Happy New Years From Tarantella's Pizza Alley

It was on New Years Day, five years ago that we opened for business at Tarantella’s Pizza Alley.  Though it has been a huge learning experience for us, we have been happy to serve our community for what we consider the best five years of our lives.  We don’t consider ourselves masters of the trade at this point, but we have learned a lot about the business and even more so about our customers.  In many case we have built relationships with people that will most certainly last a lifetime.

Not only is New Years the anniversary of the opening of Tarantella’s, but also an opportunity to reflect back at the things that we have accomplished during the past 12 months.  We have had many successes to be very proud of.  Though this has proven to be one of the more difficult years in business so far, we are proud to have had the opportunity to serve our community.  We know that we have always been fair to our customers and though very difficult at times, we have tried to maintain reasonably low prices making sure that we have been able to offer a great product at a price affordable to our patrons.

In reflecting back on the year, we will also be looking at what we can do to improve service to our customers.  We will be introducing exciting new menu items that are sure to grab the attention of your taste buds.  In addition to that, we will also be making some additional changes to the appearance of the restaurant, making it a more enjoyable dining experience for all of our present and future customers.  In the New Year, we also hope to be more active within our community, working with the local government and the Town of Montgomery Chamber of Commerce.  This will give us the ability to not only serve our customers at our establishment, but also serve them in our community.

We hope to make 2012 our most successful year yet and look forward to talking with all of you throughout the year!

Tis the season! The season of giving, holidays, snowstorms, hot cocoa by the fire and spending time with family is upon us.  It is also the season of the garlic knot.  December 15^th from 4pm- 9pm, marks the first annual “Day of the Garlic Knot” at Tarantella’s Pizza Alley and what better way to celebrate such an occasion so close to Christmas than by sharing with all.  The restaurant will be festively decorated for the holidays from Christmas trees to carolers to embrace the spirit of giving.

What will they be giving you ask?  Well garlic knots of course.  Every customer will receive a free order of garlic knots with any purchase over $10.  Tarantella’s will also be giving away one of a kind Tarantella’s Pizza Alley Garlic Knot Christmas Tree Ornaments when someone makes a donation to the Good Samaritan and Guardians Closet.  In an effort to further embrace the spirit of giving, they will also be donating a portion of the days’ sales to the Good Sam to help buy necessities for families in need.

Every Year, The Good Samaritan and Guardian’s Closet support families in need throughout the area.  They provide basic necessities like socks, underwear, canned goods, diapers, toothpaste and of coarse toys for the children.  This is the 21st year that The Good Samaritan has been serving the community and they are hoping, especially with so many families in need this year that it will be their most successful year yet.

Here at Tarantella’s Pizza Alley, we are proud supporters of the community that suports us.  We are extremely grateful to our community for supporting us for almost 5 years now, so we feel it is extremely important to give back you we can.  Being raised in Montgomery, it has always been important to us to be active members of their community and give back every opportunity we can.

Tarantella’s Pizza Alley invites everyone to come by and celebrate the season of giving witht them.  Come by with any donation whether it’s a couple of dollars, a fresh pack of socks or a couple of cans of cranberry sauce.  Every little bit helps, especially with so many in need this holiday season.

The truth of the matter is that small businesses simply cannot compete with large chains. Large businesses and chains have a much greater buying power than small businesses, which gives them the ability to buy inventory at a much lower rate. This is why smaller businesses, like ours, need to hit large companies where they cannot compete, with customer service and quality.

When talking to Steve Rouse from Stanislaus, a California-based company that offers a wide range of tomato products to restaurants and also a company that we do business with, I found they have a very unique approach to business. They like to make sure that their customers know how much passion they have for what they do. They compete on quality and service alone and never bring price into the equation. As a company, they focus on helping their existing customers grow their businesses through a variety of avenues. “Why pay for your friends” Rouse said. That’s essentially what you are doing when you are offering discounts and coupons.

Stanislaus truly facilitates their existing customer base through many different avenues. Since 1990 they have published a newsletter and idea exchange called “La Trattoria”, which is where all of their customers share the success stories of their businesses, giving ideas that other restaurateurs can build on. It is filled with all sorts of useful information including recipes (most of which do not contain tomato products), success stories, ways to improve customer service and much more. In addition to their newsletter, Stanislaus also calls each one of their customers on a regular basis. Rouse says, “We truly feel our customers are a part of our family and we want them to feel that we are a part of theirs”. They like to make sure that their customers know they can call them whenever they have a problem.

While we will always continue to offer discounts through avenues like coupons and specials, we are also focusing a lot of effort into customer service and support.  We have always felt like we have been there for our customers to help them with anything that they need, but even the strongest of businesses can improve.  This is part of the reason why we are starting this blog.  We hope to be able to give our customers a glimpse into the daily activities of Tarantella’s Pizza Alley and welcome you in as part of our family.  In addition to this blog we are also trying to stay on the cutting edge of technology to help our customers.  This is why you can now find us on Facebook or through our website at www.eatpizzaalley.com and coming soon the Pizza Alley mobile app.  We realize our customers are very busy, which is why we are available on so many different avenues for customer interaction.  We truly want to be here to answer any questions or concerns that you may have.  After all, without you we couldn’t be here!

Healthy Eats

As some of you may know, over the past two years I have lost a lot of weight,  95lbs. to be exact.  This was a very difficult thing for me to do as I love food so much.  The truth of the matter is, I never sacrificed on taste.  I love food and knew I had to figure out ways to have healthy and flavorful meals that I was able to make right at the pizzeria.  I would like to take this as an opportunity to share some of those recipes with you.

Low Fat Veggie Pie:

Regular NY Style Pizza topped with marinara, fresh mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers and feta cheese  (Feta cheese is very low in fat and overall calories, but still has great flavor.  Sometimes I do sprinkle a little bit of part-skim mozzarella on top just to hold things together a little better as feta doesn’t melt as easily.  After it comes out of the oven I usually drizzle a little bit of balsamic vinegar over my slice)