. Servers can
make salads and the dishwasher can
make pizzas. Carlucci says he holds
training sessions on Saturdays before
opening. Here, crew members learn
certain aspects of the restaurant, from
stretching dough to phone etiquette.
There are two desired effects for
Carlucci: cross-training not only gives
the pizzeria help in a pinch, it also
demonstrates the value of employees
who can perform multiple duties.
As for the owner, Carlucci says he
performs every duty in his shop. “You’ll
see me cooking with my chef or doing
dishes,” he says. “What I learned is you
shouldn’t open a restaurant if you can’t
do every single thing. You don’t have
to do it everyday, but you have to earn
and show [employees] the respect that
you can do it.”
After 15 years in the pizza
industry, Carlucci has experienced
both success and failure. “Without
failing, I wouldn’t be where I am
today,” he says.
He’s happy with his single store
operation, though he investigated
expanding into the space next door.
“I did a cost analysis of how much
it would cost and how many people
we would have to bring in and how
much more labor would have to be,
and it didn’t work out,” he says.
For now, Carlucci says he has his
sights set on continually moving
forward with Famous Joe’s and
helping other operators optimize their
operations. ◆
Denis Greer is associate editor at
Pizza Today.
April 2012 / www.pizzatoday.com / Pizza Today 63