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The Wizard of Za's dough makes magic
The Wizard of Za, based in Columbus, Ohio, uses a focaccia dough that sets it apart from its competition. The brand is educating local residents on the ins and outs of Sicilian pizza.
February 13, 2023 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group
Columbus, Ohio-based The Wizard of Za is one brand that lives up to its name: the magic's in the dough, according to company officials, and that makes for a great pizza.
The brand was founded by Spencer Saylor, who was furloughed from his job during the pandemic and started making and selling pizzas from his home in Columbus, Ohio. He was able to make four pizzas a day seven days a week. These pizzas became popular by word-of-mouth but exclusive to get in town, and he amassed a large following of about 7,000 "rabid" pizza fans, said Stephan Harmon, co-founder of parent company Paceline Restaurant Partners.
Harmon had lunch with Saylor, and with Paceline behind them, decided to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant that would be able to service the 7,000 people on Saylor's waiting list and beyond.
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A full house at The Wizard of Za. Provided. |
Saylor, who hailed from Youngstown, Ohio, brought a Sicilian-style pizza to Columbus, which really didn't exist in the area, Harmon added.
"Paceline Restaurant Group was the catalyst for the concept to scale," Harmon said. "What we were able to offer him was operational support, financial support, as well as structural support in order to build something with staying power."
The Wizard of Za opened in late 2020, and it took six months to move through the customer waitlist. Now folks can order pizza the day of. A second location opened in Dayton, Ohio, last year.
Saylor has since left the company to pursue other endeavors, but he felt confident that he left it in the good hands of Paceline, Harmon said.
On the menu
The counter-service concept offers pizza by the slice, as well as what the company calls a "square" — a 6-inch by 6-inch pizza — and full pizzas and salads. They're rolling out New York-style pizza as well.
"When we say 'The Wizard of Za,' we like the appeal that we can make all different types of pizza and can create a lot of variety on the menu by being wizards of pizza," Harmon said.
Why Sicilian? The Midwest thrives on tavern-style cracker-thin crusts cut into squares and is also fueled by big chains. The Wizard of Za has thrived on being a hometown pizza brand since its inception. No one in Dayton or Columbus was making Sicilian pizza, it seemed, and the team bought a third-generation starter from Sicily on which to base their pizzas.
"For us, we were able to fill a niche in the market that wasn't currently being filled," Harmon said.
The dough is a focaccia crust, and it's made in house. Sesame seeds are placed on the bottom of the pan to add a little bite.
"It goes through a multi-proofing process every morning where's it's able to rise and stretch again with garlic salt," said Carly Hensley, vice president of team service for The Wizard of Za. "And then we build our pizza on top of that focaccia crust on the bottom. The bottom is light and fluffy, but also crunchy and flavorful. It's really something special."
That dough is also used to make the brand's house-made garlic knots sold with house-made red sauce or homemade ranch sauce with dill. Cinnamon knots and garlic cheesy bread are also made with the company's dough.
Straight out of the "wizard" book is a rainbow pie, which features sauce on top of the cheese, stripes of vodka sauce, house red sauce and house pesto sauce with fresh mozzarella. The Briar Hill pie, a take on a Youngstown, Ohio, tradition, features house red sauce, grated cheese, extra virgin olive oil and bell peppers. The Sorcerer's Supreme Pie features house red or vodka sauce, fresh mozzarella, sausage crumbles, bell pepper, mushroom and white onion.
Pepperoni is a top seller at The Wizard of Za. Provided. |
"We believe that anybody can make a pizza," Harmon added, "however we put a lot of emphasis on the dough itself, so making a focaccia bread isn't the most difficult thing in the world but using the original starter from Sicily (and) using a harvest-grain bread flour we believe makes for a really great pizza."
Educating prospective customers on Sicilian style has taken time. They're adding a New York-style because everybody loves it, said Mike Speck, co-founder of Paceline Restaurant Group.
The brand also uses a cup and char pepperoni and sausage sourced from second-generation maker Ezzo Sausage Company made in Columbus. Pepperoni pizza is The Wizard of Za's best seller and it's topped with Pecorino and Romano cheeses as well as Mike's Hot Honey and some fresh basil.
Pizza accounts for 90% of sales. The brand uses deck ovens in Columbus and conveyor ovens in Dayton.
Growth
The Wizard of Za's two stores sit at the gateway to the University of Dayton and The Ohio State University, so hungry college kids are a solid demographic for the brand. Still, families make up a good percentage of sales. "We like creating a family environment and a kid-friendly environment," Harmon said.
The brand knew it was ready to open a second location because it already operated 13 other restaurants and had the systems and operations team in place to grow.
"We're a family owned business," Harmon added. "We don't need to grow for the sake of growing. … For us, it's about the right place at the right time with the right people and you could even add to that the right cuisine. We're not bound by a large investment firm or some sort of venture capital or private equity company that we have to grow because we have to grow. We want to grow, and we want to grow our people."
They originally turned one of the company's sushi restaurants into the first store and built the second from scratch.
One of the brand's biggest challenges is brand recognition, with many residents in the area frequenting the same pizza places for generations. "In every town across the United States, there's nostalgic owner-operated pizza places that make really good pizza," Harmon explained, "and then you have the chains. … I think for us, it's just continuing to explain our concept, how we're new, we're different, but we can play in the same arena as the (local chain) Marion's Pizzas of the world and the big chains of the world."
Speck said the brand knew it could only grow the business if it had the right people and despite the COVID-19 pandemic, The Wizard of Za is fully staffed across the board.
"We were able to take advantage of this growth because we knew we had the operator (and) we knew we had the shift leaders and the support team underneath them to jump into The Wizard," Speck added. "That was No. 1."
"We don't have to grow, but we want to because of our teams," he added. "Our goal overall is to grow all brands. … The cool thing about the restaurant industry is that anybody can do any job. There's nothing sacred. … It's our goal to be great mentors. There's nothing secret that any of our team can't do. It's just how much how fast."
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.
