Las Terranas in need of NYC Pizza?

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PeterInBrat

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A friend of mine is a manager of a pizza shop. They make real NYC style thin crust pizza using stone deck ovens as well as wood fired oven pizzas. He's been there over ten years and he's looking for a change. He currently works 50-60 hours a week, most nights until 3AM.

He doesn't speak Spanish, but he's completely fluent in French, so I'm thinking he might do well in Las Terranas. He's single, 42 and doesn't have any kids. He wants to start his own shop, but the market is saturated where we are.

Any thoughts or comments?
 
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windeguy

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The market is saturated with bad pizza. But it seems to be good enough. Never come to the DR if you are in need of money from a job unless you can work in the Internet. Another restaurant? fuggedaboutit

Do French people like NY style Pizza?
 
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PeterInBrat

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I never hear anything about the market in Las Terranas, only Sosua for start ups. Unlike most, he actually knows how to run a business, knows how to cook a pizza and he's willing to put in hours.
 
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PeterInBrat

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I'll have to contact the guy who used to own Chicos in Cabrera. He had a pizza shop there and he's now doing another start-up in Santiago, Calle Benito Juarez, Villa Olga..
 
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windeguy

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He could be the 1 in 10 (in the DR more like the 1 in 20) that makes it. You never know.
 
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william webster

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he had a pizza oven at Chico's.... did he have a pizza dedicated shop before that?

Chico's served more than pizza.... there is one Pizza only place I know of in Cabrera....across from the car wash Monarka
 
AlterEgo

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We've been to LT, *lots* of Italians [from Italy, not NY]. We ate at some of their restaurants there, and they were GOOD.

I think part of the reason pizza in DR is so dismal is the availability and/or cost of the best ingredients, which are used in the best pies.
Tell your friend to take a trip and check out LT and the Samana area, I suspect he'll realize it's not a good option, especially if he is an astute business owner.
 
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donP

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Pizza 10

PeterInBrat said:
A friend of mine is a manager of a pizza shop. They make real NYC style thin crust pizza using stone deck ovens as well as wood fired oven pizzas. He's been there over ten years and he's looking for a change. He currently works 50-60 hours a week, most nights until 3AM.

He doesn't speak Spanish, but he's completely fluent in French, so I'm thinking he might do well in Las Terranas. He's single, 42 and doesn't have any kids. He wants to start his own shop, but the market is saturated where we are.

Any thoughts or comments?
Click to expand...

Las TerrEnas must have at least a dozen pizza places.
The quality ranges from 0 (ketchup smeared on half done dough = Dominican style) to 8/9 (good Italian pizza, wood fired oven, good selection, price range 350/550 RD$).

Whether a "10 pizza" would find enough customers... hmm, who knows?

donP
 
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PeterInBrat

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Yes, lots of reasons why the pizza is bad and unfortunately an abundance of bad pizza shops makes it harder for a good one to stay open.
 
Xavier_Onassis

Xavier_Onassis

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There seems to be a tolerance for some Dominicans for bad, soggy pizza. The Super Frio in Barahona can take over an hour to fix and deliver a pizza to your table. Their pizza is soggy and tastes funny. The general idea is to delay with the food so the patrons order more beer. The mafongo and other Dominican dishes they have are really pretty good. When I finally found a place that had decent pizza, no one wanted to return to the Super Frio for pizza again.

I don't know what the big deal is with thin crust pizza. The thick crust Sicilian style is also very good when done right. Pizza is a very profitable dish to sell, but it does require some expertise.
 
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TP666

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The whole country needs a good pizza and not those midget ones they have here.
 
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windeguy

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donP said:
Las TerrEnas must have at least a dozen pizza places.
The quality ranges from 0 (ketchup smeared on half done dough = Dominican style) to 8/9 (good Italian pizza, wood fired oven, good selection, price range 350/550 RD$).

Whether a "10 pizza" would find enough customers... hmm, who knows?

donP
Click to expand...

Good Italian pizza is still far, far away from good NY pizza. But I would still not recommend trying it in the DR where there the market is apparently already saturated.
 
Africaida

Africaida

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As DonP said there are PLENTY of pizza places in LT already. Honestly, a hamburger/Sports bar or something that American are known for on the other side of the pond may fare better.

(Having grown up in Europe, I am not wow by NYC style pizza and I feel that Europeans will feel the same in LT)


Side note: A restaurant in LT is suicide, there are far too many already for the number of tourists. You'd be lucky if you break even (heard from several friends who do own a restaurant).
I can't tell you the number of empty ones I have seen during the so called high season, the ones that stays packed are a handful, and these ones do complain because the season is short.
 
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PeterInBrat

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OK no pizza shop then. But talk about speed. He can bang out 20-25 18" pizzas in an hour. More like 30 if he's just doing cheese or pepperoni. After that, the ovens slow down. He uses a double deck stone oven that can fit 12 pizzas at once total. When they're really in a hurry, they finish the pizzas in the wood fired oven. It takes just about 10 minutes for a plain pizza from dough ball to cutting it.

With the stone deck, they put three in top in the back, then three in the bottom in the back, then three in the top in the front and three in the bottom in the front. You have to give the stone time to reheat between pizzas.
 
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