Tag Archives: nyc

Economics of a Dollar Slice

This post could be a trendy infographic, but I’ll spare you the pain of Yet Another Infographic.

via flickr @jasonlam

7

 

The # of current locations each for the kings of NYC dollar slices.

In the past year, the 99-cent Fresh Pizza and 2 Bros. have doubled their operations. 99-cent Fresh Pizza has seven stores in Manhattan and is in negotiations to open an eighth, said owner Mohammad Abdul Hai, a Bangladeshi immigrant and former news stand operator.

Eli Halali, who owns 2 Bros. Pizza with his brother, said the operation has seven Manhattan shops, with an eighth expected to open in Brooklyn next month.

40

 

The estimated % cost of ingredients per dollar slice.

According to Tom Miner, a consulting principal at Technomic, a Chicago-based food services industry consulting firm, the wholesale food cost of a dollar slice of pizza is roughly 40 to 45 cents. That’s high. The average food cost for the pizza industry is more like 25% to 30% of the selling price, he said. Mr. Miner estimated that the cost of making a slice include about a nickel for the sauce and 10 to 12 cents for the dough. Cheese is the wild card—depending on the type and amount used—and is currently averaging 25 to 30 cents per slice.

5

 

The $ cost per slice of plain pizza at Di Fara, one of NY’s most acclaimed NYC pizza destinations. Contrast the $5 per slice to the $2.75 for two slices and a can of soda at dollar pizza stores.

The price of a slice increased to $5 on July 1, up from $4, the cost for the past year and a half. Just about everything else went up as well: Plain round pies are $25 and specialty square pies are $35.

450

 

The # of pizzas made in a day at a dollar pizza store.

He said that he made roughly 15 cents to 20 cents profit per slice and that it was not unusual for one 99¢ Fresh location to produce up to 450 pies a day. His pizza is so cheap some customers treat him like a wholesaler, ordering dozens of pies in the morning and selling the slices elsewhere — for $2 each.

Foursquare Hackathon

Badge Stickers

Just got back from a very fun Foursquare Hackathon. Contrary to some opinion, there was a lot of hacking done. 40 projects are on the wiki at the time of writing. Hail to the Mayor is particularly intriguing one since the idea is that when the mayor (or other specified person) checks in to a venue, their theme song would play.

2 Bros Pizza

Note: the piping hot 2 Bros Pizza was delicious (as is all free pizza). After 10 minutes, the pizza cooled down and was pretty stale/terrible.

This sign means good things are inside

There was nonstop networking/socializing, but this is a good, healthy thing for the NYC startup scene.

General Assembly hallway

One thing that I noticed was how most teams focused on the tech hacking (as they should at a hackathon). This typically resulted in awkward or less polished demos. The demos were limited to 60 seconds of presentation with immediate judge feedback afterwards. To me, this looked like teams were rewarded for slick UI while the backend (no matter how good or bad) didn’t count for as much.

Naveen speaking during the demo session

For those who couldn’t make it tonight, good news: Naveen mentioned he wants to expand 4sq hackathons internationally.

Canstructed at the WFC Winter Garden

CANgsta's Paradise

I made the trek over to Battery Park to check out Canstruction in the WFC Winter Garden. Throughout the shopping mall, there are can sculptures of different themes. The sculptures are on display for two weeks and then donated to charity for use.

Can Mario 1-UP Hunger?

A giant Mario, presumably about to eat the mushroom.

Mario face close-up

A close-up of his face, full of beans.

Paper Mario

Paper Mario. Get it? Aww, nevermind…

Paint the Town "Fed"

On the other side, “Give” was written in blue.

Don't Let Hunger Spill

This was hard to guess without reading the description. It’s the southern portion of the US affected by the BP oil spill.

I think I 'Can'

MTA fielding an entry? This is a good cause, so the more cans donated to City Harvest, the better.

The Candard Hotel, New York

Like! The High Line Park as depicted in can form. Not entirely visible is The Standard Hotel.

FEASTer Island

This Moai was very photogenic.

Cups Can Only Spill

Nice, simple sculpture.

Tomato Tornado

This tornado was by SOM. Sorry about the yellow cones in all the photos :(

It's a Hit (to Hunger)!

Cue all the children yelling, “You sunk my battleship!”

Battleships close-up

A close up of the nitty gritty: Modern Naval Can Warfare.

Mr. Potato Head

The aptly named, Mr. Potato Head. Maybe next year, someone will attempt a Mr. Pita Bread Head.

Building Blocks Against Hunger

Building Blocks? AKA Legos

A-Salt on Hunger

It’s not immediately obvious what this one represents. If I understand correctly, it’s two individuals hugging each other – representing opposites (black and white). This was made with Evaporated milk cans and Hershey’s syrup.

Google Hotpot

Just came across Hotpot.

Google Hotpot

The UI is very simple to use once you get into it. You simply search for a location and then rate/review. The list of locations has already been pre-populated by Google Map’s places.

This site wants to be social, but nobody I know has accepted my Hotpot invite yet. This includes a Googler who I assume is too busy swimming in money.

Early Adoption

One gripe I have upon my first visit, Hotpot was stuck on a page requiring me to update my Google profile username before it would let me review places. While I can see why you’d need a public username, it was a speed bump holding me back from instantly using the site.

(via HN)

Food around town: 5th Ave, Serendipity, and San Gennaro

Here’s a catch up post for some food in the city.

Free drinks at Façonnable

There’s the usual overpriced bar drink in NY. Then there’s the free, all you can drink cheap stuff at luxury retailers on 5th Ave.

Fashion’s Night Out 2010 was the latter. Getting free drinks in Zegna, Versace, etc. while in said stores is simply amazing.

Nine West appetizers

I’m pretty sure this was Nine West. They had drinks and snacks such as the ones pictured above. What a great concept – these were bland tasting toaster pastries, but the presentation was excellent.

Carrot cake at Serendipity 3

Now, we hop over to a long running restaurant called Serendipity 3. They have a little bit of everything on the menu, and they can serve as a dessert place after your dinner if you so choose. The carrot cake above really hit the spot (as well as my wallet).

Serendipity 3 Menu

This $1,000 sundae is a bargain compared to their $25,000 haute chocolate.

Strawberry Sundae

This sundae was as delicious as you would imagine, but this thing is enough dessert for 2 or 3 people by itself.

Pecan Pie Sundae

While the strawberry would be enough for all of us at the table, we had to go ahead and get this pecan pie sundae as well.

Torrisi Italian Specialties booth

OK, the last part of this post. This is Torrisi’s booth at San Gennaro. San Gennaro is a *meh* festival that has been going on forever, but I had to check out Torrisi’s booth since this is their first showing at the festival.

For more background, check out the Times article. I like that they went for an Asian theme at the Italian festival, just as a tongue in cheek way to poke fun at how Chinatown is taking over Little Italy and everything else in the vicinity.

wok-fried mozzarella sticks

These were hearty and had great texture. I felt they were over salted, but hand made mozz is delicious.

roast pork sandwich

The roast pork sandwich. The one I received was cold, bitter, and mildly spicy. I wouldn’t fault it for being cold, but there was no delicious flavor profile for me. It was simply cold and bitter, which was a disappointment since I’m a huge fan of their lunch sandwiches (specifically the Turkey Panama).

cream puff

While oddly shaped, I actually tried their cream puff on two different occasions. This was the star of the booth for me as the cream puff managed to be light, smooth, and not too sweet in a package that really came together.

RTR

Restaurant week is a great chance to go to places that you wouldn’t go to normally. Case in point: The Russian Tea Room. This is a famous NY destination known for their decor.

The Russian Tea Room

I’m not quite sure what the name of this guy riding a rooster (?) is called. I do find it very amusing though.

The check-in

Sure in 2010 we may have to manually check-in to locations. Just wait until 2050 where every second of your life is livestreamed and you get points for walking down the street and other inane things.

Ground floor seating

There are 4 dining floors in this restaurant. On this day, only the 1st and 2nd floors were open for seating. The bathroom was located downstairs past the coat check and gift shop. (Yes, RTR has a gift shop, for all your gift shopping needs.)

Braised beef pirozhki

The pirozhki was good, but I had no idea what to expect to be honest. Pirozhki + sour cream was a good combo. Imagine a Chinese dumpling with sour cream, no wait, don’t..

Red short ribs broth with pickled red beets

This broth tasted very light, so I have to assume that it is healthy and good for you. Especially with all the beets and veggies.

Roasted Beet and Arugula Salad

A healthy salad, I don’t think it was a lot, but hey, it’s NYC. That is a $18 salad in front of you.

The ceiling lighting fixtures

These red ornaments reminded me of Christmas

Filet of Beef

The filet was good. Even though the cut didn’t come out Medium Rare as requested, I still enjoyed the tenderness and flavor of it. Not as filling as the RTR Cobb though.

RTR Cobb Salad

The grilled chicken cobb salad. This didn’t feel like a traditional cobb salad, but it had a lot of chicken and salad portions. I would just call it a chicken salad.

Traditional cheesecake

This cheesecake was nice and rich. Just like the starters (appetizers), there is no way that it is worth $18 by itself.

Giant Fabergé egg tree

This is the 2nd floor of the RTR. Pretty baller decor. In the background you’ll see a glass bear, which contains..

Glass bear fish tank

Inside it’s belly, you will see fish swimming around. This is an incredible sight, the whole 2nd floor is overdone in an eye-widening manner

Bear fish tank belly

The Russian Tea Room is an amazingly decorated place, but the food (and accordingly priced said food) is not it’s strongest point