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The Hot Slice

Pizza Today

283 episodes

2 days ago

Send us a text Join hosts Denise Greer and Kate Lavin as they sit down with Jen Strickland and Jeff Mettler from Home Slice Pizza to celebrate an incredible milestone—20 years of serving authentic New York-style pizza in Austin, Texas. In this episode, Jen shares the origin story of Home Slice, born from her love of New York pizza and frustration with Austin's lack of quality slices. She takes us back to November 2005, when she and her partners opened their doors on South Congress Avenue with...

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Send us a text Join hosts Denise Greer and Kate Lavin as they sit down with Jen Strickland and Jeff Mettler from Home Slice Pizza to celebrate an incredible milestone—20 years of serving authentic New York-style pizza in Austin, Texas. In this episode, Jen shares the origin story of Home Slice, born from her love of New York pizza and frustration with Austin's lack of quality slices. She takes us back to November 2005, when she and her partners opened their doors on South Congress Avenue with...

Show more...

Episodes (20/283)

The Hot Slice

283. Celebrating 20 Years of Home Slice Pizza

Send us a text Join hosts Denise Greer and Kate Lavin as they sit down with Jen Strickland and Jeff Mettler from Home Slice Pizza to celebrate an incredible milestone—20 years of serving authentic New York-style pizza in Austin, Texas. In this episode, Jen shares the origin story of Home Slice, born from her love of New York pizza and frustration with Austin's lack of quality slices. She takes us back to November 2005, when she and her partners opened their doors on South Congress Avenue with...

2 days ago

42 minutes

The Hot Slice

282. Creating Opportunities With Pizza and Purpose

Send us a text October isn’t just National Pizza Month, it’s also National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Brewability is a pizzeria founded by Tiffany Fixter, a former special education teacher. We speak with Fixter and pizzeria marketer and manager Jess Runge about how they are serving up pizza and opportunities in their community of Englewood, Colorado. Brewability proudly employs 26 adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including individuals who are blind, deaf a...

1 week ago

32 minutes

The Hot Slice

281. Get Ready with Pizza Today – Pizza Expo Columbus Edition

Send us a text Before we jump into last-minute prep for Pizza Expo Columbus, happening this Sunday and Monday, we have HUGE news share! Jeremy has been appointed as Brand Director of International Pizza Expo, while Denise steps up as the new Editor-in-Chief of Pizza Today magazine. We talk promotions and what they mean for Pizza Today and Pizza Expo. Onto the show, we are days away from the inaugural Pizza Expo Columbus. Jeremy, Denise, Josh and Kate share all the excitement that you won’t wa...

2 weeks ago

31 minutes

The Hot Slice

280. Spinato’s Pizzeria goes 49% Employee Owned (ESOP)

Send us a text Tempe-based Spinato’s Pizzeria has embarked on an ownership structure that only 7,000 businesses around country and only one percent of Arizona companies offers, an Employee Ownership Stock Plan (ESOP). Since opening 51 years ago, Spinato’s has grown to six Phoenix-area locations with more than 420 employees. The pizza company is the Official Pizza of the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury (NBA and WNBA basketball teams) and the Official Pizza of the Arizona Cardinals (NFL footba...

3 weeks ago

42 minutes

The Hot Slice

279. Going big at the New York State Fair

Send us a text When you are looking for an added revenue source, have you ever considered a state fair? This week’s guest, Nick Sanford went all in at the New York State Fair. Nick owns Toss & Fire with three locations and a fleet of food trucks around Syracuse, New York. This is the third year Toss & Fire has had a presence at the New York State Fair, but this year, Sanford took over a prime location. From fair-exclusive pizza specials, a pre-fair marketing blitz to the logisti...

1 month ago

33 minutes

The Hot Slice

278. An 18-Year-Old Rookie of the Year Owner

Send us a text This week on The Hot Slice Podcast, we chat with a visionary young operator who bought her first Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’ Bake Pizza franchise as while she was still in high school. Lily worked at a local Papa Murphy’s before jumping at the opportunity to become a franchisee. Though savings and a loan from a family friend, Lily and her family made the purchase. Lily is the majority owner and runs the day-to-day operations. During her first year, she has remodeled her store, embra...

1 month ago

28 minutes

The Hot Slice

277. Plan Ahead to Say Yes With Big Green Truck Pizza

Send us a text Listen to Liane Varipapa Page, owner of Big Green Truck Pizza in Connecticut, on The Hot Slice Podcast with Pizza Today. Big Green Truck Pizza made history this month by serving more than 4,500 people at the 10th annual Apizza Feast in New Haven. The company’s lead dough maker prepared 750 dough balls ahead of the event, which served 10,000 slices and was recognized by Guinness World Records for the largest pizza party. Achieving the feat required lots of planning. Big Gr...

1 month ago

31 minutes

The Hot Slice

276. Uncovering Hidden History: The Now Pizzeria's 1881 Time Capsule

Send us a text This week on The Hot Slice Podcast, hosts Joelene and Joel Best shared an extraordinary discovery that has captivated their Hamburg, New York community and pizza lovers everywhere. What started as a routine renovation project at The Now Pizzeria transformed into an archaeological adventure when contractors uncovered a newspaper from 1881 hidden within the building's walls. The discovery happened during exterior renovations at the historic pizzeria, located right on Main Street ...

1 month ago

29 minutes

The Hot Slice

275. The Rise of Double Zero Pizza & Pub with Erica Bell

Send us a text What does it take to transform a small pizzeria in Las Vegas' Chinatown into a nationally recognized restaurant? For Erica Bell, General Manager and Pizzaiola at ØØ Pie & Pub (Double Zero), the answer lies in obsessive attention to detail, authentic leadership, and an unwavering commitment to excellence. This week, we chat with Erica on the business. In just two years of operation, Double Zero has achieved what many restaurants spend decades pursuing: recognition as ...

1 month ago

37 minutes

The Hot Slice

274. 2025 Pizzeria of the Year: Mattenga’s Pizzeria, San Antonio, TX

Send us a text From Engineering to Excellence: Inside Mattenga's Pizzeria's Rise to Pizza Today's 2025 Pizzeria of the Year The latest episode of The Hot Slice Podcast with Pizza Today featured an inspiring conversation with Matthew and Hengam Stanfield, the engineering-minded power couple behind Mattenga's Pizzeria. Fresh off their monumental achievement of being named Pizza Today's 2025 Pizzeria of the Year, the Stanfields shared the strategic insights and systematic approaches that transfo...

2 months ago

42 minutes

The Hot Slice

273. REPLAY: Hot Takes on Pizza with the Pizza Today Team

Send us a text This week, we’re bringing you a fun episode with the Pizza Today Team giving our “Hot Takes” on pizza. And we didn’t even talk about pineapple on pizza. We dive into pizza styles. Whether toppings go over or under the cheese, chicken’s place, charring on pizza, olives, best cheese on pizza, childhood pizzas and more.  We’re also inviting you to send us your “Hot Takes”. We’re giving a fresh direction on the old-fashioned letters to the editor. We call it “Hot Take”. Do yo...

2 months ago

34 minutes

The Hot Slice

272. Pizza Community to Convene in Ohio

Send us a text Pizza Expo and Pizza Today have done it again. We’re rolling into Columbus, Ohio, with a power-packed two days of connection with products, services and tech, gathering with pizzeria people, competing in world-class competitions and learning from more than 30 education seminars, demos and workshops. Just over 60 days aways from the Midwest show, we’re dedicating this episode to talking Pizza Expo Columbus. The Pizza Today team also chat about the industry, dough and pizza toppi...

2 months ago

34 minutes

The Hot Slice

271. Premiering a Pizza Documentary on John Arena with Tommy Schneider

Send us a text This week is a very special episode of The Hot Slice podcast as we announce the premiere of the John Arena episode of The Secret Ingredient, a pizza documentary series that takes an in depth look at the pizzeria industry through the eyes of its world-class pizza makers. Tommy Schneider, owner of Tommy’s Pizzeria in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, took his love for the pizza community to another level. We’ve been working with Tommy to share his passion project. Coming to Pizza...

2 months ago

29 minutes

The Hot Slice

270. When Construction Closes Access to Your Shop

Send us a text Darius Aram pulled into Slice Street Pizza in Dripping Springs, Texas, to find that his hop was completely cut off due to unexpected construction. In the face of huge sales dip and little information on the construction project, he decided to handle the obstacle with humor and humility. Darius’ response to the closure helped mitigate some of the impact of a near shutdown. He had honest and direct conversations with his town officials to work through solutions to speed up the si...

3 months ago

42 minutes

The Hot Slice

269. Slow Day Turnaround / AI Integration with George Gilliam

Send us a text This week on The Hot Slice Podcast with Pizza Today we have George Gilliam, owner of Uncle G’s Pizza in Birmingham, Alabama. George reached out to us to do a story on how he has doubled and tripled slow days at the restaurant. The conversion was so captivating that we wanted to share it on the podcast. Gilliam set a strategy into motion to turn his slowest days into high-volume sales days. He focused on increasing sales with daily specials one slow day at a time until he ...

3 months ago

39 minutes

The Hot Slice

267. Rising Star With Grand Expansion Plans

Send us a text Listen to Melina Piroso Felix, owner-operator of The Pizza Bandit in Denver on The Hot Slice Podcast with Pizza Today Melina Piroso Felix had an established career in marketing and branding when the pandemic prompted her to rethink her goals in 2020. Prior to that point, she had graduated from being the night manager at her uncle’s restaurant in Miami’s South Beach district to undertake a successful career in graphic design. But Piroso Felix never left pizza entirely behind. Sh...

3 months ago

35 minutes

The Hot Slice

266. Pizzata Passion with Davide Lubrano and Vinny Gallagher

Send us a text This month Davide Lubrano has been named a Rising Star of the Pizza Industry. We sat down with Davide and Vince Gallagher, co-owners of the two-unit Pizzata Pizzeria in Philadelphia. We talk about Davide’s recognition and his recent pizza competition winning streak at Pizza Expo and in Italy. They also share the other benefits of competing. Pizzata is growing. They recently added a commissary. We talk logistics and equipment, as well as how it is helping the two Pizzata l...

4 months ago

39 minutes

The Hot Slice

268. Rising Star in a Rising Food Scene

Send us a text Listen to Jhy Coulter, restaurateur and creator of Orange by Devoured in Kansas City on The Hot Slice by Pizza Today Jhy Coulter has always felt at home when working at restaurants. Even as her graphic design career grew, Coulter often kept a part-time job to stay close to the food industry. On Aug. 15, she will celebrate the one-year anniversary of her Kansas City-based pizzeria, Orange by Devoured. In this episode of The Hot Slice, she shares how she started offering pizzas ...

4 months ago

40 minutes

The Hot Slice

265. Pizza Biz Talk with Mike Bausch

Send us a text This week, we catch up with the great Mike Bausch. He brings such knowledge, energy and leadership to the pizza community. Mike now has 12 restaurants in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area, including Andolini’s Pizzeria and a newer fine dining spot, Prossimo Ristorante. He’s an Oklahoma’s Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year, No. 1 Amazon best-selling author, Tulsa’s Restauranteur of the Year and a two-time Guinness World Record holder. You can find him each month in the pages of Pizz...

4 months ago

39 minutes

The Hot Slice

264. We the Pizza with Muhammad Abdul-Hadi

Send us a text Muhammad Abdul-Hadi just finished a national book tour for his first release, We the Pizza. Since opening Down North Pizza in North Philadelphia in 2021, he has been on a whirlwind of success, from creating Down North Foundation, winning a James Beard Leadership Award and publishing his book. We chat with Muhammad about the book and how its stories and recipes that work to reduce recidivism rates. Down North Pizza was founded to offer killer pizza and employ formerly incarcerat...

4 months ago

28 minutes