Pizza Today - July 2018 - 16

Conversation

Jim and Tammy Zimmerline
opened Zipp's in 2012. The
small-town pizzeria has
become a big hit in Iowa.

JIM ZIMMERLINE
ZIPP'S PIZZARIA
ADAIR, IOWA

WE MAKE EVERYTHING OURSELVES (CRUST,
THREE KINDS OF RAW SAUSAGE, SLICED PROVOLONE CHEESE, HOMEMADE SAUCE AND MORE).

Homemade pizza with fresh ingredients cooked in a
stone deck oven; it is thin crust to a point, not cracker
style though.
ZIPP'S REPUTATION AS A HIDDEN GEM -- We do
offer something out here that not really anyone else
does. We are located out in the sticks, if you will, in a
town of 800. No big towns closer than about
25 minutes, so people have to drive a ways to come
eat. People DO drive an hour or two to eat here. Our
little main street out in front always has counties
other than Adair and Guthrie parked out front. I think
that speaks about our products we serve and makes
us stay on top of our game. Yes, we screw up more
than we need to, though. I think being consistent
with the product you serve makes a big deal with
customers coming back time and again. It is nice to
have people think of you as a great place to eat and
be a destination for them to eat and bring new friends
time after time.
1 6 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / J U LY 2 0 1 8

SMALL MARKET CHALLENGES -
Help, but I think that is everywhere
anymore, big towns or little towns.
But we just do not have the population to draw from for help. So we beg
and plead, even if we can find someone to work only one night a week.
It helps. We just consolidated with
another school and that took our high
school to another town. That took the
home games away and we used to
get a lot traffic with the school three
miles away on game night. But with
that, so many people in other towns
are going to games and passing by so
they make it a must stop when they
travel. No grocery store hurts some
days when you run out of something,
so you have to plan ahead and make
sure you don't (run out), and you really
should not anyway. Weather is a
big factor. There are just not enough
people to support a small pizzeria
night in and night out. So people drive
and when the weather is bad, we are
not busy. It is more the winter month
problems than the summer months.
WE DO NOT USUALLY ADVERTISE
IN NEWSPAPERS OR RADIO, SO

FACEBOOK REALLY DOES WONDERS - and we have a pretty big

following on there. Word of mouth
really is where it is at. I figured that
if my food is not good enough for
someone else to tell a friend and
other people, maybe I should not be
open. Mediocrity is not an option,
although you are not gonna be
everyone's favorite nor will everyone
think your pizza is even good. So
with that philosophy, we have to
be on top of our game with a great
product and great service night in
and night out.
Owners being present and talking
with customers is a big plus. My
wife, Tammy, does great at that as I
am usually in the kitchen. Being voted the best pizza in Iowa in a March
of 2016 contest through Iowa tourism helped a lot. We already had
built up a big following, but that put
it over the top after only being open
four years at that point. I wanted to
just be a normal pizza place offering
sausage and pepperoni and the like,
but if we did not offer 20 some specialty pizzas nightly, I do not think
we would be where we are.
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Pizza Today - July 2018

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