Operations

LaRosa's Pizzeria reduces friction with tech, solidifies operations

Cincinnati-based LaRosa's Pizzeria has 64 units across Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. The brand relies on technology to reduce friction and has its operations down to a fine art.

Photo: LaRosa's Pizzeria

May 2, 2024 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group

Many restaurants focus on great food and service, but at Cincinnati-based LaRosa's, the focus is all on family. The LaRosas still helms the company, which focuses on family recipes, technology and culture for its success.

LaRosa's Pizzeria was founded by Buddy LaRosa, a young entrepreneur in 1954. After a stint in the U.S. Navy, Buddy spent time in Philadelphia, and decided to bring what was popular there to Cincinnati — pizza. Philadelphia had a large population of Italians, and Buddy thought he could bring pizza to Cincy, a "big little town," as his son, Mike LaRosa, is fond of saying.

Mike LaRosa is now CEO of LaRosa's, with his own son, Nick LaRosa, as EVP of business intelligence and strategy. The brand recently celebrated its 70th anniversary.

"There aren't many restaurants that get to that milestone," LaRosa said in a video interview. "Our family is very proud of being a brand that our fans here have just been passionate about for decades and decades, and we plan to keep on doing that."

Cincinnati has professional sports teams, several successful colleges and Fortune 500 companies that attract people from all over the country. The city also is cost-efficient for many businesses, making it a great place to live and work, LaRosa said.

When Buddy LaRosa went into business in the '50s, there were only a few other brands selling pizza. His early customers were teenagers who used the pizza joint as a place to hang out. They brought their families, and today LaRosa's is feeding third- and fourth-generation customers. With that kind of longevity, even some franchisees are on their third-generation of leadership.

The brand has 64 stores in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Of those, 54 are franchised and 10 are company-owned pizzerias.

Photo: LaRosa's Pizzeria

Operations

Nick said the brand doesn't just listen to its customers because it's supposed to; instead, it's ingrained in all aspects of LaRosa's operations. Customer feedback is paramount to operations.

"We take it seriously, and we respond to it," Nick said. "So, I think that is a differentiator for us in that we actively solicit feedback and input from our customers."

For instance, LaRosa's might have a new menu item in mind, so they bring in a taste panel to try it first. Perhaps the size of the item is larger than consumers would like it to be. As an example, LaRosa cites the calzone the company sells. Originally, the idea was to make the calzone sharable by two or three people, but in the taste panel, it was loud and clear that customers didn't want to share. They wanted to choose their dipping sauce and keep it to themselves.

"Had we made that in the medium size, I doubt that we would have the success that we've had with our calzones," LaRosa said. "It's one of our most popular menu items, and I think it's because it's a calzone of your own that you can order with the taste components that you most enjoy."

LaRosa's caters to families, and the brand defines its main customers as a married couple with two to three children who lead busy lives and make decisions on the fly.

"They want something that's of value and tastes good that everybody can be satisfied with. So that's our target," LaRosa said, "but on both sides of that target, we certainly love feeding kids of all ages."

LaRosa's has a kids' menu that caters to children up to the age of 10 with activities that will keep them engaged with the brand. LaRosa added that eating out in the brand's dining rooms is important for families, so LaRosa's makes the ambience comfortable and inviting to all ages. He said they try to bring life into the restaurants with vibrant color palates and lighting.

Convenience is important as well, with full-menu delivery and pick-up available. Many of the stores have pick-up windows so families don't even have to leave their vehicles.

Like many industries, the battle for talent has been a challenge for LaRosa's, but being family-owned the culture is important and the brand takes care of both its guests and its team members.

"Our way of dealing with the battle for talent is that we bring people on board that we think are going to be a good fit," LaRosa said. "We look for their strengths (and) we look to make sure they have a positive, good, attitude. We can teach somebody how to make a pizza or how to serve a guest, but if they don't show up with a good attitude and a willingness to learn, we're wasting our time."

Photo: LaRosa's Pizzeria

On the menu

Pizza is at the center of LaRosa's menu. The brand offers a traditional thin crust, a hand-tossed crust and a pan pizza.

Many of the recipes come from the LaRosa family, who gave them to Buddy LaRosa when he opened his Cincinnati pizzeria. LaRosa's still uses those same recipes, carrying on a 70-year tradition. Sauces, salad dressings, lasagna and more come from recipes passed down from LaRosa's great aunt and grandmother.

"That's a unique situation because we are Italian. Our family heritage has been involved in the recipes that we offer to our guests and we're quite proud to have been doing that for 70 years," LaRosa said.

The pizza sauce is the brand's claim to fame, LaRosa said, with herbs and spices cooked in the sauce so that it has a "bold, unusual flavor," LaRosa explained. It's made in small batches using proprietary family recipes at a sauce factory.

The brand has its own plant that makes its pizza dough and delivers it to the restaurants.

"What we've done is aligned ourselves with other specialty manufacturers," LaRosa said. For example, the ravioli is made by an Italian family that owns a pasta plant in Detroit. They make LaRosa's ravioli to its family's specifications and delivers it to the brand's distributors to pass out to the restaurants.

The top selling pizzas are the Double Pepperoni, the Original Deluxe and the Meat Deluxe. A Chicken Bacon Ranch is also popular. Some 25% of customers order pizza off the specialty menu, but a whopping 75% create their own. Pizza accounts for 65-70% of sales.

Technology

Nick said "eliminating friction" is a common phrase in LaRosa's operations. In the early 1990s, LaRosa's invested in a one-number call center to take orders for its restaurants. It took ordering out of the chaotic setting of the kitchen and put it in a quiet, dedicated call center with knowledgeable staff.

The brand was an early adopter of a mobile app 10 years ago, and it's been updated a handful of times over the years.

In the process of updating the app, they've rewritten their entire POS system, which is provided by pointofsale.cloud, with whom they've worked for over 20 years. A new POS system will roll out at the end of this year or early next year at all 64 stores.

"It'll give us greater insight into guest behavior and feedback and their ordering behavior, their preferences with menu items that they're ordering, and I'm super excited about that," Nick said.

Servers will be equipped with tablets at the table where they can take orders at the table.

Though LaRosa's had a call center, the executive team considered looking at taking orders through the company intranet, but Nick laughs that no one was going to take orders by the internet. Why wouldn't they just call instead? In 2024, 65% of pick-up and delivery orders come through the internet or through the app.

The call center is now referred to as a guest service center because the work that employees do there encompasses everything from placing orders to managing mistakes and reorders.

Growth

Post COVID, the brand's focus is on solidifying LaRosa's core stores, including renovations. LaRosa said 80% of the brand's restaurants have been refreshed. Maximizing sales has also been top of mind.

In terms of out-of-market growth, there are some opportunities to fill in potential gaps between existing stores. Instead of leaping into a new market, the brand prefers to go where guests are somewhat familiar with it — such as having been to a Cincinnati Reds baseball game and have eaten the stadium or visited the Cincinnati Zoo, where there is a location as well.

LaRosa's moved a couple of locations — eliminating friction in the parking lots — making them more efficient, homey and inviting.

"There are obviously lots and lots of pizza options. Too many available for guests," LaRosa said. "I think the reason to come to LaRosa's is that the pizza and the surrounding menu items just have a unique flavor profile and taste. It's very satisfying. … If they don't like the menu, there's something else they can try. There's our ravioli and pasta dishes. Our calzones are wonderful. Our hoagies are wonderful. Our minestrone soup is wonderful. LaRosa's is a brand that has a real family behind it with real family recipes."

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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