Bar food is addictive. From chicken wings and mozzarella sticks to fried pickles, nachos and sliders, customers are looking for a prequel to their pizza main event.

Including bar bites on your menu can increase check averages and generate happy hour visits when marketed well. The classics have a proven track record that meet the demands of consumers, while fitting into a restaurant’s tight food and labor costs. But, it starts with a dynamite shareable plate.

Street Food goes dine-in

Mobile restaurants have elevated street food to another level, and brick-and-mortar spots are cashing in on the trend. Perfect as bar bite options, street foods are often hand-held and whet the appetite. Arancini and toasted ravioli are common street foods that have become menu sensations. Here are a few that you can make your own:

Great Bar Bite Options

Tacos.

Be sure to use the small street taco- or mini-sized shells. You can use traditional Mexican style or get creative with Southern or Korean BBQ, Jamaican jackfruit or Citrus fish.

Dumplings.

There are many styles of dumplings. The most common are Chinese potstickers and Japanese gyoza. Both use pork and cabbage with various herbs and spices.

Empanadas.

Easy to prep ahead and warm to order; experiment with fillings. Chicken and beef are typical. Try potatoes, mushrooms, chorizo or pulled pork.

Skewers.

These don’t have to be kebabs. Satays, Souvlaki and Tandoori are popular.

Elotes.

Traditionally grilled corn is smothered in mayo, grated cheese, chili powder and a squeeze of lime. This style has won over consumers so much that elotes-flavored products have exploded in retail groceries.

Just Dough It

Go with your strength: dough. Customers can’t get enough of your dough. Leverage your expertise with bar bites that speak to your talents. Think about doughy creations such as empanadas and pretzels. We’ll help you get started with a couple of recipes. Remember try several batches and add in your own upgrades and techniques. 

Classic Beef Empanada Recipe 

Here is a classic beef empanada recipe to experiment with. Pro Tip: You can add the beef filling as a specialty pizza topping.

>> Get the Classic Beef Empanada Recipe.

Soft Pretzel Recipe

A Bavarian specialty, soft pretzels are the perfect accompaniment to a pint of beer.

Try this soft pretzel recipe in baker’s percentage from the late Dough Doctor Tom Lehmann.

>> Get the Soft Pretzel Recipe.

Not sure what to serve with pretzels? A high-quality whole-grain, hot or spicy brown mustard works well. Beer cheese is also a go-to for pretzel dipping. Yes, even a dill pickle dip hits the spot with a pretzel.

Denise Greer is Executive Editor at Pizza Today.

Read the August 2025 Issue of Pizza Today Magazine

In this issue, we announce Pizza Today’s 2025 Pizzeria of the Year. Find out how the owners turned a failing pizzeria purchase into a fast-growing pizza business. Learn how to make a sourdough starter. It’s Green Season! Green Chile, that is. Explore menu ideas that add New Mexican flavors to your pizza. Find out which strip mall locations work best for pizzerias – and how to maximize traffic. Discover why pizzerias are going with custom mobile apps to capture sales and return visits. Tap into addictive bar menu options to increase check averages. Go to the August Issue.

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Executive Editor Denise Greer and Design Lead Katie Wilson ventured to San Antonio to sit down with Hengam and Matt to get to the bottom of what makes their company so special. They’ve got quite a story to tell, and I do not want to encroach on it here, so read Mastering Mattenga’s Playbook and enjoy.

Bar Bites

When my family goes out for pizza – or just about any meal, really – we order appetizers. For one thing, we typically show up famished. Secondly, apps are usually the favorite part of my meal for some reason (minus the main event: pizza, of course).

If I ever find myself sitting at a bar, the first question I ask is, “What bourbons do you have?” I like a good Old Fashioned. My second question is always, “What bar bites do you have?”

I don’t want a full meal at the bar, but I usually enjoy a small plate while relaxing with a cocktail.

When a bartender hands me the restaurant’s entire menu, it can feel a bit disappointing. When I am given a lineup of bar bites, however – even if it mirrors the restaurant’s appetizer list – I’m a happy camper.

Check out the article on page 30 to read what’s hot with bar bites.

O-HI-O

Lastly, registration for Pizza Expo Columbus is open, and we are looking forward to a fun and exciting event in the Buckeye state. The show will take place Oct. 26-27 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. We have a fantastic lineup of speakers you won’t want to miss. Head over to PizzaExpoColumbus.com to get registered today. We look forward to seeing you there!

Best,

Jeremy White
Editor In Chief

Read the August 2025 Issue of Pizza Today Magazine

In this issue, we announce Pizza Today’s 2025 Pizzeria of the Year. Find out the owners turned a failing pizzeria purchase into a fast growing pizza business. Learn how it make a sourdough starter.It’s Green Season! Green Chile, that is. Explore menu ideas that add New Mexican flavors to your pizza. Find out which strip mall locations work best for pizzerias – and how to maximize traffic. Discover why pizzerias are going with custom mobile apps to capture sales and return visits. Tap into addictive bar menu options to increase check averages.

Check out the full Digital Edition — Pizza Today August 2025.

Read the August 2025 Issue of Pizza Today Magazine

In this issue, we announce Pizza Today’s 2025 Pizzeria of the Year. Find out how the owners turned a failing pizzeria purchase into a fast-growing pizza business. Learn how to make a sourdough starter. It’s Green Season! Green Chile, that is. Explore menu ideas that add New Mexican flavors to your pizza. Find out which strip mall locations work best for pizzerias – and how to maximize traffic. Discover why pizzerias are going with custom mobile apps to capture sales and return visits. Tap into addictive bar menu options to increase check averages. Go to the August Issue.

The post Pizzeria of the Year | Mattenga’s Pizzeria! | Commentary appeared first on Pizza Today.

(Editor’s note: This article is based on a Pizza Expo 2025 session led by Melissa Rickman, co-founder of Wholly Stromboli in Fort Lupton, Colorado.)
Restaurant operators often assume that offering more menu items will attract more people. In reality, doing too much can stretch your staff thin and dilute your brand. That’s where menu diversification comes into play.

“Your menu is the roadmap to your restaurant,” says Melissa Rickman, co-founder of Colorado-based Wholly Stromboli. Before considering new menu items, Rickman advises operators to evaluate what the current menu says about their brand. For example: What dishes are top performers? What do your guests love most?

Once you have answered these questions, she suggests sticking to areas where your pizzeria already excels. Specialty dishes shine because you’ve put in the time to perfect the recipe, train your team and price it properly. If you can’t deliver a knockout experience, why put it on your menu?

Why Diversify Your Menu?

Broaden Appeal

You can’t expect everyone visiting your restaurant in a group will order the same thing. Three out of five people might want pizza, but one person insists on a salad. Your choice of whether to offer the salad could be a make-or-break decision that gets the whole group through the door.

Increase Check Averages

Expanding appetizer and dessert offerings can encourage guests to add a little more to their order. Tempting side dishes and desserts don’t just satisfy guests; they boost revenue.

Drive Repeat Visits

If you’re operating in a smaller community, getting customers to visit more than once per week is essential. Adding creative options such as Italian nachos or seasonal specialties can keep them coming back without tiring of the same offerings.

Key Factors to Adding New Items

Want to try something new without committing? Make it a special! Specials are an excellent way to gauge customer interest without ending up with 12 specialty Strombolis on the menu. But beware of acting in a silo.

“Don’t be the corporate boss who makes changes without asking the people it affects,” Rickman says. Including kitchen staff in discussions about new menu items is critical to proper execution. Customizable options such as swapping pasta with zoodles for carb-conscious diners can meet dietary trends without adding new dishes. Other concerns include:

Stick to Your Brand: Your brand is the ultimate decision-making tool. Ask yourself, “Does this new item align with who we are and what we stand for?”

Know Your Food Costs: Adding menu items without knowing the food costs can lead to inefficiencies and missed opportunities for profit. Make sure you know the cost of ingredients, prep time and packaging for any new dish before putting it on the menu.

Cross-Utilize Ingredients: One of Rickman’s favorite hacks is making the most of existing ingredients. For example, she uses pasta chips as the base for Italian nachos, repurposing items she’s already ordering for other dishes. This keeps inventory manageable and prevents waste.

Keep Guests at the Center of Decisions

Understanding your customers is key to providing them with the food that creates return guests. Whether it’s through direct feedback, social media polls or listening in on conversations around the restaurant, she emphasized the value of being in tune with your customers’ preferences while staying true to your brand.

Menu diversification isn’t about pleasing everyone or throwing everything on the menu. It’s about finding ways to delight your guests, drive profitability and stay true to your restaurant’s identity. If you approach menu diversification with intention, data and a clear sense of your brand, you’ll not only make your menu stronger but also build a crowd of loyal customers.

“Don’t aim for perfection,” Rickman says. “Aim for better.”

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TOLEDO, Ohio (April 15, 2025) – Marco’s Pizza, one of the nation’s fastest-growing pizza brands, brings bold new flavor to its menu with the introduction of Pepperoni Bread. This craveable side features a Marco’s twist on America’s favorite pizza topping with crispy, shredded pepperoni. For a limited time, pepperoni lovers can indulge in the bold new side for just $5 at participating Marco’s locations.

Complimenting Marco’s signature CheezyBread, the all-new Pepperoni Bread takes flavor to the next level with bold crispy, shredded pepperoni. Created by Marco’s Italian founder Pasquale (“Pat”) Giammarco, this tasty side features crispy shredded pepperoni layered underneath three fresh cheeses and finished with garlic sauce and Marco’s signature Romesan seasoning, delivering an irresistibly rich, pepperoni-forward taste in every bite.

Pepperoni Bread showcases Marco’s commitment to crave-worthy flavors, spotlighting the brand’s pepperoni variety, including classic, Old World, and crispy shredded pepperoni. Fans of the Triple Pepperoni Magnifico – which also highlights the crispy, shredded variety – will recognize the satisfying crunch and deep flavor that turns America’s favorite pizza topping into a must-have companion to any pizza meal.

For pizza lovers who want more, the all-new Pepperoni Bread joins the Marco’s More Menu, giving customers another delicious way to indulge at an unbeatable value. With over 30 crave-worthy menu items, including pizza, wings, sides, and desserts, the Marco’s More Menu makes it easy to mix, match, and maximize every order. Now, for just $5* customers can enjoy the bold, crispy goodness of Pepperoni Bread alongside other mouthwatering Marco’s favorites, making it the perfect addition for any occasion.

“At Marco’s Pizza, we know that the perfect side can take pizza night to the next level, and our new Pepperoni Bread is here to steal the spotlight,” said Chief Marketing Officer Denise Lauer of Marco’s Pizza. “With layers of crispy, shredded pepperoni and gooey cheese, we’ve taken a beloved side and made it the ultimate sidekick to our delicious menu items at a value-forward price.”

For more information about these offers and Marco’s Pizza, and to find your nearest location, please visit  or download our mobile app available on the App Store or Google Play.

ABOUT MARCO’S PIZZA

Headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, Marco’s Pizza is one of the fastest-growing pizza brands in the United States. Marco’s was founded in 1978 by Italian-born Pasquale (“Pat”) Giammarco and thrives to deliver a high-quality pizza experience, known for its dough made from scratch and its three fresh signature cheeses. The company has grown from its roots as a beloved Ohio brand to operate over 1,200 stores in 35 states with locations in Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and Mexico. Most recently, Marco’s was recognized as America’s Favorite Restaurant in the Limited-Service Pizza category by Nation’s Restaurant News using Technomic Ignite Consumer 2024 data. Other recent accolades include ranking No. 48 on Entrepreneur Magazine’s 2024 “Franchise 500” ranking, earning a coveted spot as the only top 5 pizza chain to rank on Newsweek’s 2025 “America’s Best Customer Service” in pizza chains list, earning a spot on QSR’s Top 50, and being featured on Nation’s Restaurant News’ prestigious “Top 500” ranking.

SOURCE: Marco’s Pizza

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Once upon a time, chicken wings were inexpensive due to the nature of supply and demand in American restaurants. According to legend, this part of the chicken was “undesirable” – and when restaurants did use wings, it was mostly to create stock for soup.

Can you believe people used to discard wings? Talk about a party fowl!

Then, a light bulb went off in Buffalo, New York. The “aha” moment reportedly was had by Teresa Bellissimo, co-owner of the Anchor Bar. Rumor has it she needed to come up with some late-night food quickly and had plenty of wings sitting around the kitchen because, apparently, no one cared for them in 1964. She deep-fried the wings, tossed them in a spicy cayenne pepper sauce, and the rest is history.

Well, if you believe that version of history. There are several other claims as well. In your pizzeria today, does it matter who created the Buffalo wing? Not really. What does matter, however, is that they remain wildly popular as an appetizer or even an entrée. And if you were in business before and during COVID, then you know a thing or two about the price fluctuations and supply chain issues the pandemic brought to an item that once was considered trash.

For what it’s worth, the City of Buffalo in 1977 recognized Bellissimo and the Anchor Bar for putting Buffalo wings on the map nationwide.

What happened over the next 60 years with wings?

Chicken wings have become the unofficial food of parties and sporting events, right along with pizza. Can you imagine a Super Bowl viewing without pizza and wings?

Using my family of four as a not-so-scientific experiment, Friday night is “Pizza and Wings Night” in the White House. We call our favorite local indie pizzeria (actually, we order online if you’re keeping track at home), and our order rarely changes: wings, breadsticks and two large pizzas (the toppings do vary based on mood). The pizzeria can count on that order from me like clockwork every Friday around 6:45 p.m. for a 7:30 p.m. pickup.

Obviously, I’m not the only consumer infatuated with wings. In fact, Americans consume nearly 1.5 billion pounds of wings during the Super Bowl weekend alone, according to the National Chicken Council. And that’s just one weekend of the year!

According to Datassential, 76 percent of all restaurants in the United States offer chicken wings. And the National Chicken Council says 37 percent of Americans say wings – not pizza – is their favorite game-day food.

With demand surging and supply getting cramped during the pandemic, restaurateurs and diners alike felt the sting. From 2011 to 2021, wholesale wing prices spiked from $1.50 per pound to over $3 per pound. That’s according to the National Chicken Council, which also says demand for the product hasn’t just risen domestically, but globally.

Thankfully, the shortage is over. On Feb. 10, 2023, the Buffalo News published a piece where the headline said it all: “The Great Chicken Wing Shortage has ended. The Great Chicken Wing price spike has not.”

Rising prices are here to stay, which is why operators must constantly evaluate costs and price their menus accordingly. What should not change, however, is your dedication to having wings on the menu; consumers still want them in a big way.

Wings are a dual-threat menu item: They can be a starter or the main course.

And there are many ways to prepare and serve chicken wings. Don’t have a fryer? No problem! Baked, grilled, smoked … you get the point. Serve them with a dry rub, a classic Buffalo sauce or with a BBQ sauce to keep it simple. Don’t limit your creativity, however. Over the years, a wide array of flavors and sauces ranging from Thai Peanut to Garlic Parmesan to Raspberry Habanero have become popular. Much like an open pizza skin waiting to be dressed, think of the humble chicken wing as a blank canvas and do with it as you wish.

Two of the Best Chicken Wing Recipes

If you need a little inspiration to get started, here are two of my favorites.

Bluegrass Bourbon Wings

Get the Bluegrass Bourbon Wings Recipe.

Raspberry Habanero Wings

Get the Raspberry Habanero Wings recipe.

JEREMY WHITE is Editor-In-Chief at Pizza Today.

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Appetizer dips may be one of the easiest items that you can add to your appetizer menu that will result in the broadest appeal. Hungry and hangry diners will gravitate towards the instant gratification of an appetizer dip. 

Start with the Appetizer Dip Basics

Don’t underestimate the power of a good Italian bread and olive oil. It’s fast, delicious and pairs well with a pizza dinner. But it should match the creativity of your menu. If you rock the classics, then go traditional. If your menu offers more spice and variety, try infusing olive oil with herbs, dried chilies and fruit peels. Play with different herbs and spices to create something uniquely you. It can be as simple as roasted garlic and dried Italian herbs. If focaccia is your thing, try an olive oil infused with rosemary, garlic and crushed red pepper. Give olive oil zing with lemon peels, dried basil and peppercorns. Just remember, the dipping oil you server is only as good as the quality of olive oil you buy, so go for the good stuff.

Capitalize on your strength: cheese

As we travel the country visiting pizzerias, there is one appetizer that is so impressive that it sparks “ohhs” and “ahhs” from the Pizza Today team: burrata. While technically not a dip, once the mozzarella is cut and the cream spreads across the plate, the dipping begins. A burrata appetizer is simplicity at its finest. It can be plated with a drizzle of high-quality extra virgin olive oil and cracked black pepper, served with a beautiful Italian baguette, focaccia or crostini. It’s fine dining finesse that is a perfect compliment to craft pizza.

Want to style burrata even more? Infuse your olive oil with herbs or garlic. Accompany the burrata with roasted cherry peppers or sliced Roma tomatoes, basil and a drizzle of balsamic reduction and EVOO to create a burrata caprese. 

You’ve seen the TikTok craze of whipped feta and goat cheese. People love it. It’s easy to make and a good base to give it your own spin.

Is your appetizer menu more of a bar and grill style? Then you can’t go wrong with a queso or guacamole. Or why not combine the two to create a loaded or extreme queso? Mix diced avocado, tomato, red onion, cilantro, salt, pepper and lime in a bowl and add it to the queso. If you menu chorizo, offer it as an add-on. 

Give the people what they want: The Classics

Spinach and artichoke dip and Buffalo chicken dip still sell well on pizzeria menus. Give them an update by incorporating some trending ingredients. Poblano pepper is hot right now. Roast poblanos and add them to your dip. Everything is better with bacon, right? Try that version. 

Blue cheese is standard in Buffalo chicken dip. Change it up with a different cheese — feta, stilton, gorgonzola or a spiced cheddar. 

Here are two recipes to play with. See how you can vary them to give them your own twist:

Roasted Poblano Bacon Spin Dip

Get the Roasted Poblano Bacon Spin Dip recipe.

GORGEOUS Buffalo Chicken Dip

Get the GORGEOUS Buffalo Chicken Dip recipe.

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