Pizza Today - May 2021 - 28

In Los Angeles, La Morra Pizzeria
used to focus on events and catering, and
often hosted pop-ups featuring a mobile
wood-fired oven. " That world shuttered, "
says Marlee Blodgett, co-founder and
operator. The first weekend that events
were canceled, they took leftover product,
made par-baked frozen pizzas, and sold
them through the pizzeria's website.
After a few months of delivering
frozen pies throughout the city, La Morra
Pizzeria built a carryout window in an
available space. " It was a giant restaurant
that fed lots of people in different rooms,
so it was not suited for the pandemic, "
Blodgett says. " We operate in one side,
the opposite side is a bakery, and we do
pizza in the evening. " Customers order
hot or frozen pies online, park in one of
the two spaces out front, then pick up
from the window.
Blodgett believes the pandemic has
changed what consumers expect from restaurants, and that demand for La Morra
Pizzeria's carryout option, especially for
hot pies, will continue even after the
catering side of the business returns.
People expect convenience, ease of ordering and to be able to walk up to a window
and get back in the car, instead of driving
around and looking for parking. " That's
going to be lasting, " she says.

Offering pizza from a takeout
window is also a way to respond
to other trends, including on-the-go

snacking, eating anytime instead of three
defined meals, and the popularity of
smaller spaces as commercial rents rise.
When Joshua Pollack, owner of Bridge
& Tunnel Restaurant Group in Denver, opened Famous Original J's Pizza
with two walkup windows in 2018, he
wanted to replicate the slice experience
that he had growing up in the New York
metropolitan area. " The ease of being able
to walk up to a window has always been
a cool novelty in New York, " he says. " I
wanted to bring it to Denver. "
One window faces the patio, and the

other faces the pedestrian-friendly street.
The windows helped Famous Original J's
Pizza continue to serve pizza during the
pandemic, and Pollack would like to have
walkup windows in future restaurants.
" It's a way for people out and about to
get food on the fly, " he says. " People are
moving towards that model of, let's grab a
slice as we walk. "

Limiting crowds
For some, the infrastructure changes
serve multiple purposes. When Paulie
Gee's in Chicago had to close its dine-in
operations and offered takeout only, too
many people were crowding into the
restaurant to wait for their orders. " That
became an issue, " says owner and operator
Derrick Tung. " We didn't expect that
much support. "
To remedy this, the pizzeria set up
a display case by the window. The case
features four 20-inch pizzas on tables
that are slightly tilted so passersby can
see them from outside. Customers can
select a slice, and staff reheats it in the
oven. " We brought back an oven we had
in storage, " Tung says. " We were getting
ready to sell it because we upgraded the
oven, but we ended up wanting to keep
it. "
The window is part of a large, garage
door-type wall of segmented windows,
so the pizzeria also installed a sliding
window in one of the segments, to pass
the orders to customers outside. Also, the
point of sale system was moved closer
to the window. The setup provided other
benefits when dine-in was shut down last
year. " It gave the front of house team and
bartenders something to do, " Tung says.
" This option gave us the ability to create
three to five positions for front of house
staff. "
While the changes helped Paulie Gee's
stay open, it was not super-successful
from a financial standpoint. " We were 85
percent dine-in and the average check
was $35 to $42, " Tung says. " Now we are
100 percent pickup and to go, and the

average check at the window is $12. The
volume is not there, and alcohol sales are
not there. "
The restaurant will return to dine-in
when it's safe, which includes factors
such as vaccination rates and staff 's level
of comfort in switching back to that
format. Still, carryout will continue to be
an important part of the business model,
as Paulie Gee's recently opened a second
Chicago location that offers slices only
and has a carryout window that could
serve as a late night slice place. " The
entertaining part is I watch people walk
down the street, and then people walk
back, " he says. " We're seeing a lot of new
guests who had not heard of us stop by. "
Windows are not the only changes to
accommodate carryout. Square Pie Guys
offers Detroit-style pizza in San Francisco. Owners Marc Schechter and Daniel
Stoller recently opened a location in Oakland, and temporarily configured it for
carryout. The large diamond-shaped room
has stanchions to direct customers to one
side and third party delivery drivers to
the other side. " There was a domino effect
when one driver would come in early and
get in line when the order wasn't ready,
and all of sudden we have 20 drivers, "
says Schechter, who is chief pizza officer.
" We want to make sure our guests are not
crowded out. "
Customers are encouraged to order
online. When they arrive, there is hand
sanitizer at the entrance. " People can walk
up and sanitize their hands, " says Stoller,
who is co-founder and chief operating
officer. " We make it a requirement to
hand food off. "
Even when dining-in returns, carryout
will remain important. " Before COVID
you saw a trend in takeout and delivery, "
Schechter says. " I don't think takeout and
delivery are going away. " n

NORA CALEY is a freelance writer who
covers small business, finance and lifestyle
topics.

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Pizza Today - May 2021

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