In 1986, at the age of 15, Joe DeMott had the only job interview of his life.
“I was walking out the door to go to a movie with my friends, and my dad asked, ‘Where are you going?'”
“I told him ‘Out to a movie,’ and he said ‘No, you’re not.’ That was it – that was my interview,” laughs Joe. That evening, he spent his first night in the kitchen at Pietra’s Pizzeria and Italian Restaurant – the first of many.
Opened in 1964, Pietra’s has been serving up top-notch pizza and Italian food on 44th Avenue in Wheat Ridge for 60 years. Paul DeMott, Joe’s father, invested in the business in its first year of operation, and owned it outright by the beginning of the second year. Paul officially retired in 2012, and the owner title was transferred to Joe, whose intention was to keep the restaurant true to his father’s vision.
“I don’t really change the recipes,” he says. “They work, and so we just run with it.” Since its opening, Pietra’s has made its own sauce, meatballs, pizza dough and more. Joe holds a degree from a culinary institute, but he believes what he’s learned in the kitchen at Pietra’s has been much more valuable.
Rather than holing up in the back of the restaurant counting tills and working books, Joe spends his shifts in the kitchen cooking alongside his staff.
“I would rather be there than anywhere,” he says. “At this point it’s just like breathing, you know. It’s my therapy.”
In the spirit of keeping business in the family, Joe’s daughter works at Pietra’s as a hostess. His son began his first year at CU Boulder this fall, but Joe knows he’ll be in town working shifts on the weekends.
Besides Pietra’s delicious food, Joe also prides himself on the restaurant’s deep ties to the community. Paintings and photographs from the Wheat Ridge Art League line the walls, as well as a picture of the youth football team which Pietra’s sponsors. In the past, Joe has cooked a banquet style breakfast for the Farmers football team before a big game, and twice a year he lets the Wheat Ridge Theatre Company take over the restaurant for their wrap party. He is always happy to lend a box of Coke or a sack of potatoes to another local restaurant, since he knows the favor will always be returned.
These roots in the community were a saving grace for Joe and for Pietra’s during the 2020 COVID shutdown. On one of the first nights of the business shutdown, one patron bought $1000 worth of gift certificates – a story that Joe says still brings a tear to his eye.
“This community sort of rallied around the local businesses and refused to let them get hurt.”
Since the pandemic, Joe doesn’t see some of his former regulars anymore, but he knows they’re still ordering from third-party delivery apps – he remembers their usual orders. He’ll put a note in the delivery bags wishing his loyal customers well.
Counter to conventional thinking, Joe has a theory that successful restaurants near Pietra’s will strengthen his own customer base.
“Everybody likes to go to different pizza places and see whose is the best – they have little competitions with their neighbors and friends on who can find the best one. So, competition actually makes you busier. And, as restaurants close near you, it just keeps people out of the neighborhood. That’s bad for my business.”
When asked about lessons learned over the years at Pietra’s, Joe shares a piece of business wisdom that, like the restaurant itself, was passed down from his father.
“People say, ‘this isn’t good for business, that’s not good for business.’ And my dad used to say, ‘you never do what’s best for business. You only do what’s right for your customers, and the business will follow.’ You keep your customers happy, and your customers will keep you happy.”
You can book your large-party dinner or just order Pietra’s online at https://pietraspizzawr.com/.
