Pizza Today - October 2020 - 53

guests the reassurance that they were
stepping into the Miguel's they loved, just a
new and improved version.
The new space includes a large dining
room and a large kitchen with two pizza
makelines for peak times, a massive rotating
deck oven and combination walk-in/
reach-in refrigerator. A basement area
with additional seating was completed this
spring.
Since its inception, Miguel's has
been the gathering hub for rock
climbers. The Ventura family have
expanded the grounds to include a
campground with pavilion and a shower
house and a top-of-the-line rock climbing
shop. "They are the ones that really built
this place," Dario says of the international
climbing community. "We're doing great
now and this place has boomed in the last
10 years, I would say. Prior to that, this was
a bit of a ghost town here."
Even Miguel's workforce is made up of
climbers, almost exclusively until the past
year a handful of locals have been added to
help man the shop.
"Our base is climbers. They are the ones
that come every day. They are always there
for us. We revolve around the climbing
community."
Climbers were the driving factor
behind Miguel's varied menu. Its diverse
ingredients list is a surprise find in rural
Kentucky. It boasts over 40 meat and
veggie toppings from anchovy, chorizo and
roast pork to avocado, sweet potato and
black beans. The cheese selection is even
impressive with three mozzarella choices
and cheeses like feta, ricotta, provolone
and non-dairy. There are also a half dozen
sauces. Pizzas are 16-inch and can be
purchased as half or whole pies.
Dario says they don't feel a need to
advertise that the tomatoes, basil, zucchini
and green peppers are all locally grown
by a neighboring farmer. The local focus
with scratch products is evident in its pizza
quality. Dough, sauces and bread are made
in-house and cheese is shredded on premise.
Miguel and Susan's approach to food
fuels the menu. "They cook and it's very
basic food," Dario says. "It's good food so
they don't try to reinvent the wheel too
much. I think that transferred over to the

"Our base is climbers.
They are the one that
come every day. They
are always there for us.
We revolve around the
climbing community."
restaurant. If it starts out good, it's going to
end good. We've always went with that as
the mindset."
As demand arose, Dario says, they added
new items like breakfast items and oven
bowls. The pizzeria also offers salads and
sandwiches.
It's a new dawn at Miguel's. Dario
and his brother Mark grew up in the
pizzeria. They both left to go to college,
Mark studied business and recently
returned to Miguel's, while Dario wanted
to seek out other opportunities. "Actually,
going to school and taking business classes
I realized how much I like the whole family
business aspect of things and what a good
thing I had," Dario says of his decision
years ago to return to the family business.
The next generation has stepped up at
Miguel's. Dario runs the day-to-day and
Mark handles the financials. "Now he has
kind of taken my mom's job but with a
more new-school approach with apps,"
Dario says of his younger brother. Miguel is
still often in the kitchen tinkering with the
pizza sauce.
It's a family business in the truest
sense of the word. And that business
is in the midst of change. Just as they
christened their new building, the liquor
laws in the area changed. "That was a real
hard transition for us to serve alcohol.
It was the transition of our staff being
comfortable serving alcohol because of all
of the liabilities they throw at you with
serving alcohol and the responsibilities you
take and us not wanting to change that
atmosphere," Dario says. "We don't want
it to feel like a bar. You have to kind of
keep that balance." Luckily with purchase
limits and using a single service line, the
pizzeria has a built-in moderation to keep
its family-friendly setting.

Miguel's Pizza closes through the winter
months from December 1 to March 1.
But with the expansion, the Venturas
experimented with staying open through
the winter last year. "We just stayed open
on the weekends," Dario says. "It was a
huge success. It was surprising. Limited
hours, core crew that stuck around. I mean,
we weren't slammed but it was worth it."
Then, enter the COVID-19 Pandemic
forcing the restaurant to shut down for
almost three months during Miguel's
busiest season of the year. Miguel
has always applied a steady approach to
improvements and business. "That mindset
has saved them in stuff like COVID that's
hit us because you know we're not in debt
to our ears," Dario says. "We're stable. You
can weather stuff out if you're not being
sucked dry and you are doing it slow and
organically."
When Miguel's reopened this summer,
the systems were completely different. They
switched to a 100-percent to-go model and
launched an online ordering system. "Of
course, there are increased numbers but our
cost of staff is way up because we have to
staff a lot more to keep everything sanitized
and keep the process more friendly,"
Dario says. "Prior to that we are the most
minimalist place. Your pizza comes on a
tray. You get forks if you want them. There
is not much to it. But now everything is
packaged. The price of products is up a little
higher just because everything is to-go."
Even amidst the three-month closure,
Dario says, year-end sales are on pace to
match last year. Miguel's is churning out
700 to 800 pies on its busy nights and that's
exactly what the location was built to do.
Though Miguel's has weathered
COVID-19 better than many, Dario
longs to get back that Miguel's vibe. "The
one thing that COVID has really done
is business is still good, but it definitely
kills the ambiance and community feeling,
especially this place," Dario says. "You come
here on a Saturday night it's glowing. That
place would be full of people having a good
time." n

DENISE GREER is Executive Editor at
Pizza Today.

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