Operations
Valentina's Pizzeria & Wine Bar: The pizza story that will inspire you
Joe Carlucci realized his dream by opening Valentina's Pizzeria despite past failures. The secret to success? Passion, dedication and a strong team leading to 3% turnover and high customer loyalty.
February 20, 2025 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group
Joe Carlucci had a dream, a big one — he wanted to open his own pizzeria. It's a dream he's realized over and over — opening restaurants and failing. But this time would be different, he swore.
Carlucci had a food truck before the COVID 19 pandemic which he'd take to neighborhoods in his home state of Alabama. He made dough in a commissary, and after lots of debating, decided to make it a storefront right in the middle of the pandemic. He opened his restaurant on Oct. 9, 2020 in Madison, Alabama. He named the 1,500-square-foot restaurant Valentina's Pizzeria & Wine Bar after his young daughter. It was off the beaten path across from cottonfields and cornfields, Carlucci said, and had just 32 seats inside with an additional 50 seasonal seats on a patio he built.
Carlucci had six employees in the beginning and said he used all his money to open Valentina's, including the profits from his food truck after he sold it.
"I literally opened Valentina's with a negative personal banking account," Carlucci remembered in a phone interview. "I just said 'this is it. If it doesn't work this time, then I'm going to go off into a different world and do something different.' I kept my head down, kept my mouth shut listened to (Slice House by Tony Gemignani founder) Tony Gemignani a lot. I had no overhead. I had rent, but everything else was paid for."
The first year, he kept his labor costs at just 10%. Carlucci made all the dough, and he had a couple of servers and a couple of workers in the kitchen.
"I wanted to create something a little more efficient and easier, so I just went with pizza," Carlucci said. "My motto was to be the Chick-fil-A of pizza, so all I did is pizza. I had a couple of appetizers, some salads, a couple of calzones and desserts and that's it. I kept my costs very low."
As Carlucci ran his restaurant, he began competing in the International Pizza Challenge at International Pizza Expo and placed first in his region in 2022. The second year he competed, he took first place in the traditional category.
And as they say — if you build it, they will come. And the customers did, in droves.
"Our numbers were through the roof," Carlucci said, "for the size of the place and the volume — and I also incorporated the hours. I wanted to still spend time with my daughter — that's the most important thing to me — so we were closed Sundays and Mondays from the start. We were only open four hours a day, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. three days a week and then Fridays and Saturdays we opened for lunch."
The area was highly residential, so it worked for Valentina's, though Carlucci acknowledged that a residential area doesn't work for every pizza shop.
After winning the International Pizza Challenge, there were two-hour waits and the brand kept getting busier. Carlucci had a friend who would come in for pizza but hated the lengthy waits. He encouraged Carlucci to think bigger, and in 2023 Carlucci went to a banker seeking a loan for some land just down the road. The banker asked for numbers, which Carlucci said were "insane" with 40% profit, food costs at 20% and labor at just 10%.
"My hours are small so my volume is strong," he said, "and I had a ton of money in the bank."
In 2023, Carlucci won the non-traditional division of the International Pizza Challenge and was named Pizzamaker of the Year. Cue the customers, and three-hour waits commenced. His loan for the land was approved, and Carlucci knew it was time to move.
His new location seats 150 people in 5,000 square feet including the patio, and the business now has 49 people working for the brand, including a full-time life coach. He can now offer IRAs, paid vacations and Employee of the Month awards.
"We have tripled what we were doing in sales," Carlucci said. They've been in the new restaurant for a year now.
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Joe Carlucci spins pizza dough in his restaurant. Photo: Valentina's Pizzeria & Wine Bar |
Operations
Carlucci said his employees run the restaurant. "I can tell you right now I don't run my restaurant. I work there, but my staff — I have a front-end manager, I have my general manager and I have 47 employees that really buy into what I believe," Carlucci said.
There's a break room full of snacks with a television and couches for the staff. Employees wear the same uniform so everyone is equal.
"I've messed up so much in my life in this industry and I wasn't the best version of me," Carlucci admitted. "I was maybe arrogant, a narcissist and all these things. I look back now and I can't stand when I go to Pizza Expo and you have pizza guys who are complaining about their staff. … You're the reason. You hired them. I don't believe there's bad kids and I don't believe there are bad employees. There's bad ownership and bad management. And yes, some people fire themselves, but if you don't have standards, if you don't have structure, then how do you expect anyone to follow anything if you're not doing it yourself?"
Carlucci said his employees are the biggest reason for his success. He added that having a life coach on hand helps employees handle problems both outside the workplace and in makes for well-balanced employees.
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Photo: Valentina's Pizzeria & Wine Bar |
On the menu
Carlucci admits his prices are high, but said he uses quality ingredients.
The Godfather, which boasts a red sauce base, mozzarella, soppressata, sweet Italian sausage, hot Italian sausage, charred pepperoni, house-seasoned bacon and house-made meatballs, is a top favorite. The Cam-A-Roni is also popular and features a red sauce base with mozzarella cheese, cup 'n char pepperoni and old-world pepperoni topped with ricotta and hot honey. The Hayden, with its red sauce base, mozzarella, soppressata, sweet Italian sausage, charred pepperoni, house-seasoned bacon, house-made meatballs, caramelized onions, mushrooms and roasted red peppers, rounds out the top three bestsellers.
Dough is made in house, but so, too, are the meatballs, goat cheese, fresh mozzarella, bruschetta, tiramisu, cheesecakes and cannoli cream. "It's fresh," Carlucci said. "It's made fresh daily and there's a difference between buying something processed already to be done and doing it from scratch. It's night and day."
The pizza is made in several styles, including New York, Sicilian, Detroit, tavern and cauliflower. Carlucci said since he didn't offer pasta, he wanted to offer several versions of pizzas. Pizza accounts for 55-60% of sales, and the dough is non-bromated and non-bleached, so it's easier to digest. Pizzas are baked in electric deck ovens.
Valentina's also has a full liquor license. Carlucci brought in a mixologist to create a menu of handcrafted cocktails. High-end wines and craft beers are also served to complement the pizzas.
When asked what sets Valentina's apart from the competition, Carlucci said it's the brand's quality ingredients, education of the staff, hospitality and the ambience.
"We have a 3% turnover ratio," he said. "Our staff is upbeat. They care. They're more knowledgeable than most places. They know how we made our dough, they know the fermentation of the dough. They know complex flavoring and how I do it. We talk about it after work, before work, when we're having a pizza together, and I think that's important in separating us. Our staff truly cares about the place."
There's no third-party delivery because Carlucci said he can't control the quality of the pies. To-go orders account for 30 to 40%. "We don't need to deliver," he said. "We're on a different level."
Carlucci uses Toast for his POS system which integrates with curbside pick-up, there's online ordering and he uses handheld systems for the staff to order tableside.
This year, they're building a food truck to cater weddings.
"It's a great time to enter the industry because technology has never been better," Carlucci said in advice to fledgling operators. "You've got YouTube, Google, pizza shows with speakers … Do your research and ask for help … You have the world by your hands to succeed. There are so many people out there who want to help. Don't be arrogant, swallow your pride and ask questions. No question is dumb in the pizza world. Be prepared to sacrifice. How bad do you want it? Everything you want you have to sacrifice for if you want it bad enough."
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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