Operations
Failure never an option for brewery pizza pioneer
Oggi’s Sports Brewhouse Pizza pioneered the casual dining pizzeria in California. Now in its thirtieth year, the company found brewing their own beer to be the recipe for early success.
October 1, 2021 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group
Now in its 30th year, Oggi's Sports Brewhouse Pizza is truly a family endeavor. Run by the Hadjis family, the 16-unit company found brewing their own beer to be the early recipe for success.
"Oggi" means "today" in Italian, and keeping the company relevant has been a staple since the first restaurant opened in Carmel Valley, California, by brothers John and George Hadjis in 1991.
"The pizza category 30 years ago was very different than it is today," Estella Ferrera, vice president for Oggi's and the daughter of George and Dora Hadjis, said in a phone interview with Pizza Marketplace. "Of course, there were the Pizza Huts, the Domino's, Little Caesars — those big heavy hitters … and the quick-serve type pizza. Then there was Wolfgang Puck and the California Pizza Kitchens and the 10-inch gourmet pizzas. My dad saw a really big hole in the market for that mid-section pizza offering, and more than just pizza."
The brothers, along with George's wife Dora, who serves as CFO, opened a dine-in pizza restaurant that offered delivery and carryout. It wasn't the easiest opening — the restaurant was then a part of another franchise — but drive and persistence led the family to early success. So, too, did changing the business with the times.
"There was no way it was going to fail," Ferrera said. "It couldn't fail. Getting into business for yourself is not necessarily the reward of success. The reason why you succeed is because you're scared of failure. Failure is not an option. You've invested your life's savings into these businesses, so we battled it out and when the recession ended, we really succeeded."
Adding a beer component
The Carmel Valley market was growing and so, too, was the business. By 1995, the first big-name breweries had opened, and San Diego became a mecca for craft beer.
The Oggi's team saw microbrewing not only as a market segment but also as a way to differentiate itself in the pizza industry and in restaurants as a whole. Oggi's Left Coast Brewing Co. was the sixth microbrewery in San Diego after they gutted a restaurant and brought in a microbrewery from Budapest, Hungary. Craft beer accounts for 24% of the $94 billion beer market, according to the Brewers Association, and Oggi's is able to capitalize on that captive market by selling their award-winning beer.
"The customers, they were just totally enamored with it," Ferrera said. "Obviously the profit margin was incredible. Every time we would brew beer the whole restaurant would smell like beer and hops and it was just a really cool thing. … We are brewing really good, award-winning beer."
Shortly after the addition of the beer component, the company started franchising around 1996. The second unit opened as a franchise, and the company became a casual-dining pioneer, Ferrera said. The company at that time was a franchisee of another company, and in 2001 they broke off and formed Oggi's Pizza & Brewing Co. Six of the seven company's franchisees came with them and also changed their concept to the newly-minted Oggi's.
"We kind of pioneered casual dining," Ferrera said. "Casual dining always existed, but we really put this together to be successful with the full-service dining, the delivery and the takeout so you are not constrained by your four walls."
Sports, like beer, play a big role in Oggi's concept, "but we are very careful to never say sports bar. We are not a sports bar," Ferrera explained. "We are a sports-themed restaurant. You can come and have full service and get great food, great fresh craft beer and watch the game. It's a very unique offering."
Oggi's has been official pizza of several professional sports organizations and is available at track stadiums throughout their respective seasons. Right now, they're the official pizza of the Los Angeles Angels and Oggi's pizza is sold in Angel Stadium. "That is a big part of our brand," Ferrera added. "Our branding and our partnerships have always set us apart."
Evolving the brand
Today, sales are up 14.9% over 2019 and Oggi's is on pace to hit $33 million in 2021, even with dining rooms being closed for three months this year. The company has 15 full-service units and one express location at San Diego State University. An area development agreement is in the works, and several existing franchisees are searching for new locations as well.
"We've done this for so many years that we know how to build a market," Ferrera said, "but it always comes down to our product. Our product is amazing."
Dough is made in-house daily and they hand-toss the pizza with proprietary ingredients that are consistent across the brand. They work closely with their vendors to ensure continuity.
"Every single one of our restaurants has the exact same aged cheese, so it's never aged differently when they put it on the pizza," Ferrera said. "It's a very well-thought-out and protected recipe, the same with all our recipes. We evolve our menu constantly."
Quality is paramount, and Ferrera said it shouldn't be sacrificed for quantity.
"If you have to charge more for it, charge more," she said. "Your customers will know. They'll sniff it out. It makes you lose your integrity with your product because you're there to provide something that people love."
Technology is also important, she added. Oggi's is in the process of rolling out a cutting-edge POS system, they've improved their online ordering and added QR code scanning, saving labor if a customer just wants to order on his or her own.
"You're not around for 30 years by resting on your laurels," she said. "You're around for 30 years because you evolve."
About Mandy Wolf Detwiler
Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the managing editor at Networld Media Group and the site editor for PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com. She has more than 20 years’ experience covering food, people and places.
An award-winning print journalist, Mandy brings more than 20 years’ experience to Networld Media Group. She has spent nearly two decades covering the pizza industry, from independent pizzerias to multi-unit chains and every size business in between. Mandy has been featured on the Food Network and has won numerous awards for her coverage of the restaurant industry. She has an insatiable appetite for learning, and can tell you where to find the best slices in the country after spending 15 years traveling and eating pizza for a living.
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