Ray Salti
The Prince of Pizza, founder of multiple Pepperoni’s
Ray Salti is a pizza lover. So much so that he’s spent the last three decades building a family-owned and operated pizza province that now stretches from Houston to surrounding counties with 16 locations, nine of which are family-owned and seven that are franchised.
Originally from Jerusalem, Salti attended Manhattan College and graduated with a degree in business marketing from Southern Illinois University, before settling in Texas, where his wife Rima is from. It was her brother that started a little pizza place in Sugar Land in 1990 where Salti came in as a partner, and, a year later, bought him out. That Pepperoni’s was the beginning of a foodie empire.
“People think it happened overnight,” says Salti. “But I didn’t open the second location until 1997. I spent a decade on the line making pizzas, cleaning bathrooms, and everything else.”
But the family business continued to grow, as people fell in love with the concept of fast takeaway and delivery pizzas made from better ingredients. Salti and family still go to food shows and talk to suppliers searching for the best and healthiest ingredients. Pepperoni’s uses Di Napoli Italian tomato products, natural wheat flour, and whole milk cheese.
Despite the problems of the pandemic the last two years, Salti’s family business has done well.
“Even before the pandemic,” he says, “we were switching to updated technology. We went to a central call center for all the locations,” But things such as staffing shortages did impact the company. “We had a difficult time getting delivery drivers,” he says, due in part to the increase in delivery apps. But the company does a lot to hang on to employees.
“We try to create a culture of loyalty,” Salti says. “We pay vacation time and have a retirement plan and health accounts they can buy into.”
But pizza seemed almost pandemic proof. Currently Salti has 25 signed leases for franchises. He’s simplified the franchisee menus to piazzas, wings, and salads so that mom and pop operators can basically run the stores with little staffing.
His Upper Kirby Bollo Woodfired Pizza, a sit-down restaurant and wine bar opened in 2015, actually underwent a dining room redo and added a second wood-burning oven direct from Napoli last year.
Salti’s three sons work in the business as well, but Salti doesn’t see retirement in his future any time soon.
“I can delegate more,” he says. “And just make the major decisions.” It’s a far cry from the early days of making pizzas and running that first restaurant, but it also gives him time to give back to the community with rewards programs and fundraising events for local school districts and charities.
When visiting or ordering from your local Pepperoni’s you can enjoy fresh salads and some spicy wings, or for a sweet treat, the Tiramisu, the iconic coffee-flavored Italian dessert. But the real stars on the menu are the pizza pies.
Pepperoni’s offers signature pizzas such as vegetarian and a traditional Margherita all the way to a meat lovers topped with pepperoni, Canadian bacon, beef, and Italian sausage. Or you can build your own with a vast array of toppings. They even offer gluten-free pies and will try to accommodate other diet restrictions so that everyone can enjoy a good pizza.
“I probably eat pizza about once a week,” Salti admits. His favorite? A very simple design.
“Sometimes I eat toppings, but the best is just cheese pizza,” he says. “It’s a classic, just dough, cheese, and sauce. That way you can really taste the ingredients.”