Meet Husam and Sarah Mattia of Pizza e Birra

Today we’d like to introduce you to Husam and Sarah Mattia.

Husam and Sarah, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I (Sam) have been in the restaurant business over 30 years. My family owns Mazara’s in South Park-since the early 1980’s. Last year I made the decision to follow my desire to branch out on my own and get my own restaurant. My wife Sarah and I originally thought we would start much smaller with a hole in the wall pizza spot, selling slices to go with local delivery, probably no dining area and something we’d either have to build up or remodel. Pizza e Birra kept coming to our attention through other business owners who suggested that it was for sale as well as online while we were looking for places to scope out.

And although it was much more than what I thought we were looking for, I thought we’d give it a try anyway and see the space. I called the broker who informed me that Pizza e Birra had already been sold, but we felt we should go stop by anyway to see how the process of scoping out a location would go. We figured since it had already been sold this would be a practice run on the search. When we visited Pizza e Birra I fell in love with it. The atmosphere and decor was modern yet casual and just a chill spot. The food was good and I got excited even though I knew it had already been sold it inspired me and I knew what I wanted to look for as we would continue our search for a business to buy.

The NEXT day after our visit to Pizza e Birra, the broker called me and said the buyers had actually backed out the day before-the same day we visited the restaurant. The process of buying Pizza e Birra was super rough and many times my wife and I said to ourselves that we should stop and go back to our hole in the wall idea, or even just stay at Mazara’s and give up the notion of getting my own spot- but signs kept popping up reassuring us that this was the path we were supposed to follow so we kept on moving forward and made this place ours.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Even though I’ve been in the restaurant game a long time, there are so many new ideas and advancements that have been developed that we didn’t use at Mazaras. So I bought Pizza e Birra with plenty of knowledge that in some ways I had to let go of or relearn new methods for. The menu itself (which we kept and built upon from the previous owners), as well as the oven, was new to me.

Buying Pizza e Birra has forced me to learn how to use a POS system (at the risk of sounding like a dinosaur) and that for me was a technological feat. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We had many late nights and tears figuring out how to secure the financials to close escrow before Pizza e Birra even officially became ours. Going into business with your significant other tests your marriage like none other and that is something Sarah and I struggle with daily.

But at the end of the day I love what I do, I love connecting with customers (current Pizza e Birra customers still recognize me as “the guy from Mazaras”) and Sarah has more than enough knowledge to make this work for us so even though it hasn’t been the smoothest road it’s also still been very worth it every day to see how far we can go with this. We gotta give a shout out to our awesome staff who have helped make the experience a bit easier with their help and input.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Pizza e Birra – what should we know?
Pizza e Birra is going into its 4th year of life with us being the 3rd owners and I can honestly say there’s not a thing wrong with it, its just the way fate would have it. We have 24 beers on tap and an inviting wine list, no liquor yet but it’s a definite goal. The food menu has changed a bit over time but it’s solid. We have something for everyone- our wings are legit-thick and meaty with plenty of sauce options (Mango Habanero-trust me) and our dough bakes the perfect artisan pizzas. We’ve had self-declared pizza snobs tell us we’re the best pizza they’ve had. We have pasta options too (gotta try the Chicken Tequila Fettuccine). Salad and desserts.

One of the most unique items on our menu is our Baked Sandwiches- the bread for each sandwich is made to order and we actually use a small pizza dough, shape it into a bread and bake it. You end up with this cross between a panini/sandwich/calzone type of deal and they’re awesome. Our happy hour pricing is generous and it runs to a unique time of 6:19 pm- a nod to the previous owners who had it set at that time as a homage to San Diego. We offer a Mug Club, for a $10 monthly membership fee a customer will receive $2 off beer every time, including happy hour. (if you do the math, you’re getting beer for a total of $2 bucks)

Sarah and I have two young daughters together who come by the restaurant often so we knew we wanted to make it inviting for kids and families as well so she came up with a kids menu that offers a Make Your Own Pizza option. We bring pizza dough, sauce, cheese and the child’s choice of one topping to their table so they can put it all on the pizza themselves, then we take it back to the oven to cook. Kids love it.

I really take pride in our customer service. Customer service is so important to me, not because it fuels your business but because I am a people person. I genuinely like connecting with my customers and getting to know my regulars, I’m always messing around and joking to make light of all my interactions with our guests. And the thing is, it seems to work cause I can run into people in the most random of places and they are able to place my face and business (sometimes my name too, ha).

Our servers are also great with connecting with people, I often hear them greeting customers by name and having followed up conversations that they recall from a previous visit. At the end of the day, people can love your food, but you got to also provide an experience and connection worth remembering.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I have to say a good family friend of mine, more like a brother, Robert Zakar helped us tremendously by walking us through the process of buying Pizza e Birra. There were many little details that we were unfamiliar with that he and my lawyer, Steve Mattia, helped us with along the way. They were a guiding light in the whole process. I gotta give a shoutout to my wife, Sarah, for being my biggest cheerleader.

For years I talked about wanting to get my own business and after hearing it for so long she basically said do it or stop talking about it. So together we took that leap and pursued my dream of having a restaurant to call our own. It’s a family business so its a family affair and my kids deserve a shoutout too- my son Cameron recently turned 18 and he’s stepped up to help us out at work and my two younger daughters have had to deal with not seeing me as much before their bedtime so I can only hope they one day understand why.

Pricing:

• Happy Hour- Tuesday, Wed 3pm-6: 19 pm Thursday 3pm-Close. Sunday all day. $4 pints, $4 select appetizers, $9 any small pizza
• Lunch Specials Tuesday-Friday 11am-3:30pm $8-$11
• Mug Club- $2 off beer any time. Ask for details.

Contact Info:

• Address: 3625 India Street San Diego, California 92103
• Website: www.pizzaebirrasandiego.com
• Phone: 619-550-5796
• Email: pizzaebirra@yahoo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pizzaebirrasandiego/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PizzaeBirraSanDiego/

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