In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, Editor Mandy Detwiler talks to Carl Comeaux, CEO and partner of Texas-based Crust Pizza Co. Comeaux joined the company after being a fan of its pizza. Crust now has 30 units in Texas and Louisiana and plans to grow another 15 in 2025. It has seven corporate stores and 23 franchised units with a goal of 250 units in nine years.

"We're looking for owner-operators," Comeaux said in the podcast. "Right now at this stage of where we're at in growth, eventually we'll be looking for multi-unit franchisees that own 10 to 15 other units for other concepts that are looking for a second brand to sink their teeth into."

Comeaux said the product helps Crust stand out in a heavy pizza field.

"It's premium quality," he said, adding the dough is made in house every four hours. "Our sauces are all proprietary blends — our pizza sauce, marinara, Ranch, Alfredo ... the sauce are amazing that you can put on the pizza or dip. ... We created our own propriety cheese about a year ago, and when we did that we were able to save 50 cents per pound on cheese."

To learn more about Crust Pizza Co.'s operations and how the brand is building its own tech stack, click the link above.

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to Jim Metevier, CEO of Mountain Mike's Pizza. The California chain of 240 restaurants is making waves on the West Coast with its toppings-heavy pies and tight operations.

Metevier has more than 30 years experience in the restaurant industry. He previously served as the company's president and COO before taking the reigns as CEO earlier this year.

Metevier said the restaurant business is not for the faint of heart.

"I always find it funny when I talk to prospective franchisees ... people will tell me 'Hey, when I retire, I want to open a restaurant. That's the opposite of retiring!" he said.

To listen to the podcast in its entirety, click the link above.

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to Brandon Hunt and Zane Hunt, brothers who launched Via 313 in Austin, Texas.

Zane said he and his brother were raised in the Detroit, and grew up eating square pizza, now known as Detroit-style pizza.

"You thinking about where we're at right now in 2024 with the hyper gentrification of pizza," he said. "Back then, there was just round and square pizza. Round pizza could have been a number of different things. Square pizza could have been a number of different things, whether its was a sheet-pan pizza from an Italian bakery or Grandma-style pizza, and then we had Detroit with the caramelized edges."

It took the brothers traveling to different parts of the country to realize that they were fortunate to have different styles of pizza in Detroit.

Zane moved to Austin in 2009 with his wife and kids and sought out pizza like he had at home "and we realized quickly it didn't exist," he said.

Zane and Brandon began examining what it would look like if they started their own pizza brand in Austin. They wanted to bring Detroit-style pizza to Austin, and used a recipe they were both comfortable with. It took almost two years to open their first location, a pizza trailer.

Brandon said what sets Via 313 is now focused on consistency and service. Though they won't compare their pizza to other Detroit-style brands, they instead focus on the customer and efficiency.

"Service was a thing that could separate us," Brandon said. "You really can't debate whether service is good or not or if we're the best at service. That's not debatable. That's really important to us."

To listen to the podcast in its entirety, click the arrow above.

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to Little Caesars franchisee Vicki Dunn-Marshall. Dunn-Marshall's focus on philanthropy has led to start Pizza Paws, a campaign that raises money for police K-9 units across the country.

The idea came about after there was a prison break in one of the towns where she operates a Little Caesars store. They brought in K-9 units from three or four states for several days.

"We were feeding the officers," Dunn-Marshall said. "They don't get support for what they do."

Human handlers pay for the food and vet visits themselves, perhaps using a small stipend from the department.

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to Wesley Keegan, founder of TailGate Brewery, a nine-unit pizzeria and brew hall in Nashville, Tennessee.

Keegan started with a brewery, but found his customers would have a beer and then leave to go find food. He tried bringing in food trucks, but that didn't seem to work. Instead, he started his own pizzeria using the best ingredients he could find.

"We run a full pizza kitchen in all of our stores and it's really a full pizza restaurant by every measure, but being a brewery, we call it a taproom, and the majority of our taproom sales is pizza," Keegan said.

To learn more about beer and pizza sales, listen to the podcast in its entirety.

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, and Jeff Hetsel, president of Cicis Pizza.

Hetsel says Cicis, which is a buffet concept, is doing well with positive sales, and the brand is currently looking for ways to leverage technology to increase those sales.

"One of the great things we try to do is if you don't see your favorite pizza, we'll make it for you," Hetsel said. Pizzas are cooked in about three and a half minutes.

The biggest change the brand has made over the years is improving and increasing its "eatertainment" and game rooms.

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to John Arena, co-owner of Metro Pizza in Las Vegas. Arena recently opened a signature pizzeria called Truly Pizza in Dana Point, California, with a group of friends. Together, they've built a concept new to the city that brings in both tourists and locals alike.