Do you want to know why so many pizza chains are owned/run by right-wingers?

[onehandle]

Because it's like printing money.

I used to know someone who owned 12 Dominoes Pizzas. He told me that the profit ratio was so high, that unless you were an idiot, you would always make money.

A pizza at one of those large chains is assembled in as little as 30 seconds before about three minutes of cooking. The components are dirt cheap. The employees are minimum wage, with no benefits.

A perfect business for the money hungry.

[Island Blue]

1. The best pizza place in my hometown

is a tiny, local place owned by our Democratic mayor. Bonus, they have yummy pizza. I'll go there vs. going to a chain any day of the week.

[onehandle]

4. I bet it takes more than 3 or 4 minutes to get a pizza.

The best places take a while.

[Island Blue]

10. That's ture, it does.

They only have one oven and their pies are huge. Big, floppy New York style pizza right here on the NC coast.

[hifiguy]

13. Not always.

The Lombardi's that used to be in Philly only put the pie in the (900 degree) oven for about two minutes or so. I presume the original Lombardi's in NYC does the same. Punch, a small local chain here in Mpls/St. Paul, uses the same approach and they're certified by the Neapolitan Pizza Authority or whatever it's called in Italian. The pizza at Punch is delicious, if not quite Lombardi's.

[hack89]

2. So Democrats don't like making money?

hard to tell with all the millionaires representing us.

I know many small business owners who are Democrats - I don't think you can put it down to a RW/LW kind of thing.

[onehandle]

5. I have gifted you with a great honor. You are the first DUer I've ever put on ignore.

Find another to stalk.

Bye.

[hack89]

8. You have a peculiar definition of stalk.

are you sure you haven't gotten you sockpuppets mixed up again?

[RagAss]

46. Thanks...that means you're the only DUer who doesn't have me on ignore.

[Wait Wut]

11. They like making money.

But, the Dem. small business owners I know (including my husband and sister) don't like ripping people off or watching their employees starve. None are getting filthy rich. They pay the bills and save what they can. A friend of mine owns two local pizza places and a grill. He raised prices so he could give his employees raises. He's also made a huge difference in the lives of a few recovering addicts. My husband's business has become the most popular of his kind in the area because he charges fair prices, doesn't bullshit people by giving them low estimates and then jacking the cost and getting things done in a reasonable amount of time.

Not saying all Rep. business owners are assholes and scam artists. I know a few good ones that genuinely care about their employees and customers.

[freshwest]

12. +1,000. Thanks for that.

[bullwinkle428]

3. Totally agree. With the exception of Little Caesar's, every one of those chain places charges

at least as much as whatever the best local pizza joint in town does, and overhead in terms of material costs have to be far less per pizza for the chain.

[onehandle]

7. Yeah. At the time I knew the guy I mentioned, a small cheese pizza cost...

...slightly more in food cost than the box it was delivered in.

At full price, it was a profit of 300%+ including personnel and overhead.

[Fuddnik]

23. Ever price cheese?

I used to own a pizza shop. Each large pizza got one pound of cheese. Bought in blocks and hand-shredded.

And in 2008, the price of a 50-pound bag of flower jumped from $6.00 per 50 pound bag to $37.00....overnight.


Whoever told you it was a 300% profit including personnel and overhead is full of shit The general rule in the restaurant business is charge 300% of the cost of ingredients, and that will cover your overhead and employees.

[12AngryBorneoWildmen]

25. I refuse to believe that anyone with a computer

spells 'Flour', F-L-O-W-E-R

[Fuddnik]

34. I can't believe I did that stupid shit either, but I did.

And I'll leave it there to shame myself.

[Tunkamerica]

51. That's the good stuff.

Flour's for plebes.

[Blue Owl]

66. Listen to the Flour People

They're reaching out to you!

[Initech]

6. Imagine there's no pizza...

[MagickMuffin]

9. "Why so many pizza chains are owned/run by right-wingers?" Because they like rolling in the dough!

I make my own pizzas. Flour tortillas make an excellent crust.

[DonRedwood]

17. really?

[TlalocW]

18. Give us a basic recipe

For those of us who are not good cooks.

TlalocW

[MagickMuffin]

21. Pretty simple really

I usually preheat the tortillas on both sides so they have structure, in a 400º oven. Be careful not to cook them to long, a few minutes per side.

Then add your sauce, I use store bought spaghetti sauce, cheese and then whatever else you want to add. Since I'm not a meat eater I usually add veggies. Cook long enough to melt cheese. I usually make myself 2 and use a 6"-8" tortilla size.

Of course living in Texas I have to wait until the cooler months so I don't add extra heat in the house during the summer.

Give it a try, I'm sure you can do it and walla inexpensive pizza fresh from your oven. And best of all made by you!

[eggplant]

22. Pizzadillas!

Tools needed:
Flat skillet
Lid large enough to cover an 8-10" flour tortilla
Tongs or spatula (tongs work better for me)
Tablespoon
Pizza cutter / sharp knife

Ingredients:
Flour tortillas (8-10" ones)
Jar of pizza sauce
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Sliced pepperoni and/or other toppings if desired (we usually just do pepperoni)

Preheat skillet, do not grease.
Place one tortilla on skillet
Add one tablespoon of pizza sauce, use spoon to spread evenly (it takes less sause than you think)
Add shredded cheese (again, less than you might think)
Cover
Wait patiently, peeking under cover until cheese is melted
Add toppings to HALF of the tortilla
Fold in half with tongs (fold the cheese only side over the topping side)
Remove from heat to cutting board, start next one (tortilla/sauce/cheese/cover)
Slice the one you just finished and serve to impatient eaters (the delay while starting the next one allows the cheese to melt through the toppings)

Basic rule is that overloading it with sauce/cheese/toppings makes it unnecessarily sloppy without any benefit. Go easy on ingredients and make more of them instead...

[jtuck004]

27. It's easy. Set yourself free!

Last edited Wed Aug 8, 2012, 05:06 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.pizzamaking.com/thincrust.php

Seriously, thin crust pizza, and a search for good garlic (better and tastier than the early/late California or Chinese import garlic in most stores and restaurants) can take time, but it's really good for attracting people to talk, sharing.

The majority of cooking is a skill, and what is not is many times subjective, so just have fun. Additionally, if you can grow and eat a bit of it, even in a bucket on the patio (garlic, tomato, parsley, oregano?), you take a little support away from the people who used to control all that for you. Always a good thing.

[nadinbrzezinski]

45. I'll give you one for sauce

Get tomato paste with nothing added. (We get the rganic). Put it in a pot with a can of water, salt, pepper, chopped garlic, and fresh basil, chopped. Cook for ten minutes.

It maes yummy pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce. Being gluten intolerant has forced me to do things like this.

[Scalded Nun]

33. Try this

Whole wheat pita rounds (appx 7-8" diameter). Sauce, onions, shrooms, red bell pepper, a little banana pepper, thin sliced hard salami (for those not averse to meat) and cheese. Then prinkle with some Italian herb blend. Cook to taste.

[Marinedem]

14. Sooo...

People like having businesses that make a great profit...

I'm shocked and disgusted.

[RZM]

15. I don't know. I worked for a few pizza joints when I was younger

None of the owner/operators struck me as RW, though maybe they were. One of them actually ran for the State House as a Democrat. He lost, albeit to the second cousin of one of our sitting US Senators.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

16. I never eat pizza.

Because i am highly allergic to tomatoes.
I found this out about 40 years ago, when I was in high school.

I would eat a pizza with everything on it, except pepperoni, and about an hour later I would barf it up.

I got a clue then.

[eShirl]

20. so order a white pizza

[Tunkamerica]

52. or pesto. or sauceless.

[Honeycombe8]

49. Ditto. Well, I rarely eat it.

It's one of the unhealthiest foods you can eat. High fat (the wrong kind), extremely high sodium, high calorie, high carbs (not the kind with a lot of fiber).

[eilen]

64. I discovered I'm allergic or something like that to wheat

I ate two slices of pizza for my birthday after not eating wheat for a couple months and spent the next 48 hours with horrible stomach cramps and well, you know. No more pizza for me, the stuff is poison. I can barely make it to work today. That Wheat Belly guy is right.

[Ter]

19. Most Italians are conservative

That probably has something to do with it too.

[AverageJoe90]

30. If that was true.....

Wouldn't most of New York and whole chunks of N.J. be a deep, deep, red? Instead, they're some of the bluest areas in this whole country.

[Ter]

31. Italians aren't "most of NY"

In the Italian neighborhoods like Bay Ridge and the South Shore of Staten Island, it is very red.

[Dawson Leery]

36. Not just in NYC, but the suburbs too.

[slackmaster]

38. Nearly all of the pizza places and Mom & Pop stores in my area are owned by Chaldeans from Iraq

They tend to be conservative too.

[UTUSN]

39. Actually, Ter is on to something "Most Italians are conservative." Think SCALIA. n/t

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

40. Perhaps, most Americans of Italian origin may be conservatives

but Italians - and I am one - are far from it, especially using American standards.

I'm not sure where the stereotype began, but it may have something to do with the fact that most Italian immigrants to the U.S. were from southern Italy, historically the poorest and least educated part of Italy, heavily influenced (or indoctrinated) by the Catholic church to maintain a patriarchal and conservative way of life, the likes of which is long gone in present-day Italy.

[AverageJoe90]

44. Well....

I mean yeah, there probably are a fair number of Italian-American conservatives, though I seriously doubt they consist of the majority. If there were any particular group I'd look for being mainly conservative, it'd be WASPs, either in the South, some parts of the Midwest, or certain suburban areas elsewhere(think: Sachse, TX or Orange County, CA).....though of course, you have the fairly liberal ones on the West Coast(especially around S.F., Seattle, and Portland), New England, and some elsewhere but they're not quite the majority, I don't think.

[onlyadream]

24. The pizza guy I know

Doesn't claim all his cash. He's beyond right wing, he's a libertarian. Doesn't believe in paying taxes. I make my own pizzas at home, and my family loves it!

[RebelOne]

26. I dated a guy for several years who owned a couple of pizza restaurants

in Miami. I do not know his political beliefs because I was not into politics at that time, but I sure had a lot of free pizzas. His partner was from Palermo, and all the chefs were Italian, so all the food was authentic Italian and outstanding..

[Erose999]

28. delivery drivers have to pay for maintanance and fuel for their vehicles out of their own pocket as

well. Which is hard to do on minimum wage + tips.

And a franchise is the easiest type of business to get into. All the thinking is done at the home office, the owner only has to put up the initial investment in the location and pay the franchise fee and fill in the blanks on the paperwork.

[standingtall]

59. Actually delivry drivers at Papa Johns,Pizza Hut, and Dominoes no not make minimum wage.

They use to get minimum wage, but starting back in 2006 they begin to get paid about $4.25 hr. With the exception of the 8 or so states were that kind of thing is illegal.

[tridim]

29. If it wasn't for the crust, pizza would be pretty expensive.

Almost every other ingredient (especially the cheese) is costly.

What ingredients do you think are cheap?

[maddezmom]

35. so have you been lurking for a while, a day or what?

[Gold Metal Flake]

42. 50% of shakeemondown's posts have been hidden. nm

[cali]

37. Come eat here- or buy it frozen

American Flatbread Mission Statement

It is the mission of American Flatbread to provide good, flavorful, nutritious food that gives both joy and health, and to share this food with others in ways sustainable to all.
We set out to do this by:

Creating a pleasant, fulfilling and secure workplace
Producing, Packaging, marketing and distributing our products in an environmentally conscious way
Trusting one another and practicing respectful relationships with those involved in this work
Supporting with our voices and our buying power local, regional and sustainable agriculture, the forces of peace and understanding, the cultural, economic and environmental needs of peoples worldwide and the ecological needs of the wild flora and fauna
Being an educational resource to our community
Being a good neighbor
Laughing and being of goodwill. Being grateful, respectful and forgiving and Encouraging these experiences in others
Creating long-term financial security

http://www.americanflatbreadproducts.com/frozen-flatbread/varieties/

[HockeyMom]

41. Snice moving from NY to Florida,

I cannot get good pizza. Chain pizza? GROSS. I have learned to make own pizzza and don't go small pizza places in Florida, or the large chains.

Mine is BETTER.

[Fuddnik]

43. It took me 3 years to find a decent pizza on Florida's Gulf Coast.

But, when I had my shop in Tampa, we were told we had the best NY style pizza in town. And the best Cheese steaks.

But, we bought the shop from a guy from Philly, and kept all of his home made recipes.

[seanpencil]

47. all they care about is dough

[seanpencil]

50. someone already made this joke

d'oh!

[Nevernose]

48. 6 minutes, 40 seconds

The cooking time is somewhere between six minutes forty and seven and a half. Spent years making, managing, and delivering pizza places. They attract entrepreneurs and have a very low learning curve. Most of the people I worked for were very conservative, except one super nice family of Iranian exiles.

[AsahinaKimi]

53. I would rather purchase a pizza from a locally owned place

Then buy from any chain. One of our pizza places in San Francisco was voted Top Ten Pizzas in the United States last year. If I lived in that area of the city, I would probably try it out, but I believe its located down town near the area of AT&T Park, and they don't deliver to my part of the city. Some day I will recall the name, and go try it out for myself. (If I can get in the door.)

[loli phabay]

56. personally i would rather hit dominoes, their cheesey bread and wings will do me

and of all the pizzas their pepperoni is my kids fav,

[AsahinaKimi]

57. Dominos is run by a guy

Who sends in all his money to right wing organizations, especially to those who are anti-gay and ultra religious right. I wouldn't walk in their door to ask them the time.

[pstokely]

63. That guy sold it to Bain

nt

[AsahinaKimi]

65. Just as bad, I would guess

what does a Money corporation know about making pizza?

[SoDesuKa]

54. Pizza Joints DO Fail

Pizza places attract entrepreneurs and some of them aren't up to the challenge of running a business. It may be like printing money, but not everybody can do it successfully.

[snot]

55. Tonite's "Colbert Report" dovetails perfectly with this.

[eridani]

58. Yet another reason to favor locally owned over chains

More likely to be owned by Democrats, and even if owned by RWers, at least the money keeps circulating in the community.

[JI7]

60. i think most chains tend to be run/owned by Republicans

dems tend to create their own thing.

[Canadian 2]

61. Papa John's

[pstokely]

62. It's an industry built on low wages and high profile marketing

nt