Salvatore's: "12 or 13" new stores by 2011?

A bit belatedly, I ran across an article in the Rochester Business Journal profiling Salvatore “Soccer Sam” Fantauzzo, the man behind the Salvatore’s Old Fashioned Pizzeria chain. Like most success stories, it’s interesting reading, chronicling Salvatore’s remarkable rise from a single pizzeria on East Main Street in 1978, when Fantauzzo was fresh out of high school, to eight stores by 2005, and twenty locations today. The article (which can be viewed on the RBJ website - free registration required) also explains some of what lies behind the success of Salvatore’s, such as staying ahead of the competition on some trends (according to Fantauzzo, his was the first local pizzeria to offer chicken wings, for example), and maintaining consistency among multiple locations.
What really caught my eye, though, was Fantauzzo’s stated goal of opening “12 or 13” new stores over the coming year. He particularly wants 32 Salvatore's locations for the 32 years Salvatore's has been in business.
I like to give credit where credit’s due, and Fantauzzo certainly deserves credit for the undeniable success of Salvatore’s, not to mention for his involvement in the local community. Still, I can’t say that I look forward to a Salvatore’s opening in my town. It’s nothing against Salvatore’s in particular, mind you. No, I’m not too crazy about their pizza, but that’s not the issue. I don’t really care to see any pizza chain blanketing the area.
Mostly, I’m afraid that it will cut into the business of stand-alone, independent pizza shops. Worst-case scenario, let’s say you've got a hometown pizzeria, a mom 'n' pop place that’s been there for as long as you can remember. Maybe they've been struggling a bit in recent years, but they're getting by. A chain opens up just down the street, and with its economies of scale, it's able to undersell the mom 'n' pop place. That ends up being the straw that breaks their back, and mom 'n' pop go out of business. In effect, your indigenous pizza place has been replaced by a chain, and the pizza you grew up with is no more.
And again, it’s not about whether the chain makes good pizza. That’s a matter of personal taste. It’s about - to borrow a much overused term - diversity. I love the pizza at the Pizza Stop downtown, but I wouldn’t want to see 30 Pizza Stops all over this area. I like the idea that I can go to 160 different pizzerias around here and try 160 different pizzas, each of which is unique to that particular pizzeria.
A chain, on the other hand, is fundamentally based on the concept of uniformity: that the pizza (or hamburger, or whatever the product is) that you get at one location will be virtually indistinguishable from what you would get at any other location within that chain. Not all chains achieve that ideal, but the successful ones generally do, and whether they achieve it or not, it’s what they strive for.
But there is a more optimistic scenario, too. In the RBJ story, Fantauzzo is quoted as saying that Salvatore’s, which offers a full menu, is “not competing with just pizza chains. We're competing with the sub chains, the taco chains, [and] the burger chains” as well. And maybe that’s the point - that Salvatore’s competes more against other chains than against independent pizza shops.
I hope that’s true, and that customers who enjoy the pizza from their local independent pizzerias will continue to patronize them, regardless of how many chains move into the neighborhood. (Of course, if the local joint turns out poor pizza, that’s a different story. I’m not saying you should patronize them just because they’re independent. But if they’re good, they deserve support.)
Again, this isn’t really about Salvatore’s in particular, except that it happens to be growing at a seemingly exponential rate right now. I wish them continued success; I just hope it comes at the expense of the even bigger chains, and not at that of the little guys.
In the end, maybe the story of Salvatore’s itself should offer some encouragement. Fantauzzo notes that in the early 1980s, “there were rumors that these national chains were going to come to town, and I was nervous.” Salvatore’s obviously weathered that storm quite well. Here’s hoping that the independent pizzerias of today can do so too.

Bernardo's, Victor

I thought I was finished with Victor, after reviewing Lucca, Leonardo's, and Posella's, but then I received several comments from readers telling me that I'd missed what they swore was the best pizzeria in Victor, Bernardo's. I had never heard of Bernardo's, and it's easy to see why I missed it, as it's on a side street that I'd never been down before.
That omission has now been rectified, thanks to a recent midday dash out to Victor. I'm happy to say it was worth the trip back.
I got a pepperoni slice, which measured 8 inches along the side. It had a golden brown, screen-baked underside, with a somewhat crunchy exterior. The crust was thin, and folded easily.
The slice was topped with a generous layer of mozzarella, which was actually thicker than the crust in spots. (I found that folding the slice helped balance it out, as folding resulted in a more consistent ratio of crust to cheese with each bite). It appeared to have been dusted with parmesan as well.
The sauce had a basic tomatoey flavor and remained in the background, with the cheese taking center stage. The pepperoni, of the wide and thin variety, was moderately applied. The slice as a whole had something of a salty flavor, the source of which I couldn't identify. The thick lip was crunchy, chewy, and almost sweet, in a bready kind of way, and made for a rewarding finish to the slice.
Bernardo's pizza lineup is pretty basic, with eleven toppings and two specialty pizzas (chicken wing, and steak, peppers and onions). The rest of the menu is also relatively modest in scope, consisting of wings, hot and cold subs, and salads.
I was a little amused by the prominent proclamation, in boldface type, on Bernardo's takeout menu, that they are "Now offering Thin or Thick Crust Pizza!," as if that were quite a remarkable innovation. I don't point that out to poke fun - it's just suggestive that Bernardo's is not some trendy place where you're going to find exotic, bizarre, or cutting-edge pizza, and that's just fine by me. I can appreciate a pizzeria that doesn't try to do too much - better to do a few things well than a lot of things poorly. And based on my visit, I'd say that Bernardo's does what they do rather well. A lot of folks must agree, since Bernardo's has been in business for some 25 years now, under continuous family ownership and operation.
So, my thanks to the readers who let me know about Bernardo's. This was very enjoyable pizza. Its overall flavor was basic and straightforward, which, when you're talking about pizza, can be a good thing indeed. The components blended well, and it had a well balanced profile, the somewhat heavy cheese layer notwithstanding.
My one quibble would be over the use of a screen, which almost always seems to result in a crust that's not quite as crisp and toasty as I would like. This was a pretty good crust in spite of that, though, and unlike a lot of screen-baked pizzas, it had some crispness.
Well, actually, I've got a second quibble, though not about the pizza itself. At Bernardo's, you place your order at a small counter just inside the front door, and there's a large, informal dining area beyond that. On my visit at least, the slices (which, by the way, are available only at lunchtime, according to Bernardo's menu) were not visible from the counter. Had I seen the slices, I might've been more likely to order a couple instead of just one, which I ended up wishing I had done. Next time I'm in Victor, I'll see to that. In the meantime, I'm giving Bernardo's a B+.
Bernardo's Pizza, Subs & Wings, 160 School St. 924-3960
Mon. - Fri. 9 a.m. - 8 p.m., Sat. 11 a.m. - 7 p.m., Sun. 3 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Krony's, Spencerport

Krony’s Pizza, established in 1975, currently has two locations, in Spencerport and Hamlin (I think there was briefly a third in Chili or somewhere, but no longer). I stopped by the Spencerport Krony’s a while ago for a couple of lunchtime slices.
They were pretty thin, with a dry, browned underside that was dusted with a fair amount of cornmeal. The flavor and texture were not exceptional, though the narrow lip had some welcome breadiness to it.
The moderately applied, homemade sauce had a sweetish flavor, although I also picked up a hint of basil or some other “Italian” herbs. The cheese - 100% mozzarella, according to the menu - was also applied in moderation, in good balance with the other components, and was just nearly browned. The slices appeared to have been dusted with a grated cheese of some kind, parmesan perhaps, and there did seem to be some cheesy tanginess in there somewhere. The pepperoni seemed rather spicy, although that may have just been because of the generous helping of pepperoni on my slice.
Krony’s has a decent list of pizza toppings, and just three specialty pizzas - white, pink, and Buffalo chicken. They also serve wings, “stromboni” (I’m not exactly sure what that is, but I assume it’s along the lines of a stromboli or calzone), hot and cold subs, “bombers” and other sandwiches, munchies, wraps and salads. They also offer chicken, fish and seafood dinners, and on my visit the blackboard menu advertised a few daily specials, including blackened tilapia. Desserts, soft drinks, beer and wine are available as well. I haven’t made it to the Hamlin location yet, but in Spencerport, it’s a counter-service operation with a fairly good-sized adjacent dining area.
This was pretty good pizza. If you read this blog much, you know that the crust is the main thing with me, and this one was, well, OK. It avoided the most common crust problems, like being too soft or greasy, but by the same token it lacked the crispness and toasty, bready complexity of the best crusts. Still, it had no real defects, and the pizza was well made, with some good flavor and the components in appropriate balance with each other. All in all, a nice job, and I’ll give Krony’s a B.
Krony’s Pizza Etc., 2139 N. Union St., Spencerport (in Barefoot Landing Plaza, next to Pineway Ponds Park) 352-1199
Mon. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 11 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. (closes at 10 p.m. Mon. - Thu. in winter)
Hamlin location: 500 Hamlin-Clarkson Townline Rd. 964-7111