InTheCapital’s 50 on Fire dubbed &pizza a winner in the dining and retail category. Its recent openings blitz combined with continued ability to cultivate true communities around its shops puts &pizza in the five alarm fire category of so-hot-right-now. This month alone, it opened its first Virginia location in Springfield and rolled out a customer appreciation rewards app. We caught up with partners Michael Lastoria (left) and Steve Salis at their Capitol Hill office and learned five things.
1. There’s a reason Steve and Michael are committed to making each new shop unique and reflective of its neighborhood, instead of doing simple cut and pastes. “We’re both small town guys who frequented local pizza shops; people make the place,” Steve tells us. "You can't always be local with food, but you can with design."
2. The casual concept is taking on trends fine dining establishments are embracing, like making more in-house. They already make cheese and craft soda, but soon you’ll be able to sip on &pizza red and white wine. “It’s part of our goal to increase quality without passing on costs to our guests,” Michael says. “It also contributes to our emotional connection with the consumer.”
3. They’ll pay for your “&” tattoo (or another tat) if you reach the “Maverick” spending level ($1,500) using their rewards app. “We tested the idea on our tribe first—six signed up to get tatted within 10 minutes.” The “tribe” are their employees, whom we hope have job security now that they’ve been inked.
4. They’re getting into the wedding business (kind of). Through their #andcauses philanthropic arm, they recently “pizza-bombed” a wedding for a bride that ran out of money to cater her nuptials. That’s not all. On March 14, there will be an actual &wedding at their U Street shop.
5. When nobody’s looking, Michael pours hot sauce on cheese pizza. “If I’m not sweating, it doesn’t count,” he says. Steve on the other hand adds dollops of ketchup.
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