How a Second-Generation Pizza Owner Doubled Revenue

we have a 28-inch pizza. And we cut into eight ends, a massive slice. So pretty much when people see this slice of pizza, automatically, there you know where it's coming from. It's like a walking billboard.

- Giuseppe Polizzi is a dedicated entrepreneur, family business leader, and the owner of Lorenzo and son's pizza. Drawing from his father's wisdom and his own education, he has grown the family business while honoring the legacy

that shaped him and creating one of his own. - My father started back 1970, and then I started tweaking it, and I wanted to double him his revenue within like eight months of being there.

And that's where I believe my education came in to grant me that success of do that. - Yeah. - And flip what he did, and it was just worked.

“- What's the key to running a successful restaurant?”

- You're never have a day off.

Your phone is always on. There's something that's gonna happen. You gotta pick up that phone. And then if you teach the team the proper way, they don't need to call you.

They're able to manage and handle things without you being there. - It spans the goal. Like a super high school. - Internet helpers?

- Ready. - All right. - Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone. - It's not over, I'll tell how we're... - The living your legacy podcast

for those who live to leave a legacy. - That's a sweet way. - That's awesome, though, I guess. - Oh, that is sensational. - Sure.

- Open. - Shit, come on, Mr. Lady, you said. - Oh, it's the box is not on the planet. - You can live your dream. - Hey, welcome back everyone to another episode

of Living Your Legacy Podcasts where we have the privilege to talk to some of the best entrepreneurs around the country. And today, we got a special guest. I like to share his awareness.

Talk about pizza. We've got a dive deep into it. But yeah, introduce yourself.

“What's the name, where you from, and what's your business?”

- Okay, so I'm just at a belitty. I'm from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and we have the place called Lorenzo and Sons Pizza in Philadelphia. - All right, cool.

So is it just pizzas, or come out filling, you guys, do cheese steaks? - So we're known in Philadelphia for the biggest pizza. We have a 28 inch pizza, so and we cut into eight and some massive slice.

So pretty much when people see this slice of pizza automatically, there you know where it's coming from. It's like a walking billboard. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we sape, is that it's?

- Giuseppe. - Giuseppe, so Giuseppe. - Um, where does your dough come from? I know pizza is all about the dough, right? So are you importing it from Italy?

You making it yourself? - Everything's homemade, but actually for me, the best ingredient is the sauce. - Is the sauce. - Okay, anyone can make a dough?

I believe you can go buy a frozen in the supermarkets here nowadays, but the sauce you buy, but we actually make everything in-house. So the sauce is made in-house, that dough is made in-house,

and I have my own line of mozzarella cheese. - All right. - So which means other places can't purchase same cheese, 'cause my name, my logo, everything's on it, so I was pretty much my brand.

- Nice, nice, nice, nice. So what's the secret to a good sauce? - That's why it's a secret. (laughs) - Okay, okay, okay, okay.

- Keep it fresh, keep it fresh. - Right, it's ingredient, right?

- Oh, it's always like, keep it simple.

- Yes. - Keep it simple. Don't overpower it.

“A lot of people think you need to put all this spices.”

I love the taste of the natural tomatoes. So especially of my other location, we have in Westchester, where we do a gourmet sauce. So the tomatoes are from Italy, they come over here, and then we break it down and actually make it,

and then I had no water whatsoever to my sauce. 'Cause I want you taste the actual flavor of the tomatoes. - Who's gonna water it down? Come on, you would know what's a watered down sauce. (laughs)

- To make more money, they wanna water it down, so you can't tell, but I can tell. - Oh, so people often, they come to America, and they're like, what's America food like? And I often say it's kind of like corporate food.

- Is American food, you know what I say? They've watered down, they process it, they flip it, and they try to just make the most amount of money from it. And then the ingredients suffer. You got stuff in there that, you know,

they don't sell in Europe, right? But they allow it here. - Absolutely. - And it makes you question, you know, it's like, what is going in our bodies, right?

You gotta keep it fresh, you gotta keep it simple. You can't water it down, right? And that's where it's the, I'm already wanting something since pizza, you know. So, yeah, how's it, how's it been, how do you get

into a pizza restaurant, why? - So I was born into it, my father started back 1970. - Okay. - So over the years, I see-- - So it's a generational business.

- Pretty much, yeah, I saw them in the second generation.

- Oh, okay, great. - That took over, but like I said, we started with the pizza business. I already had it in my blood, and I just wanted to do something different

for a little bit, so I challenged myself, this dear way from the family business, and then I wind up going back into the business and taking over. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, just wanting to,

when you're maybe when you're younger, you're like, yeah, I don't know, I'm gonna do my own thing. - Exactly, came out of my mouth. - Yeah, yeah, generational businesses are tough, you know, from one generation to the next,

The third generation, it's like almost no-

- No, no. - No, right, though. - Yeah, but do you have kids? - No, yeah, I have two boards. - Yeah, they getting into the business,

you see, you're not passing. (laughing) - There we go. They're doing the same thing. They got dad, you know, no way, man, you know?

- They're, it's okay, I, I, you know, believe in them, and I did the same thing. I wanted to do something different, and then my idea was to come back to the family business. And the quick story was when I was 18,

when I graduated high school,

“my father slid me over a key to the future.”

- Mm. - And I looked at, I mean he's like, yeah, he was so when, you know, you get the money paying a little by little, he goes, and then the place is yours.

I looked at him, I grabbed the keys and I slid him right back. - Oh, wow, it's, yeah. - Stung a little bit to him. And he's like, we only spoke Italian in the house. So he's like, what are you doing?

And I go, I don't, I don't want your life. I go, I saw the hard work, the long hours, I go, and I asked him in the Italian, of course, I go, let me ask you a question. I said, when, when do you see me at home?

- Yeah. - And he looked at me, I go, you're a 15, 18 hour days, six, seven days a week, and he looked at me, I said,

so I never saw you for breakfast, never saw you for lunch,

never saw you for dinner. I saw him once a week, and we lived in the same house. - Yeah. - And I didn't want that life. So when I slid the keys back, I'm like,

he's like, well, what are you going to do? I'm like, I figure it out. I go, just, there's something out there for me. I go then, you know, I'll let you know. - Yeah.

- He respected it, and he goes, okay, and go, go find it. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

“- So I did, go find it stuck, I'll see you back here, right?”

(laughing) - Yeah, it was true though, and the same thing I, you know, try to teach my kids the same thing is like, listen, family's important. - Yeah.

- I want to be there for family dinners, so I found an occupation that I actually loved, and I became a cardiovascular profusions for Open Heart surgery, and actually-- - Oh, Jesus, okay.

- Yeah, totally different. - Okay. - And people like, what do you mean? Like, well, you know, pizza, sauces, red, blood is red. So for me though, it's fine for me to do it.

(laughing) - I get it, I get it, I see. Wow, I didn't see that one. - No one does, yeah. - So you went to like, men's school,

and then-- - Actually, right down to street, yeah. We love to say the name to the university. - Yeah, so I graduated here from Barry University, Miami. - Okay. - And I'm sure it was Miami, and that's where my degree was from.

- Yeah, so what brought you back? So two questions, right? - Sure. - What brought you back to the pizza? You know, there had to be like a moment

or just like, you tell me, but then also, were you able to kind of not do the long hours that you told your dad that you didn't want to do? - Yeah, so there was that fork and a road. So I had a ready graduate.

I was working at the hospital in Philadelphia of the original private surgery. And my father was gonna retire. - Yeah.

- My mother was diagnosed for the second time breast cancer,

not gonna what you survived both times. - Wow. - So I told my dad, at the time I said go back, go to Florida, we had a house here in the Portsene Lucy. I said go back to mom and I'll monitor the pizza room.

So I was working at the pizza room and at the hospital. So I was pushing about a hundred hours a week. - So even more than you told your dad. - Yeah, but I'd have kids at the time. So I knew when that time came to have a family.

- Did you have a family? - You didn't have a life either, is that right? - Oh no, no, there's no girl. There's no, hey, I'll meet you for dinner at it now. - No, so a key in that point where he was in Florida

and he wasn't coming back. So I'm like, okay, so you're retiring, I guess. And then he was, we're gonna sell the pizza room like you're gonna do what? - I go, you're Lorenzo, my son is Lorenzo.

- Yeah. - My other son's Alejandro, but Lorenzo is in the family. I go, and you, the founder and the starter of such a great place. I go and you poured your heart into it. I can't let you sell it to someone off the street.

So I can't, he's like, what are you gonna do? He's like, you work at the hospital. I have three siblings, they are doing their own thing. And he's like, who's gonna do it? I'm like me.

- Yeah. - He's like you're gonna lead the hospital. I'm gonna lead the hospital. - Well, I go, but if I do it, I'm gonna do it my way. - Yeah.

- Not your way. - There you go, go. So let me see what you can do. So mine I'm buying them out. So I took my sister as a partner, and then we work together.

And then I started with the one store, and then I started tweaking it, and I wanted to. Doubling his revenue within like eight months of being there. - Hey. - Just presentable cleansing.

- Doubling the size of the pizza. - No, the size of the revenue. - Yeah.

“- Well, did Double have, was the pizza that big back then?”

He was doing like a 24-inch, and then I believe, we before I took over, we knocked it out to our 20-inch. And then we kept it at 20 inches tall. - Yeah. - So from 1987s, when we started, I think the big pizza.

- Okay. - And still going into locations right now, going strong. So how was I able to go home? Was back then, my dad then had a POS system. Did have surveillance cameras, didn't have anything.

Was one of those little registers you pushed the button, and it was just wringing. - That's it. - So I would tell him, or else I'm gonna say,

He's like, "I don't know, whatever register's.

I'm like, "You think you don't know? "How much do you sell?" I said, "What's your profit? "What's your loss?" He's like, "What?"

Like, "What?" - Wow. - Speaking of, well, I was speaking different languages, 'cause he spoke Italian. And I was like, "Let me see what I can do."

So when I saw how he did it, I wanted to do an autopsy tweaking it. And that's where I believe my education came in to grant me that success of do that. - Yeah.

- And flip what he did. And it was just worked. And I started working. I'm like, "Oh, wow, this is great. "I was home every night.

"After I got married, of course. "I was home every night for dinner. "How am I kids? "They sell me every night for dinner." - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

- 'Cause I can control everything. I can micro-manage from home. I can turn on my laptop, watch surveillance cameras. So he was coming in. - There you go.

- See all the rings. See the register, see everything. - Yeah. - So it started working out, and people wanted to work with me now. I wanted to work for me.

“- So what's the key to running a successful restaurant?”

- It's hard work. - It's hard work. - So to this day, it's still,

I tell you, you're never have a day off.

Your phone is always on. There's something that's gonna happen. You gotta pick up that phone. You're not on vacation. You still gotta pick up that phone.

Like, there's always that thing, but I don't mind. And then if you teach the team the proper way, they don't need to call you. So they're able to manage and handle things. What about you being there?

- Yep, yep. So yeah, talk to me about the business side of things. A bit, is it more on the Uber eats take away side, or are you against Uber eats, or is it more din-in? Like, what's--

- So we have different locations. So like, our one location, and I'm feeling on South Korea, is strictly takeout. There's no tables or anything. - So yeah, that would work.

- You've got only had one location. - We only had the one store. - It was like-- - It's like-- - You see, they're both. Now, and how many locations now?

- He had passed during COVID, not cause of COVID. - Yeah, and illness, and he was able to see the ones. So the stadium in Philadelphia is where our hockey team and our basketball team, the flyers and six with play. Back then, it was called the Wells Fargo Center.

I was literally the first mountain pop store in the major stadium. - Okay, well, okay, go.

- Okay, it's always been a franchise.

It's always been, you know, Papa Johns, or whatever, what have you, I'm not sure what was there. And I remember going there, and I was like, this pizza's horrible. Like going to a game, and I'm like the pizza's being really good.

- Yeah. - I mean, I can stay and be affordable.

“And that's what a lot of people don't get.”

So we are like a cheap eats. And we're, it's affordable, we're even college students can eat five, six dollars, and have slice of pizza. And like, oh my God, we're going to go to a restaurant. You drop them 30, 40 dollars, you know.

So it's for the economy. - That's great. - 30, 40 dollars, I'm like, that's cheap, man. - No, that's a drink here, oh my God. - Oh my God, yeah.

So here it's like, you're dropping $68, okay. But that's still like, you know. - We're known for like a late night cheap eat. So our other location, we have one in Westchester. So that one became more of like a sit down.

- Yeah. - So, and we're down the street from the university. So we get a lot of college students. And we do late night. So we're open to like three o'clock morning.

- Oh, right. - And Saturdays. - So when all the bars lit out. That's what we're known for. And Philly, when bars lit out.

It's like a mall to track into a light. Everyone just goes right there. For their fix after the drink out might. - You just brought back a lot of memories. So if I laid nights, go into that those shops,

everyone knows a spot to hit. - Yeah. - And that was Lorenzo's was the spot in Philly to go. After Red Cross Street was a TLA, which was like the music venue.

- Yeah. - So we had them and then we had all the bars and they were just let out.

“That's how my dad started to get his name out there.”

It was the one on South Street, Kacha. - Two things real quick, was there really kind of special things in marketing that you did out of the box that helped you? - Actually, everything by myself.

I didn't hire a social media, I didn't hire, I didn't have Instagram back then, I didn't have the TikToks or anything. I believe the product speaks for itself. And I'm strongly about that.

- Is it product and location? - Definitely location. - I have to admit, 'cause you can grab the best food and you put it in a nowhere as land and you're off the beaten path.

- Yeah. - People not gonna know about it. It's gonna be a word of mouth. It's gonna take time. If you have that spot like our Westchester,

I'm in the burrow of the town and I'm in the best corner and I get all the people coming through. - Yeah. - And then my trick is my windows open

and then it's really more of an upscale pizza place. And then I put the screens down. I did it on purpose because when you're cooking and all of a sudden the aroma goes out the window. So people are walking by like,

and they start coming in, they start coming in. So definitely location and I think the pizza being so big and known as Lorenzo's like I said before, it's a walking bill, wherever it knows where you got it from. - Yes.

- Same spirit. - And of course love it. - Instagramable as well, right? So you're free, you know, free marketing. - Yep, so we started plugging Instagram

and that's our plugging on Facebook and I started putting pictures and we started getting the feedbacks and then about a year and a half ago,

It's getting too much of me. So I started hiring a social media guy and he's been doing all my TikToks and everything and one of our TikToks got over a million views for me.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah. - So we get to get the word out

“and people not gonna know if you don't actually broaden your knowledge.”

So my father didn't have the capacity to do that. - Yeah.

- So whereas I always speak highly of education,

I was gifted to go to school a lot of people or not fortunate enough or can't afford it. My dad was struggling to put me in college. So I had scholarships and grants. I had a high GPA so I was able to get half my tuition paid.

And then being in Florida resident was easy so I didn't pay out of state tuition. So that kind of helped out for me. - Yeah. So yeah, real quick,

you were coming to the end of the time, but how do people find you? I know they can just walk by and they'll be floating through the air,

“whafting the smell of the aroma and the pizza.”

- Right.

- But online, how do people find you?

- So we have our website. It's called the Lorenzo's Westchester.com. And once you click on that, it will see my other locations. So we have a location in life because you know it's helped.

Behind Susan Bank Park, okay. - And that is an expansion in June. Actually, I had my mother show up. - Yeah. - And we are doing now pizza pasta paninis.

I did a new twist on it. - Yeah. - And I was so excited to have my mom, my mother there.

So what I did was first time ever.

I've ever seen this was I put pictures of my whole family behind the counter at the casino of us from 1978. - Yeah. - So it shows the picture of my father, my grandfather, my siblings, myself.

They show you that's actually family owned and operated. I'm not a franchise. - She shed tears. - So did I, yeah. (laughing)

- Right on that, right on. - Yeah, it was moving mode.

“- Yeah, actually there's a new, I believe, right?”

What from what I heard, 'cause my wife is also from Italy, from Rome. But I think they just passed a law where if you're grandparents or your parents are from Italy and then your kids were born in the States

or another country that they can now get citizenship. - But my son's got dual citizenship. - Okay, okay, great, sure. - Yeah, yeah, so that's gonna bring a lot of business to Italy, people buying houses and stuff.

- That in the big news. - If one of my youngest son is going abroad to Italy, so he has the Italian passport, he doesn't need a visa. - Yeah, there you go. - So if you can travel within Europe

with the Italian passport, so you're fine. - Yeah. - So it kind of works out. - It's been a pleasure to have you on the show. - Yeah, thank you so much for joining us.

You're about to hop into your session here in the studios from Studio 3, Studio 1. And so yeah, thank you guys for joining us here. This is Legacy Makers, you know, where they're talking about, you know, their businesses

but the legacy they want to leave behind from the success that they've had. And yes, being a generational business has all to do with making that legacy and creating it and leaving behind a good mark in the city

through large slices of pizza, also right? - Don't worry. - All right, there you go. - Thank you guys for joining us, and we'll see you next time. - Bye.

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