Super Bowl food favorites drive up pizza deliveries
Posted: 02.05.2012 at 9:11 PM
Updated: 02.06.2012 at 7:05 AM
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AMARILLO, TEXAS -- On Super Bowl Sunday, if you weren't hitting up the grocery stores for chips and dip, cokes, beer or ice, there's a good chance you were one of the hundreds that opted to order pizza and have it delivered instead.

Pronews 7 spent part of Super Bowl Sunday afternoon with Papa John's Pizza, and got an inside look at how they handle what they say is their busiest day of the year.

"Super Bowl Sunday is one of our busiest times, it's actually our busiest day of the year," said Papa John's Pizza General Manager, Johnny Michie. "Staffing, we've got 20 drivers ready to go and 15 people in the store ready to answer phones and take care of the customer

 and got an inside look at how they handle what they say is their busiest day of the year.

"Super Bowl Sunday is one of our busiest times, it's actually our busiest day of the year," said Papa John's Pizza General Manager, Johnny Michie. "Staffing, we've got 20 drivers ready to go and 15 people in the store ready to answer phones and take care of the customers."

By about three o'clock, they already had about 50 orders in and Michie estimated they'd deliver around 800 pizzas by the end of the day, with "rush-hour" hitting between the hours of 3:30 and 7:00 that afternoon.

Of course, that kind of business requires some serious preparation beforehand.

"We folded over 1,000 boxes and we have probably 500 wing boxes," said Michie looking around at the piles of boxes lining the perimeter of the room. "We've got a lot of food in store."

The more pizzas ordered, the more deliveries need to be made. That's good news for both the pizza places and delivery folks.

"The deliveries you make, the more you make in tips," said on Papa John's delivery man, Paul Herrere. "Some people will tip you, some won't. It just depends on the customer, the individual."

"Some are coming back with ten dollar tips and they're really excited because the big orders usually tip a lot bigger," added Michie.

But it's not just delivery boys reaping the benefits, it's the entire business.

"We usually double our sales on Super Bowl Sunday compared to any other day," said Michie.

No flags on the field here, just lots and lots of "dough".