PIZZA AND BEER, what could be better? The two local Your Pie locations, one in Sandfly and one downtown, give you the option of not only making your own pizza but providing several craft beer options.
Not only is craft beer is served up at both spots but the guys at Your Pie have created events that have brought some of the harder to find craft brews to town. In fact their devotion to craft beer has been recognized at the national level and has helped to push craft beer into the menus of many Your Pie locations.
Paul and Michael Childers are the father and son team behind both Savannah locations of Your Pie. I spoke with them about why they included craft beer in their menu.
Paul: “At Your Pie, we’re into craft pizza. The customer gets a pizza and is in charge of creating their own food experience. You have different sauces, different cheeses, meats, and veggies. Just recently, we’ve created a pizza with fried chicken and waffles! So, Michael and I have always believed that our pizza patrons would love that same experience with their beer by utilizing great flavor and plenty of choices. When we opened our first location in downtown Savannah over 6 years ago, people laughed at us for putting Dogfish’s 90 Minute IPA on tap. Comments included, “it’s too bitter and expensive,” and since then it has never been off tap. Every other one of our taps is some type of craft beer. When we opened our second location in Sandfly, comments were “It worked downtown, but not in a local neighborhood,” and they were equally wrong. So we’re all in, and think craft will only continue to grow.”
This strategy was so successful locally they collaborated with Your Pie on the corporate level.
Michael: “Nationally, we have created a franchise wide craft program. In this program we partner a craft brewer, with a new craft pizza and a unique gelato. During these programs we encourage each franchise to offer several beers on tap and schedule pint nights or tap takeovers. Sometimes we are even able to offer brewery trips for a local patron and members of the local store. Beyond the craft program we also send out a monthly newsletter that contains information on new beers, new breweries, and trends in the industry. We have found that beer education is the best answer to how to sell more beer, so we saturate our franchisees with as much beer knowledge as we can.”
We all know pizza and beer go together but I asked the guys how craft beer has changed their business model.
Michael: “Craft beer is business as usual for us. Offering craft beer was never not an option for our business model. With that being said, our passionate support of the craft beer scene has enabled us to offer multiple events and always have something unique on tap thru out the year. Paul: For us, we were all things craft beer from the beginning. Craft beer dovetailed with what we believe about pizza. It’s all about choice and flavor. Besides, we feel like our brothers in the craft beer industry are doing the same thing we are. As they fight “Big Beer,” we’re fighting “Big Pizza!”
Finally Paul suggests that the local craft beer scene is vital and deserves attention.
“In the beginning, we had zero choices for local craft beer in Savannah, and now, we have great beer coming from Southbound Brewing, Service Brewing, and Coastal Empire Brewery. These guys and gals are putting out some amazing one-offs, as well as terrific year-round brews. Support your local and state breweries, because they are really putting out some great brews that are getting recognition, nationally. Of course, a great way to do this would be to visit one of our Your Pie locations!”
Your Pie Southside is located at 7360 Skidaway Road Unit A-1 and the Downtown location can be found at 110 W Bryan Street both are open from 11:00 AM to 9:00PM except Fridays and Saturdays when they stay open until 10:00.
The next craft beer event at Your Pie Southside is a Dogfish Head tap takeover on December 1 from 6:30-10:00. Expect a few of Dogfish Heads regular and season brews and a few harder to find offerings.
