We were lucky to catch up with Jeff Roberts recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jeff, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

SGT Pepperoni’s Pizza is a family owned – community serving business. We pride ourselves in our efforts to serve others. The highlight of these efforts is our partnership with children’s Hospital of Orange County. Every year in September, we collect brand new Lego sets to donate to children in the hospital. In addition, we provide proceeds from our sales for the month. we have given away thousands of LEGO sets and over $250,000 to CHOC

Jeff, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Sgt Pepperoni’s was started in 1976 in Newport Beach, California and has served the orange county community for nearly 50 years. Our legacy with the brand started 12 years ago when four families came together to resurrect the iconic and legendary spot. We created an incredible offering of world class, pizzas, sandwiches, and salads. Our kitchen is 98% scratch, and as a result, people are crazy for our pizza. We have been honored for the past six years in a row as the number one pizza in Orange County. In 2023 yelp rated us in the top 100 in America. Our guests love us , and tell us all the time that we are their favorite pizza spot
In addition to having world-class pizza made from the finest ingredients, we pride ourselves in service levels beyond compare. Our team loves what they do and it shows through the guest experience.

Have you ever had to pivot?

During the pandemic, like many businesses, we had to pivot from our business plan. The pizza concept carries well on it to go and delivery model. We went from 80% dine in, to 80% plus takeout and delivery. In addition, this time presented tremendous challenges with personnel And hiring. Our team completely transformed itself with almost 100% turnover and we became a much improved version of ourselves. It was during this time as well that we opened two additional locations to complement our landmark original restaurant in Newport Beach, California.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

We started Sgt. Pepperoni’s as a side hustle, with the four family partners involved in other businesses full-time. We continued to manage the business on a part-time basis for a number of years until the trajectory of success brought us to a more dedicated focus. It was five or six years before we reached that point and started to expand the business.
For me personally, my entire career was dedicated to retail and apparel in the action sports business. The pivot to pizza and hospitality came naturally, as it’s all about an experience and exceeding your guests expectations. By dedicating time and focusing on expansion, we have grown to three times our original size And adding two more restaurants in the next 12 months

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.sgtpepps.com
• Instagram: @sgtpepperonis
• Youtube: Sgt Pepperonis Pizza
• Yelp: Sgt Pepperonis Pizza

Image Credits

Jeff Roberts

Julie Karges