Delmar Pizza’s 35-Year Formula: Consistency, Community, and 1% Better Every Day

Branden Hudson welcomes Mike Kostis, co-owner of Delmar Pizza in Delmar, Delaware/Maryland, a community cornerstone since February 1991, and discusses how the business has kept value despite inflation, raising an extra-large cheese pizza about $6 since 1992. Kostis credits long-term success to consistency, hands-on ownership with his father, premium ingredients, fermentation, and a “get 1% better every day” mindset, while maintaining core menu items and evolving slowly with new offerings like grandma pies, desserts, and house-made ice cream. They cover work ethic shaped by family restaurant roots, balancing grinding with smarter business decisions, and hiring for hospitality over transactions. Kostis shares operational scale (up to ~1,000 pizzas on busy nights), community support through school lunches and donations, faith as a foundation, and plans for nationwide shipping via delmarpizzapasta.com. 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 01:05 Delmar Pride and Legacy 02:33 Pizza Prices and Inflation 04:20 Consistency and Ingredients 07:58 Family Roots and Lineage 10:27 Work Ethic and Sacrifice 13:53 Evolving the Menu 18:03 Grandma Pie Explained 20:26 Fees Banks and Small Business 26:28 Hiring A Players 28:48 Cousin Sales Story 29:48 Training With Respect 30:44 Hospitality Over Service 32:30 Consistency Lessons 34:12 Busiest Nights Volume 36:12 Systems And Scaling 40:16 Faith And Giving Back 49:17 Handling Reviews Mistakes 50:24 Wrap Up And Where To Find