Pizza Expo Podcast Episode 13 - Billy Manzo
[00:00:00.370] - Rev and Eric
We are back with another exciting episode of Who's at Pizza Expo in the Marqii booth. We're here with world pizza champion Billy Manzo.
[00:00:07.090] - Billy
And I'm here with you guys.
[00:00:08.050] - Rev and Eric
That's right. That's right. Exciting.
[00:00:09.610] - Rev and Eric
Federal. I almost said a different name and I don't know why.
[00:00:13.750] - Billy
That's okay. Wouldn't be the first time.
[00:00:15.070] - Rev and Eric
Well, I know, right.
[00:00:16.450] - Billy
Dude, I'm five five. I've been called Elvis Pressley, you know.
[00:00:19.570] - Rev and Eric
So how's Expo? What are you seeing? Anything cool?
[00:00:22.030] - Billy
Um, I think the best part of Expo this year is if you're a first timer and you're opening up a business, there is no better Expo to come to than this one specifically this year, because it's so controllable and you can really focus in and the vendors will actually talk to you. They have time to have a conversation.
[00:00:42.190] - Billy
And it's really good building your brand that way, where you can really have that conversation, which, as you guys know years ago. Excuse me? Excuse me? You can't get that conversation in. So if you're a first timer, this is the best show.
[00:00:56.590] - Rev and Eric
Yeah and I think people make the mistake of looking at it as a series of vendors, like, you're developing partners. These are people that have something that helps your business. Whatever it is, it's a product, it's a service. Marketing, whatever. They're your partner.
[00:01:09.250] - Billy
Well, you also have them to see, you're 100%, right. Absolutely. But that takes time. You have to prove to the manufacturer that you're capable of running a business, developing that relationship over at least four year time period because, you know, restaurants are the highest rate of failure in the world. Never mind what we're going through with Corona. So when you can build that relationship and I tell everybody this, I just got done talking about this.
[00:01:38.170] - Billy
If you can look at a vendor and say "can you" and go like this. You have to put your hand up so everybody sees it. And you can go like this to the vendor, "can you help me?" You know from marketing, just from marketing. If you can say, "I need your help". You mean I got a job working for Dave's Cookies or whatever and I get to do my job and help somebody. Boom.
[00:02:02.150] - Rev and Eric
That's the reason I do this, I like helping.
[00:02:06.590] - Billy
And when you're helping, you can help. But the person you're helping has to want to accept your help. I'll go on a limb.
[00:02:15.290] - Rev and Eric
Will Grant just said the same thing. There's a lot of people here that want to accept the help.
[00:02:21.950] - Billy
Listen, it's the difference, it's really the difference between successful people in an industry and people who are not successful in the industry. Any industry, it has nothing to do with pizza. If you're not willing to listen and learn, you will not be successful.
[00:02:46.070] - Rev and Eric
Couldn't agree more.
[00:02:47.390] - Rev and Eric
I want to ask you a totally bizarre, off the...
[00:02:49.610] - Billy
Ask me whatever you'd like.
[00:02:50.750] - Rev and Eric
I feel like Billy Manzo can handle those.
[00:02:53.630] - Rev and Eric
Best cigar you ever smoked?
[00:02:56.390] - Billy
Ashton Virgin Sun Grown.
[00:02:57.530] - Rev and Eric
Do you remember the day you smoked one?
[00:02:59.090] - Billy
Yes, it was at the Biloxi, Mississippi Cigar, not the Big Smoke, but at a trade show and the Ashton. Yeah, I remember you did your homework on my cigar background. And the Philadelphia police officers, a couple of them started a company called Ashton. And I got fed in Ashton. My boy, Victor Vitalli, who was the rep at the time, said you're going to try Virgin Sun Grown. And to be honest with you, I think I know a little bit about cigars now.
[00:03:37.890] - Billy
Carlos, how are you doing? I haven't seen Carlos since maybe last time I had a show in Vegas. But the cigar industry is as opposite as this you can get.
[00:03:48.810] - Rev and Eric
Really? What makes it? What, why?
[00:03:55.570] - Rev and Eric
It's already vegan. It's already plant based.
[00:04:00.070] - Billy
There's this sole genuine, I don't know, it's like nobody's competitive.
[00:04:10.370] - Rev and Eric
In cigars or in this?
[00:04:11.330] - Billy
In cigars. Yeah because what happens is, if you've got a box of Virgin Sun Growns and you got a box of Opus X and you get a consumer that wants his, you'll call and say, "listen, you got that box, you want to flip it?"
[00:04:28.250] - Billy
You know, it's a $500 box. You want to get rid of it? Yeah. Make $50 on it. Okay. Get rid of it. You got to boom, boom, boom.
[00:04:34.910] - Rev and Eric
Interesting.
[00:04:35.570] - Billy
Now, some guys aren't like that. But when you have that relationship, through the roof because that's what the manufacturer's like.
[00:04:43.970] - Rev and Eric
Yeah, that's cool. The other thing I wanted to ask you about because we talked about it on Instagram Live before, the building that Federal Hill Pizza is in. Talk about that building and what the history behind it is.
[00:04:53.390] - Billy
It's a great conversation right now. So me and my wife, who is actually videotaping us, who actually is smarter than me.
[00:05:01.070] - Rev and Eric
I figured
[00:05:03.350] - Billy
She has that on video. I mean, my wife's been in Forbes Magazine, I can go on and on about her, 25 Halloween shops in the business. Halloween outlet. You know, her family, Ovco Box Company. Ovco Boxes, that's her family.
[00:05:16.610] - Billy
So we made a conscious decision to buy the building in the neighborhood based on the analytics at the time and the statistics of what was going on. As I look at the camera. So we made a decision, buy the building, make the move, own the property. Very important. We bought the building really cheap. Based on the building in the neighborhood. We adapted the building based on the business plan, school, education, teaching, inner city kids, nonprofit, four for one, money is coming in from different directions, if you know what I mean.
[00:05:53.010] - Billy
Johnson & Wales being a mile down the street, juniors and seniors learning, eating, tasting. The building is 11,000 sqft. Special event room. I have the Providence Marriott, Biltmore, four hotels within a mile radius. They didn't want prior to covid. They didn't even want to look at parties 25 to 80, just too small. They would literally, I'm not kidding you guys, they would go, "We know Chef Billy Manzo, he's going to take care of you. Go down the street."
[00:06:24.990] - Rev and Eric
Wow. You've got to love that
[00:06:26.790] - Billy
Dude. Pizza, pasta, salad. $35-$40 bucks a head. Soda is extra, in the extra room. You saw the movie screens. Your kids want a movie? Put the movie on.
[00:06:38.190] - Rev and Eric
Yeah, there it is.
[00:06:39.210] - Billy
And guess what my biggest consumer was? It even blew me away. Bar Mitzvah's and Bat Mitzvah's. Those big 300 parties that I used to go to when I was a kid. All done. 25, 30 kids having a party, small room, controllable food. We did what, almost 20 of them, 30 of them in one year? Because you know as well as I do, you get one and you treat somebody within that community right, I'm knocking on wood, you get them all, you get them all.
[00:07:06.930] - Rev and Eric
I'm not sure this is wood.
[00:07:07.848] - Billy
Yeah, it's probably not.
[00:07:10.473] - Rev and Eric
Looks like wood but
[00:07:10.578] - Billy
But you get them all
[00:07:10.590] - Rev and Eric
How big is your party's area?
[00:07:12.450] - Billy
We can hold, in one room, we can hold about 150 easy. The other room is another 60 or 70. The building legally is 325.
[00:07:23.730] - Rev and Eric
So how, because I think that building is fairly old...
[00:07:27.330] - Billy
1925 Vaudeville movie theater.
[00:07:28.290] - Rev and Eric
Was it kind of an up and coming area?
[00:07:30.330] - Billy
No
[00:07:30.750] - Rev and Eric
Not at all?
[00:07:31.590] - Billy
No, it was actually a very Latino area. Awesome food. We would not have bought the building if there wasn't a market for what we thought there could be.
[00:07:42.990] - Rev and Eric
You build it and they will come
[00:07:44.730] - Billy
Inner city people, Latino, they couldn't have their Quinceanera's anywhere. They didn't have anywhere. And that community is exploding. If I showed you a picture of that room when African American consumers, which are loyal to the bone, would build that room for a small wedding, I would walk in and almost want a fall. Gorgeous room, up lighting, 25, 26 foot high ceilings. That building has JBL commercial movie sound because the movie, used to be a movie theater, my sub bases are the size of Volkswagens.
[00:08:22.230] - Rev and Eric
Sounds like Kevin Cosner's private pizza party viewing room.
[00:08:27.570] - Billy
His daughter lives in Rhode Island
[00:08:27.570] - Rev and Eric
Well there you go.
[00:08:27.570] - Rev and Eric
Totally, totally flipped the subject here.
[00:08:32.070] - Rev and Eric
We're here in the Marqii booth. They're a marketing company. They do marketing. I want to ask, how do you market private events, catering? If I could ask...
[00:08:44.830] - Billy
I've been very successful in my life because you guys may not believe this, but I'm five five. I will never play pro basketball.
[00:08:52.870] - Rev and Eric
Now, you were going to say you're successful in life because of your wife, right?
[00:08:55.750] - Billy
Well, you've asked me a question. I don't know the answer to, that's her lane.
[00:09:00.190] - Rev and Eric
Christine, come over here.
[00:09:00.790] - Billy
So come on this side. She does not like this.
[00:09:03.610] - Rev and Eric
That's all right.
[00:09:05.170] - Billy
This is her lane.
[00:09:06.010] - Rev and Eric
So the question was, how do you market the special events? Are you the one that's doing that?
[00:09:14.350] - Billy
Sit, sit.
[00:09:14.350] - Rev and Eric
Grab another chair.
[00:09:17.770] - Christine
I don't need to sit. So, this building is in the neighborhood where my husband grew, where Billy grew up. I don't know if you already said this part of the story, but it's three streets away from where his parents still live, and an 8th of a mile from our house where we have our eleven year old daughter. This is our community.
[00:09:36.550] - Rev and Eric
Right.
[00:09:38.770] - Christine
So, we consciously bought this building because we wanted to be a part of our community.
[00:09:44.230] - Rev and Eric
Love it.
[00:09:44.710] - Christine
We do a lot of work with different groups, like Adoption Rhode Island.
[00:09:53.350] - Billy
Hasboro Children's,
[00:09:54.130] - Christine
We do a lot of work with kids. Teaching them how to eat healthy. We do a lot of work with formerly incarcerated people. That's my passion. And I've made it Billy's passion because that's, we try to lift people up, so our goal is to have people that normally wouldn't be able to get a job, train them. Like Billy will teach you how to make, you can come in, have no experience. But if you want to show up, he'll teach you how to make bread. He'll teach you how to make pizza. He'll teach you how to do it because that gives him joy.
[00:10:26.110] - Christine
And then like we're helping our community. That sort of marketing. Like we do all of the parties for people...
[00:10:37.010] - Rev and Eric
Sounds like everyone.
[00:10:46.950] - Christine
That we reach out to
[00:10:47.730] - Billy
Yeah.
[00:10:49.590] - Christine
And when you said we charge $35 a head, no we don't, we charge $20 a head.
[00:10:54.270] - Billy
Wishful thinking
[00:10:54.302] - Christine
And it's pizza, pasta, salad and dessert.
[00:10:54.318] - Billy
Wishful thinking.
[00:10:54.318] - Christine
Yeah, I mean, like we're not there to like, we're not making billions of dollars in that building, that was never our goal but it's helped us to jump start the Billy Manzo brand. And it makes us...
[00:11:00.390] - Rev and Eric
It's a gorgeous brand.
[00:11:04.230] - Christine
It makes us happy. We didn't stay in business during covid...
[00:11:04.480] - Billy
Thank you
[00:11:05.790] - Christine
To make money. We stayed in business to employ our 50 employees. And you know, well, Billy Manzo hasn't taken the check in a year.
[00:11:17.130] - Billy
Yeah. Worry about my people, man.
[00:11:19.410] - Christine
This is what we're, this is our goal.
[00:11:20.310] - Rev and Eric
Love it.
[00:11:20.970] - Christine
I mean, hopefully not for the rest of our lives but
[00:11:23.730] - Rev and Eric
Right, right
[00:11:23.910] - Christine
Yeah but until things get, we figure out what the restaurant industry is going to look like, moving forward, which is exciting because we have a say in that, right. Like it's never going to be the same. But what does the restaurant experience look like, moving forward? And we don't know the answer to that. But we sure as hell have, like, a hand in forming that.
[00:11:44.970] - Rev and Eric
I love everything you said because I believe it. And I think a lot of the conversations we've had in the last couple of days. This guy right here, Alan, with Sophia's Pizza in San Antonio. Same thing talking about just pouring into people and pouring in, because when you pour in, it comes back.
[00:11:59.310] - Billy
Oh absolutely.
[00:11:59.850] - Christine
When you walk by somebody and you make eye contact with them and you say "hello".
[00:12:03.510] - Rev and Eric
Yeah.
[00:12:04.170] - Christine
Okay, like that's it.
[00:12:06.090] - Billy
Imagine that.
[00:12:06.450] - Rev and Eric
What a concept.
[00:12:07.590] - Rev and Eric
I'll tell you what I think is different about food service now, is there's a guest at the table that's always been there and restaurants are finally welcoming that guest. And it's the iPhone or the Android, right? We in Covid has pushed forward at like, we got to meet our guests on here.
[00:12:24.210] - Christine
And I think once you realize, like your guests might come in and they might have had a shitty day and it has nothing to do with you, and they're mad about something, and then they take it out on you and your pizza or whatever it is, it has nothing. I'll steal it from Billy, you have to have enough self respect and dignity to know that it's not you. Like everybody's going through their sh**.
[00:12:46.470] - Rev and Eric
I was going to ask earlier. Totally thousand degree different subject. But there's a lot of plant based toppings here today.
[00:12:53.070] - Billy
Yeah.
[00:12:53.910] - Rev and Eric
Do you see a spot for that?
[00:12:55.050] - Billy
That's Christine
[00:12:55.650] - Rev and Eric
Thank you.
[00:12:57.390] - Billy
We stay in our lane, that's why we stay married.
[00:12:59.310] - Rev and Eric
There you go. Do you see a spot for that in your pizza shop?
[00:13:02.910] - Billy
Absolutely. Why not? Yeah, we do a lot of testing, again, knock on wood, I'm very humbled. I get number A56B, next bag, A96Z, and I do reports. I'm very blessed. I went to College. I was going to go to law school, so I'm capable of writing reports, doing some things that maybe another pizza maker...I'm a business person. Okay? This is the way I chalk it up. I'm a business person that specializes in pizza. That's what I do. People will blow their mind.
[00:13:41.430] - Billy
"Oh you're a master pizzaiolo". "You're certified". You go with it. I'm a business person. My widget right now, my passion is pizza, but that doesn't mean that defines me. I'm more than welcome and easy to go do something else. My background is film and television. I used to work with Paramount Pictures. I've done really cool sh**. So for me, I love what I do right now. And guess what? It seems like this is the road I'll be traveling, which isn't a bad road.
[00:14:09.990] - Rev and Eric
We don't want to...
[00:14:10.890] - Rev and Eric
It's a tasty one.
[00:14:11.730] - Billy
Yeah, right.
[00:14:12.330] - Rev and Eric
We don't want to keep you all day. I've got two questions for you and whatever he's got. 3 seconds to answer both questions.
[00:14:18.630] - Billy
Go for it. I love this.
[00:14:19.230] - Rev and Eric
Coolest car you've ever driven?
[00:14:21.690] - Billy
Ferrari 3....Ferrari 430.
[00:14:26.730] - Rev and Eric
He's driven some cool cars, that's why I wanted to ask.
[00:14:28.530] - Billy
Ferrari 430, a gated red. 6,224 miles.
[00:14:34.770] - Rev and Eric
What do you do with that car?
[00:14:36.150] - Billy
I have a lot of fun with it.
[00:14:37.950] - Rev and Eric
Alive or dead, who would you like to cook for?
[00:14:41.070] - Billy
Ah, that's a great question. Your questions freaking rock.
[00:14:43.650] - Rev and Eric
You know I come at you with the hard stuff.
[00:14:44.850] - Billy
Ah, I love your questions. My God. I got the goosebumps on that one.
[00:14:47.320] - Rev and Eric
Your three seconds are up
[00:14:48.750] - Billy
Robert John Kennedy.
[00:14:49.830] - Rev and Eric
All right. I like it, great answer. You got anything else?
[00:14:52.710] - Rev and Eric
Weird Al, mine would be Weird Al.
[00:14:54.030] - Rev and Eric
Really?
[00:14:55.050] - Billy
Oh yeah.
[00:14:56.190] - Rev and Eric
He's the most genius marketer that ever lived. He's maintained relevance his entire career.
[00:15:03.070] - Rev and Eric
Well, we appreciate you.
[00:15:04.330] - Billy
Any time for you guys.
[00:15:05.170] - Rev and Eric
Are we going to see you at World Pizza Champion dinner tonight?
[00:15:07.630] - Billy
Uh, I think it's up to her, my team, point me in the right direction.
[00:15:12.610] - Rev and Eric
All right, well good, Perfect Crust is taking care of dinner tonight.
[00:15:15.010] - Billy
Perfect Crust. Check these guys out. Keep looking at it.
[00:15:18.550] - Rev and Eric
Billy Manzo.
