Nick Lessins and Lydia Esparza pride themselves on meeting high standards for quality, but not necessarily for catering to the demands of their customers. They are co-owners of Great Lake, a small Chicago pizza shop that has seen the mixed blessing of great reviews.
The couple wanted to start a business that reflected their values: a neighborhood shop that purchases top-quality ingredients directly from farmers, makes every pizza by hand and serves great food at affordable prices. They also wanted to make sure their business did not take over their lives. The 14-seat shop is open only four days a week and does not take reservations. Deliveries? Yeah, right.
Mr. Lessins makes every pizza by hand. “No man is slower,” wrote GQ’s food critic, Alan Richman. “He makes each as though it is his first, manipulating the dough until it appears flawless, putting on toppings one small bit after another. In the time he takes to create a pie, civilizations could rise and fall, not just crusts.” Mr. Richman declared the Great Lake Mortadella pie one of the best pizzas in America — and that is when the trouble started. The shop was mobbed, with lines stretching down the block and long waits. A condensed version of a conversation with Mr. Lessins and Ms. Esparza follows:
Q. You got a great review from GQ and your business went crazy. Are you glad you got this attention?
Mr. Lessins: Yes and no. It’s nice that we got recognized for doing something we feel is good. The problem is GQ deals on a whole other scale than what our business is capable of handling. Everyone forgot we were this small operation and couldn’t serve everyone. We never intended to serve mass quantities and have our product available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We wanted to start a business so we could get some control in our lives.
Q. Do people get frustrated by the waits?
Mr. Lessins: We’ve had a few people get pretty flustered — “What do you mean we can’t be seated? We have to wait a couple of hours?” Like somehow we’ve violated their human rights. Why is it a crime that we’re not open seven days and we’re not seating 100 people?
Q. Many business owners would look at your sudden success with envy and say, “Seize the day, expand, add new locations, franchise.” Why not you?
Ms. Esparza: It would change our values. That is the American way — to expand without really thinking.
Mr. Lessins: We really enjoy the work that we’re doing and we don’t want to cheapen it. Consciously or unconsciously — probably both — we’re trying to create a manageable way to earn a living and still maintain our sanity. We value time as much, if not more so, than money.
Q. Are you making the kind of money you had hoped to?
Ms. Esparza: We just met with our accountant and we’re very happy, given the hours we have.
Q. People have compared you to the Soup Nazi on “Seinfeld.” Where do you think that comes from?
Ms. Esparza: That comes from American culture. The customer really isn’t always right. We believe we have the expertise to bring the best product. We don’t randomly put these ingredients together. We spend the time to test these and try them.
Q. So no substitutions? No extra anchovies?
Ms. Esparza: Substitutions are specifically for people who might have a dairy issue. Our goal is to have a very edited menu, and therefore there really are no extras. We don’t offer crushed pepper. When we put options together, they’re put together for a reason. We have such an edited menu, and it’s shocking how much people still want to manipulate it.
Q. In online reviews, some customers have complained about rudeness or arrogance. Where do you think that perception comes from?
Mr. Lessins: I think that perception of arrogance has to do with the sense of entitlement and a lack of respect for someone wanting to do their job. We’re just trying to do the job the best we can. We’re trying to provide a quality experience for everyone who comes in. In the food service business, it’s assumed that the customers have a set of God-given birthrights when they come into an establishment. It’s like they’ve been wronged in a lot of parts of their lives, and this is their chance to even the score.
Q. What does customer service mean to you?
Ms. Esparza: Great service for us is the quality of food we bring to the table.
Q. One of our “You’re the Boss” bloggers suggested that if you raised prices, you would make more money and have fewer but happier customers.
Ms. Esparza: That goes to an elite crowd and we’re not after that.
Mr. Lessins: That’s kind of using an economic tool to force an end result. We would just never do that. We want to offer things at a price we think is fair. Ultimately, we want to have it accessible to a broad range of people.
Q. Why not hire more help? Does Nick really have to make every single pizza?
Mr. Lessins: At this time, I’m the only one making the pizzas — I make the dough. I make my own mozzarella. I grind my own sausage. I order most of the products from farmers and our local suppliers, assemble it and all that. It took several years for me to come up with what I have now. It’s something that could definitely be communicated and delegated in a careful way. I haven’t yet thought seriously about doing that because I enjoy doing pretty much every step of the process myself. It’s not an ego thing — I just enjoy working with my hands and putting this whole puzzle together and creating something.
Q. What do you think of review sites like Yelp?
Mr. Lessins: Unfortunately, those sites are just being used for people to anonymously vent their own frustrations. They’re not accountable to anything or anyone. I wonder what they’re getting out of that to make the effort to sit down and write a paragraph or two trashing someone. Maybe they get some sadistic joy out of it. Our sense is that most of the people who do come into our place are fairly satisfied.
Q. Is this what you expected business ownership to be?
Mr. Lessins: I knew this was sort of a wild card — the public service component. We focused on the logistics and details of production, quality, execution and all the boring details of renting space, utilities, construction, permits and all this kind of stuff. But public service was definitely an unknown thing. We know we can’t make everyone happy.
Ms. Esparza: From my experience being a designer, once you know in your gut what you’re doing is really good, you just have to go with it. You can’t hold back because there’s going to be one person saying, “I don’t like that purple or that pink.” People are going to be people.
The couple wanted to start a business that reflected their values: a neighborhood shop that purchases top-quality ingredients directly from farmers, makes every pizza by hand and serves great food at affordable prices. They also wanted to make sure their business did not take over their lives. The 14-seat shop is open only four days a week and does not take reservations. Deliveries? Yeah, right.
Mr. Lessins makes every pizza by hand. “No man is slower,” wrote GQ’s food critic, Alan Richman. “He makes each as though it is his first, manipulating the dough until it appears flawless, putting on toppings one small bit after another. In the time he takes to create a pie, civilizations could rise and fall, not just crusts.” Mr. Richman declared the Great Lake Mortadella pie one of the best pizzas in America — and that is when the trouble started. The shop was mobbed, with lines stretching down the block and long waits. A condensed version of a conversation with Mr. Lessins and Ms. Esparza follows:
Q. You got a great review from GQ and your business went crazy. Are you glad you got this attention?
Mr. Lessins: Yes and no. It’s nice that we got recognized for doing something we feel is good. The problem is GQ deals on a whole other scale than what our business is capable of handling. Everyone forgot we were this small operation and couldn’t serve everyone. We never intended to serve mass quantities and have our product available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We wanted to start a business so we could get some control in our lives.
Q. Do people get frustrated by the waits?
Mr. Lessins: We’ve had a few people get pretty flustered — “What do you mean we can’t be seated? We have to wait a couple of hours?” Like somehow we’ve violated their human rights. Why is it a crime that we’re not open seven days and we’re not seating 100 people?
Q. Many business owners would look at your sudden success with envy and say, “Seize the day, expand, add new locations, franchise.” Why not you?
Ms. Esparza: It would change our values. That is the American way — to expand without really thinking.
Mr. Lessins: We really enjoy the work that we’re doing and we don’t want to cheapen it. Consciously or unconsciously — probably both — we’re trying to create a manageable way to earn a living and still maintain our sanity. We value time as much, if not more so, than money.
Q. Are you making the kind of money you had hoped to?
Ms. Esparza: We just met with our accountant and we’re very happy, given the hours we have.
Q. People have compared you to the Soup Nazi on “Seinfeld.” Where do you think that comes from?
Ms. Esparza: That comes from American culture. The customer really isn’t always right. We believe we have the expertise to bring the best product. We don’t randomly put these ingredients together. We spend the time to test these and try them.
Q. So no substitutions? No extra anchovies?
Ms. Esparza: Substitutions are specifically for people who might have a dairy issue. Our goal is to have a very edited menu, and therefore there really are no extras. We don’t offer crushed pepper. When we put options together, they’re put together for a reason. We have such an edited menu, and it’s shocking how much people still want to manipulate it.
Q. In online reviews, some customers have complained about rudeness or arrogance. Where do you think that perception comes from?
Mr. Lessins: I think that perception of arrogance has to do with the sense of entitlement and a lack of respect for someone wanting to do their job. We’re just trying to do the job the best we can. We’re trying to provide a quality experience for everyone who comes in. In the food service business, it’s assumed that the customers have a set of God-given birthrights when they come into an establishment. It’s like they’ve been wronged in a lot of parts of their lives, and this is their chance to even the score.
Q. What does customer service mean to you?
Ms. Esparza: Great service for us is the quality of food we bring to the table.
Q. One of our “You’re the Boss” bloggers suggested that if you raised prices, you would make more money and have fewer but happier customers.
Ms. Esparza: That goes to an elite crowd and we’re not after that.
Mr. Lessins: That’s kind of using an economic tool to force an end result. We would just never do that. We want to offer things at a price we think is fair. Ultimately, we want to have it accessible to a broad range of people.
Q. Why not hire more help? Does Nick really have to make every single pizza?
Mr. Lessins: At this time, I’m the only one making the pizzas — I make the dough. I make my own mozzarella. I grind my own sausage. I order most of the products from farmers and our local suppliers, assemble it and all that. It took several years for me to come up with what I have now. It’s something that could definitely be communicated and delegated in a careful way. I haven’t yet thought seriously about doing that because I enjoy doing pretty much every step of the process myself. It’s not an ego thing — I just enjoy working with my hands and putting this whole puzzle together and creating something.
Q. What do you think of review sites like Yelp?
Mr. Lessins: Unfortunately, those sites are just being used for people to anonymously vent their own frustrations. They’re not accountable to anything or anyone. I wonder what they’re getting out of that to make the effort to sit down and write a paragraph or two trashing someone. Maybe they get some sadistic joy out of it. Our sense is that most of the people who do come into our place are fairly satisfied.
Q. Is this what you expected business ownership to be?
Mr. Lessins: I knew this was sort of a wild card — the public service component. We focused on the logistics and details of production, quality, execution and all the boring details of renting space, utilities, construction, permits and all this kind of stuff. But public service was definitely an unknown thing. We know we can’t make everyone happy.
Ms. Esparza: From my experience being a designer, once you know in your gut what you’re doing is really good, you just have to go with it. You can’t hold back because there’s going to be one person saying, “I don’t like that purple or that pink.” People are going to be people.
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