Business: Sugo Mio Pizza & Pasta

Address: 541 W. 87th St., Naperville

Phone/website: 630-983-8414, www.sugomiopizzaandpasta.com

Owner: Joe Gambino, 47, of Oswego

Years in business: 4

What does your business do? “We are a carryout only, neighborhood pizza place. … The neighborhood supports Zeppe’s (Italian Market in the same strip mall) a ton,” Gambino said.

How long have you owned Zeppe’s? “Twenty years in November.”

What does Sugo Mio translate to? “My sauce. It all stems from Zeppe’s Italian Market. … I had this vision that I was going to sell sauce like my ‘nonna,’ my grandmother, cooked on Sundays. … My very first batch turned into Zeppe’s Sauce. … I don’t make sauce off an index card. I make it ‘a little bit of this, a little bit of that.’ … Without the sauce that we sell at Zeppe’s, there’d be no Zeppe’s. … When I came (to Sugo Mio), I hoped to get lucky and knock my first batch out of the park. It took me nine batches here.”

Nine? “Nine 50-quart batches to make it exactly the same every time. At Zeppe’s, I did it in one. Sugo, I was being really picky. … I had a vision of what I wanted my sauce and my dough to be like. We brought that tavern-style thin crust pizza here.”

Thin crust or deep dish? “I travel a lot. People hear I own a pizza place. I’ll say that most Chicagoans do not eat the tourist pizza. I’m not saying we don’t have (deep dish) once in a while, but most Chicagoans (prefer) thin crust tavern-style cut in squares.”

What makes your pizza special? “We use real high-end mozzarella cheese. I only use the best tomatoes. … I try to not compromise my product. … Ninety-five percent of our sales is regular thin crust pizza. I like sausage, mushroom and onion on mine. … We have a 40-year-old brick oven. I love this oven. It’s amazing. … We use the same sausage we sell at Zeppe’s. … I only use fresh ingredients. No frozen vegetables.”

What’s the back story? “This was called Pieroni’s Pizza over 30 years. I bought this place four years ago.”

Do you deliver? “Only if they order online.”

How did the virus impact your business? “COVID-19 did a number on both businesses. Zeppe’s, we were really busy, but really strained. Only five employees, we were personal shoppers. Run ragged. … Business was terrible (at Sugo). How many restaurants closed? People say, ‘During COVID-19, you must have killed it.’ No. … Supplies cost more and people were not doing carryout in the beginning (of the pandemic).”

What do you like best? “I’m a people person. I get enjoyment, like a lot of my Italian ancestors, out of seeing people enjoy my food. I don’t do any advertising. We are a word-of-mouth kind of place. That’s the slowest way to build a business, but it’s the best.”

Any negatives? “Many, many hours. Employee issues constantly. … I’m one person with multiple businesses. I have to cover here, cover there. … I brought a new concept in. … For all the people who love us, there were some trolls.”

What challenges did you face? “Taking over a business, but I’ve been doing this for 30-plus years, running my own small businesses.”

When are you busy? “Fridays and Saturdays.”

Do you sell deep dish pizza? “We don’t. We do a stuffed pizza, but 95 percent is thin crust.”

At what temperature do you bake a pizza? “I go with 525 (degrees). Our pizzas are ready in eight to nine minutes.”

Do you have any favorite stories? “There are so many stories in my head. … I sell my frozen pizzas at Zeppe’s. … A customer comes in and says, ‘Joe, you have good pizza here, but I’ve got to tell you, there’s a place I buy frozen pizza at that’s better than your pizza.’ I asked where. He said, ‘It’s Zeppe’s. They sell pizzas that are so good.’ I said, ‘Those are my pizzas.’

“We also have a gentleman every Thursday at 6 o’clock who orders a 12-inch, all-sausage, half-mushroom pizza. I love that.”

Is this location good for business? “I love being in a neighborhood. I’d take this over being on Route 59 or 75th Street.”

What’s your advice for someone starting a business? “Do your research. Don’t focus on just the idea or product. Understand there’s going to be problems. Try to be the best problem-solver you can be. A problem-solver is the best businessman. Period.”

If you know of a business you’d like to see to profiled in Down to Business, contact Steve Metsch at metschmsfl@yahoo.com.

Steve Metsch is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.