How I'm opening the world's best pizzeria
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- 📷 Follow My Pizzeria on Instagram:
/ goodpizzacleveland
🍕 Interested in Working with Us?
Message me on Instagram @goodpizzacleveland, or send an email to charlie@goodpizzacleveland.com
this is sick dude and seems like a very aligned next venture for you. good luck getting things up and running! can't wait to try the pizza.
Thanks Mike, I appreciate that! Hope you can make it in some day.
Not sick. It’s healthy passion
Thanks to Charlie and Brian Lagerstrom I’ve been making my own pizzas and bread for over two years now. Always have dough, frozen and fresh, ready to go. I make east coast pizza, Detroit style, and Neapolitan pizza. Baguettes, rustic loafs and a bunch of other stuff. I moved to the middle of nowhere Pa from Philadelphia. There is NO PIZZA here, not worth it pizza anyway, and definitely hard to find a good bakery. I have to drive an hour just to get anything that isn’t diner food or fast food. My wife, kids and I only REALLY craved one thing. Good pizza and bread! Thank you Charlie for the work you do.
After making pizza at home for 15 years, I actually think frozen dough is better than fresh🤷🏼♀️
@@dpelpal That's interesting! I wonder if frozen dough affects the way the finished fermentation works or something? like it alters it just a bit somehow?
@@MRSketch09 Well, cold fermentation always improves dough. The times that I have cold fermented dough, then frozen it....those always seem to make the best pizzas. I really have no clue why!
Best of luck Charlie! Your channel inspired me to start making my own pizza and it's been such a rewarding experience. Not only am I making better pizza than my locals shops, its so much cheaper too!
That's great to hear, I'm glad I could help!
Charlie how can I contact you directly ?
good luck man, you are an american pizzaiolo... your passion is the key to your success
best advice i can give as someone who’s owned multiple food businesses, you will need to learn to compromise and find a sweet spot of what is not perfect but is still great. other people wont be you and they will not take the same same intensity towards YOUR business. its your business not theirs, they may care and go an extra few steps but losing sleep over them going the extra mile you feel like you would go will drive you crazy. all the extra time you think you will have to do videos i would probably gather will take you about a year to really find a way to get your time back once you get humming.
its one thing to be really into something and think you are obsessed with it when you can work at your own pace, its another to wake up on days you dont want to do it but you know doors open at 11am and push through it. passion is great but you can’t run a business on passion or obsession you eventually burn out as it’s hard to sustain that mentality. find a good team, dont expect them to be you or have the same intensity as you, prepare to have days you hate pizza regardless of how popular your spot may become, prepare for less videos to be made unless you’re planning on having someone follow you around the space filming, most likely you will be dealing with no call no shows and need to jump in to stop the machine you are creating from faultering. its a lot of dishes.
AS someone who has been there you are 1000% right. But i wish him all the LUCK .
@@louisleoncini1033 yep definitely. i wish someone told me this when i was younger. everything i listed were all things i lost sleep over. it took a long time to come to terms w it. haha. you have all these ideas that you think can be great, then you hire people and realize personalities and managing those are really the biggest hurdles you face as a business owner. the cooking is the easiest part.
Owning a restaurant is no different then running a business. This is a huge step forward in your pizza making journey and I wish you the best of luck!
Thank you!!
It's very inspirational to watch you grow with every single video you upload. You're so dedicated, you deserve nothing but success! Thank you for sharing your entire experience!
One thing I'd like to know though, I think I've never heard you talk about sourdough or a madre (Italian sour dough), is there a reason why you don't use it? I use sourdough in everything, I think it gives everything a nice depth of flavor. You could grow a sourdough culture and keep the same one for your entire career and even hand it down to your kids one day. That's what many traditional bakers are doing too. Much love from Germany!
Thank you, I really appreciate that! I do like baking sourdough bread but generally I don't use it in my videos (or my pizza currently) in order to keep things simple. I agree it adds a nice flavor, but I just don't want to overcomplicate things haha.
Watching you grow and leaning how to make pizzas along side you… I’m so excited for you to finally open your own shop after all this time!! Much love Charlie!! Can’t wait to try a slice!!!
Hell yeah bro! I knew it was only a matter of time. This keeps me inspired to perhaps someday do something similar once my kid is older. I'm 41 but have ALWAYS been passionate just as you are about quality and excellent service and constant improvement. Donation en route and if I'm ever in Cleveland/Columbus I'll stop by for sure!
Yeah I figured now is the time to do it before I have kids of my own. That would be great if you could make it in sometime!
This is so awesome dude fr!!! I wish you best of luck, I remember when you started making your own NY Pizza recipe and the fact your opening a pizzeria now is incredible!
All the best that your dreams come true. I make and experiment with pizza since over 20 years by now. Pizza is and always has been my favorite type of food. Even it's same, it's different and different pizza styles can create surprises for us. Working on the "best possible" dough and techniques is what makes it fun.
ok ok ok you might have just convinced me to take a weekend trip to Cleveland
You should do it!
SAME!
Add Good Pizza t-shirts to the kickstarter as a reward. I'll never make it to Cleveland but I love your videos. Best of luck!!!
Agree shirts ! Keep it up love the channel and your quality looks next level
Congratulations. Hard work is rewarded. It has been amazing to watch your progress and passion for pizza. I would definitely visit, but I live in Finland
Congrats Charlie!!! You have put a lot of time and hard work in to get where you are!! It is about a 6 hour trip but I will make it up there to support you!!!
It's pretty amazing what hard work and dedication you have. You've taken the "Obsessed with Pizza" to the ultimate level and your a great example. Wishing you the best and great to see your on your way. Excellent idea. This is the best resource for tips and tricks for pizza bugs.
I hope this works out for you man, been following you for quite some time now and much like yourself I became obsessed with Pizza (mine began in lockdown, where as a chef I had never really tackled baking, so went into bread and soon into pizza). After a few years of practice I have my own recipe dialled in and it's a family favourite so I know exactly what you mean about that fulfilment you get from seeing people enjoy your creation, it's unmatched. If I was in Ohio I would love to pursue your dream with you, alas I'm in England, so much love from across the pond and keep pushing to achieve everything my man!
honestly Charlie, your product looks stunning and with the equipment you currently have access to is amazing, notably the spiral mixer, the only thing you need to work on is to build a connection between you, your pizza and the customer, make the place feel more comfortable and definitely build a charismatic personality as this can be a foundation for your brand, I don’t know anything about Cleveland but here in Dubai, as there are possibly hundreds of thousands of different startups and the few that make it to the top Is by establishing brand recognition by identity, like those with interesting products, outstanding customer service, history or charismatic people running the shops, Dubai is the sort of place where something like a coffee shop can make Instagram reels, gather millions of views and have their businesses flooded by customers, this can easily be done in somewhere like Cleveland as i presume it is sufficiently populated and I can assure you that your followers will help this startup grow, good luck on your journey.
Congratulations and the Best of Luck to you Charlie.
Thank you!
Best of luck with your venture Charlie! I'm in the process of opening a mobile pizza business here in Arizona, and watching your progress has been inspirational. Wishing you nothing but success with the B&M, hopefully I can make it out to Ohio someday!
Man, I am rooting for you! been watching you for awhile now and 100% confident you're gonna kill it! been using your ny dough recipe spreadsheet for at least a year every time i make dough for pizza night!!
Congrats man! The passion you have not only for pizza, but for striving to provide excellent service with top-quality products will see you succeed in your continuing pizza journey. Looks like I'm planning a trip to Cleveland!
All the best with your venture, really hope it takes off
Congratz man! geen following you for quite some time and Its good to see that a real enthusiast gets to do what he loves. God speed!
Born and raised in Cleveland and pizza is also a passion for me however not as extensive as yours. My fathers side of the family lives in Buffalo ny and I can confidently say that when I comes to pizza Cleveland doesn’t even come close to the level of New York pizza and Buffalos stuff is t even from ny city. I’m excited to try your stuff when you officially open. Good luck
Pretty crazy evolution of this channel and person, very cool. Can't say it enough but good luck man
Thank you, I really appreciate it!!
The trick to make any pizza place successful these days is to go very high quality and don’t compete on price. Every item on your menu must be the best that you can make so this means keep your menu small. The next challenge is to find a staff that would never serve a customer a bad pizza even when you aren’t there. Also remember whatever is in your budget to open - double that and however many days you think you it will take you to break even - double that. When you have that amount of cash you are now ready to open.
AMEN! That space and equipment you just purchased was once owned by someone trying to do the same thing you are wanting to do...
I am not from cleveland, and I cannot stress enough how bad I want to eat your pizza through the screen. Happy for you, I can already tell it will be a huge success!
Watching your progression has been really cool! Congrats and good luck. The old citizens pie spot is also fantastic
This is such smart marketing - I'm so invested in your story and how much effort you put in, that I'm literally contemplating a trip out to Cleveland just to try it.
As the son of an Italian immigrant that grew up in my family’s NY style pizza shop, if I lived in your area I would come work in your shop in a heartbeat; also, work there forever.
In the modern landscape of restaurateurs, you are truly a rare breed Charlie. You are a literal pizza scientist who is more dedicated to perfection than 99% of chefs out there. Super proud of this new endeavor and I wish you all the best! Thank you for your amazing recipes that have allowed me to craft delicious pizza and share the joy of food with the people I love.
I wish you the best of luck!
Also, just a suggestion, if you wanted to go the more "cheaper route"... on initial expenses... if you could set up shop next to a truck stop or something like that, on the outskirts of the city...
Anyways, wish you success!
great news and all the best with your company!
Congratulations man, learned a huge amount from your channel; one of the realest ever to do it.
Good luck! I love that your pizza obsession has gone from a great series of UA-cam videos and into a fully fledged business.
Id for sure buy some merch to support. I love pizzas and making them! GOOD LUCK
Congrats on the opening!
The first thing I’m actually wondering as a small business owner is the financials & funding. We’ve been struggling to open a brick and mortar due to high costs unavailable sba loans, high rents, ingredient costs etc..
It would be super helpful to do a deep dive on the logistics behind the scenes for other struggling businesses owners. How you secured funding, permitting, lease negotiations, etc.
Good luck brother! I’ve been following you for a while. You definitely helped take my homemade pizza game to the next level.
Started watching you a while ago as I went down the love of pizza wormhole since I got an ooni a couple years ago. I regularly reference your detroit pizza recipe (as a nice alternative to more neopolitan pies in my gozney)... Only relatively recently did I realize you're in Cleveland... and now you're opening a spot! I'm in Columbus and can't wait to visit. Your attention to detail, and continuous improvement is surely going to make the spot a huge success!
Charlie, I hope I eat at your pizzeria some day. I am an old, poor man with an old, worn-out car. But, I would try to road-trip to do so. You are a stud and earned it. Keep pushing! Nonetheless... thanks.
Bro, your passion for pizza is incredible. I am seeing mirror image of my self. I am at other side of the Coast ,but wish u the best and hope to visit your store and try one for my self. Keep at it !
So happy for you! I’m coming just to see you.
Thank you, that would be awesome!
@@CharlieAndersonCooking I’ll show you this comment. I’ll order a whole pie to support too!
Love the passion!!! Think you will do great things
Best of luck Charlie, if you put love into it they will come.
Dude, this is wild. Had no idea you were in Cleveland. As a former New Yorker who's been in CLE for a while now, the food scene here is amazing--except for the pizza. There are a few decent spots like Il Rione and Uciuni's, but nothing truly authentic. I always thought bringing real NY-style pizza to Cleveland was a great business opportunity. Definitely supporting this project!
Having watched your pizza videos for so long now i cant imagine your pizza wont be amazing. If i ever have a reason to visit ohio this is definately a stop id make.
Can't wait to visit!
Congrats brother. Can't wait to try it!
all the mid pizza shops be like... "oh dang" in Cleveland.
Looks like there might finally be a reason to visit Cleveland
Professional pizzamaking isn't the same skill set as home pizzamaking. To output any appreciable number of pies, you need people that have stretched hundreds, if not thousands of skins. Or you use all trumps flour and make a mediocre, cookie cutter pie that pretty much anyone can stretch. These kinds of seasoned pros aren't watching your youtube channel. You need to go to local pizzerias and find people with relatively decent skills . Don't worry about the quality of the pies- that's your department. Be super discreet and, obviously, don't approach this person in front of the owner. You want as close as possible to perfection right out of the gate- you make the perfect pizza, and you don't need any marketing whatsoever. But you won't achieve that perfection if you've got 'passionate' home pizza makers who are learning as they go. These kinds of folks can prep and clean, but they CAN'T stretch skins and they CAN'T tend the oven. At least, not starting out.
Is that oven the MORETTI FORNI P120E B1? I don't know how many pizzas you plan on selling, but your output is directly proportional to watts- and that particular model is pretty low wattage (compared to something like a pizzamaster). If this is just a starter oven that you're planning on replacing once volume ramp ups, that's fine, but, as is, based on the size of the space, it may not output the number of pies per hour you're expecting it to.
A spiral mixer can be useful for Neapolitan pizza, but you're not making Neapolitan with this oven- nor would you want to make Neapolitan in your market. You absolutely don't need a spiral mixer to make the style of pizza you're making- and that spiral mixer and the way you have to pull the dough out with your hands, and the way it cleans, that thing is gong to drive you batty. A used hobart with a dolly will make your life exponentially easier.
This is awesome, congrats, man! I didn't realize you're in Cleveland. I just donated and am hoping to come to the soft opening in January. And we're planning to come to the pop up tomorrow if it's still happening. See ya then
Awesome I really appreciate it! Hope to see you there. And yes the pop up tomorrow is still happening! 2-8PM at Bookhouse.
Would definitely make a trip down there from Canada when the opportunity aligns
True food lover-creator. Dude, I am driving up to Cleveland just for this pizza. I mean, not today exactly, but eventually I will.
Congratulations, Charlie on opening your own pizza shop! So exciting! But remember, consistency is the key to success.
So true. Our local Johnny Bruscos, who had fair pizza, changed some things and now the pizza is not worth the price. They changed the dough, the cheese and the sauce. We will never go back
Dude let's Go! Looking forward to visiting your pizza shop 🍕 🔥
Can’t wait to try real New York style pizza.definitely needed here in Cleveland
Thanks Charlie love it! We are in the process of doing the same thing in our city. Pizza scene sucks here too.
I have two 16 inch NY style dough balls in the fridge fermenting now. Will make my first white pizza tomorrow. I will add some freshly grated nutmeg to Charlie's sauce recipe, some lemon zest, and fresh spearmint. I will also add chicken stock, in addition to the cream for more umami taste. I will be topping the pizza with mozzerella and muenster cheeses, cooked peaches, fresh apples chunks, caramalized onions, bacon crumbles and fresh spearmint leaves. After it comes off the grill, I will drizzle with hot chili honey and a few dollops of a mescarpone and pecorino herb mix.
My first thought was "The Violin Society of America seems to choose Cleveland pretty often as the location for their conventions! I'll have a restaurant to look forward to next time I go!" Did not expect the violin metaphor. Lol
😂
CONGRATS ON YOUR NEW SHOP... That is great news... :) Love your channel and I can't wait to try your pizza.
Congratulations, Charlie! I have family in Cleveland that I visit often, and look forward to your opening. Can you share the address of the shop?
Great choice! 👏👏 we love pizza
Best of luck Charlie! You will be very successful behind the best pizza made!
A slightly crunchy pillow. That's the kind of crust I want. From center to edge. It probably means par baking the bare crust. But that slows down production, so it might be just a made at home thing.
I managed a mom and pop pizzeria in the Detroit area. The owner was Italian and made round and Detroit style square. Really good pizza. You have done the research, the testing, you have the passion!! You're going to be very successful. And never use a conveyer oven (like Middleby-Marrshals). They do not cook the pizza the same. Bakers Pride and Bloggetts are great! Best of luck to you!!
You're going to kill it, the dedication & passion will guide the way. 🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕
Best day ever opening my restaurant. Best day ever selling my restaurant
Congrats! The world needs more pizza-driven pizzerias.
Thats a pretty good location, hope you got a good deal on the lease. Best of luck!
Cincinnati here. will definitely have to make the drive up!
Congrats! I'll definitely try it if I'm in that town, hope it takes off
For anyone living in Cleveland who likes the pizza, the $50 tier seems like a no-brainer
Who were your biggest influences when you were first zeroing in on your "perfect pizza"?
Congratulations! Your pizzas look great! All the best!
watching for a long time. Good luck!
best of luck, Charlie! Rooting from you here in cincy. I'm sure you're exploring some alternate ways of financing, but would love to see more in depth videos on that side, raising capital, and challenges.
You are so inspiring 🎉
Congrats, best of luck buddy!
As a Pittsburgh native, I don’t appreciate you giving me a reason to visit Cleveland. How dare you!! 😂
Good luck, Charlie! ...I didn't know you were in Cleveland. I used to live there and there are two pizza joints you need to check out...Athens Pizza in Cleveland (especially the sheet pizza) and Piccolo's in Elyria (the seafood pizza change my life!).
Putting your money where your mouth is. Big respect. The restaurant game is hard and only the best survive. I wish you all the best of luck but I'm sure you'll make a success of things.
Awesome news! I’ve been subbed for a long time. Hope you kill it with the new shop!
If im ever in Cleveland I know exaclty where to go 💯
I was in Cleveland last month! Wish you were open then. The pizza we had was pretty meh. It was near the baseball stadium. Ohwell maybe next time!
Good luck dude! I've gotten some nice tips off your videos so thanks for that.
Awesome. Good luck, you derserve it.
Congrats Charlie!
Thank you!
So happy for you!!!!
I don't know that I'll ever visit Ohio again unless things there change drastically, but if I ever do, I'm checking out your shop.
/has been watching this series since the very first NY pizza experiments, and if this really happens I would totally take a day drive over from Toledo! Best of luck, hope this works out!
Congrats dude, I’m in the Youngstown area however my daughter lives in Lakewood so I’m up to the Cleveland area frequently. I’m going to be sure to try your pizza when I’m up that way.
Best pizza in Ohio is in Youngstown at Wedgewood!
Cannot wait to come here!
Would love to know your schedule at Bookhouse, I'll get there as soon as I can to sample!
Good luck man you will kill it there
Thanks Leo!!
Way to go!! 🙌🏼
Charlie, what about equity crowdfunding your shop? Watching you over the year(s), I would totally get in on the ground floor of a percentage of your eventually franchising throughout Northeast Ohio 😆.
💚blessings to you and your family!🕊
Hell yea!
Nice, best of luck 🤞
sweet man, coming from canada when you're ready!