World Pizza Champion Carmine Testa on Moving Locations, Managing Chaos, and Winning at Pizza Expo
By Eric Bam - Vice President Of Sales & Marketing
I chatted with World Pizza Champion Carmine Testa of Jersey Pizza Boys in Avenel, New Jersey to talk about his recent move, staffing strategy, bar growth, Expo competition advice, and why he uses Galbani cheese.
If you know Carmine, you know one thing. You ask one question, you get ten lessons! Let’s go.
The Move Across the Street That Turned Into a Masterclass!
Carmine recently moved into a larger location directly across the street from his old restaurant. Bigger dining room. Bigger bar. Bigger kitchen.
So what surprised him the most?
Not the township.
Not the permits.
Not the inspections.
Those were smooth.
The real problem?
Contractor dominoes.
If the plumber is delayed two weeks, the electrician cannot start.
If the electrician cannot start, the walls cannot go up.
If the walls cannot go up, sheetrock cannot happen.
If sheetrock cannot happen, nothing else moves.
A two week delay becomes four months.
He also ran into unexpected structural costs. The concrete floor was four feet thick with reinforced columns. A trench that should have cost $2,800 to cut ended up costing $7,000.
The upside?
“Apparently I have a great foundation.”
The lesson is simple. It is never the thing you worry about. It is the thing behind the thing.
Staffing Strategy: Let Them Make More Money!
The dining room went from 40 seats to 110.
Back of house was straightforward. Add a full time cook and a full time dishwasher.
Front of house required a different approach.
Instead of flooding the floor with new tipped employees, Carmine sat his team down and gave them a choice.
Work harder for the first few weeks and make significantly more money.
Or bring in more staff immediately and split the same pie more ways.
They voted to grind.
Once volume stabilized, they added strategically.
Then something powerful happened.
Veteran staff started training new hires with extreme attention to detail. How to lift chairs. How to sweep corners. How to move with purpose.
The culture leveled up.
Leadership is not always about adding people. Sometimes it is about trusting the ones you already have.
The Bar Grew. So Did the Chaos.
The old bar seated 10.
The new bar seats 30.
Two bartenders are not enough. Three becomes the standard on busy nights.
They launched a 20 drink specialty cocktail menu filled with martinis and creative margaritas priced at $15 to $16. Colorful. Fun. Profitable.
But here is the reality.
When one drink hits the bar, three more get ordered.
Now one bartender is 30 deep in detailed cocktails.
Carmine has already witnessed two emotional breakdowns behind the bar in three weeks.
His response?
Jump in. Rim glasses. Run drinks. Solve problems.
He would rather comp a drink than let a guest wait too long.
Kitchen chaos is controlled chaos.
Bar chaos is survival.
Carryout, Packaging, and the DoorDash Frustration!
Yes, they do takeout and delivery.
Packaging has been elevated. Clear clamshell containers for salads. Branded pizza boxes. Clean presentation.
Because presentation protects the product.
And then there is third party delivery.
A driver shows up without a hot bag on a 30 degree night. The pizza travels ten miles. It arrives cold.
The customer leaves a one star review.
Not on the delivery app.
On the restaurant.
It is one of the most frustrating realities of modern restaurant ownership.
Control what you can control. Fight for the integrity of your product. Accept that some variables are out of your hands.
A Question That Caught Him Off Guard!
In the middle of permits, contractors, bar chaos, and cheese talk, I asked him something completely unrelated.
“What was your favorite color when you were a kid?”
He did not hesitate.
“Green.”
Still green today.
It is a small detail. But small details tell big stories. Some people change with every season. Some people stay rooted.
Green. Growth. Consistency.
It fits.
Pizza Expo Advice From A Champion!
Carmine has competed at Pizza Expo for years. Here are his core principles:
Bring everything. If you need a fork, bring a fork. Never assume it will be there.
Guard your ingredients. Shared refrigeration becomes a free for all under pressure.
Practice methodically. Start two months out. Make the same pizza every other day. As Expo approaches, make it daily.
Change one variable at a time. Never adjust multiple elements at once.
Set up your station for flow. If you are right handed, place toppings accordingly.
Count everything. Pepperoni slices. Sauce ounces. Precision reduces nerves.
His words were clear.
“If you are methodical, you are unbeatable.”
That is not just Expo advice. That is business advice.
Why He Uses Galbani Cheese!
When I asked Carmine about Galbani, his answer was simple and direct.
Quality matters.
Galbani delivers consistency, melt, and performance at a level he trusts in a high volume restaurant. When you are serving packed dining rooms and full bars, you cannot afford surprises.
But what stood out even more to him was the relationship.
When he calls, someone answers.
They know who he is. They treat him like a partner, not a number. In a world of automated systems and endless button pushing, that still matters.
His line summed it up perfectly:
“Think global. Act local.”
That is what he sees in Galbani. A company with scale that still operates with personal accountability.
For him, that combination of product performance and human connection is what makes the difference.
Final Takeaway!
Carmine calls himself an evil genius.
He says he comes up with 100 ideas.
98 are terrible.
2 are grand slams.
If this were baseball, he would be in the Hall of Fame, so he says!
But here is what really stood out to me.
He obsesses over details. He trusts his people. He practices relentlessly. He jumps into chaos instead of running from it.
And through all of it, he is still the guy whose favorite color is green.
Growth. Foundation. Forward motion.
In a business full of noise and stress and shifting variables, that feels about right.
