Giving Mom a Much Needed Break

Whether you're opening a new pizza restaurant or overhauling an established one, you need to give thought to the dining experience for your customers. Food quality may be your number-one priority, but the right atmosphere can go a long way toward making your patrons enjoy their visit. One thing to think about is having a semi-open kitchen area in which your cooks toss the pizza dough out in the open. Here are some pros and cons of this arrangement.

Pro: It Adds Entertainment

People often enjoy being entertained while they wait for their meals and while they eat, and cooks tossing pizza dough high in the air can definitely fit that description. This can be a favorite attraction for children of all ages, who may quickly grow to love eating at your pizza restaurant because of this show. Even older people who have seen such a spectacle in the past should get a kick out of it.

Con: It Can Make The Restaurant Louder

When people see an animated scene such as pizza cooks tossing their dough in the air, they can quickly become excited and chatter among themselves. As your cooks occasionally perform tricks with the dough — perhaps tossing pieces to each other — some of your patrons will cheer and clap to acknowledge the feat. This may be somewhat disruptive to other diners who prefer more of a quiet environment.

Pro: It Opens The Door To Promotions

There are many different promotional activities you can organize when your pizza restaurant begins to get a reputation in the community for the dough-throwing spectacle. For example, if there's another pizza restaurant in town with a similar approach, you could organize a "dough throw-off" event in which your cooks compete with their tricks and raise money for a local charity. Or, you could have kids' camps in the summer in which children learn how to make pizzas from scratch and throw the dough.

Con: It May Require Extra Staff Training

Not every cook who works in a pizza restaurant is naturally a performer, so it may be a little more challenging to find cooks who can toss pizza dough in front of patrons than if you were simply hiring cooks to work behind the scenes. You may need to pay a little more for cooks with this expertise or offer additional training. Depending on how you feel about these pros versus cons, you can move forward accordingly.

For more information about local pizza restaurants, contact a business like Tony & Joe's Pizzeria.