Palermo's Pizza

Our trip is a short one this weekend. The State Capitol is only 76 miles from home and we make record time. We are welcomed by the friendly sight of people wearing red and white wandering the streets at 6:30am. Sometimes it is hard to understand why students have a hard time going to early morning classes, but when it is a game day those same kids fill the streets before the sun rises.

After a successful security check, the Palermo's Pizza Express is parked and ready to serve 108 pizzas to Bucky and all his fans. (I'm surprised the dogs didn't go nuts for the pizza inside!) Football fans were very excited to hear about free samples before the game. One fan claim's that "Pizza is my favorite breakfast food!" And we all agree with him! People are always so friendly with us. I want to think it's because of our charming personalities, or rugged good looks. But the crew comes to the conclusion that it is the Free Palermo's Pizza that puts them in great moods. Hopefully, by feeding Bucky he will help bring us another victory. GO BIG RED!

Outside Camp Randall we serve up some Primo Thin Pizzas, but as the official pizza of the Badgers, we get to serve our Rustico Pizzas inside the stadium. Bucky fans you can also find Palermo’s finest inside your grocer's freezer.

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Quad Cities, and Kansas City Tailgate

posted by Palermos Blogger : 9.25.2009 @ 9:55 AM

September 17th-20th

Miles from home: 210 Quad Cities, 569 Kansas City

What new adventures await us around the corner? Let's see, we are on the road to the wonderful Quad Cities. We have passed through the QC this summer, but we have never had a chance to visit. The trip begins with a sleepy-headed Jake, a "drooling-for-BBQ" Nate, and a "too-much-energy-for-the-morning" Kevin. Everyone is enjoying the upbeat songs of The Doobie Brothers, and life is good. Our drive is a quick three and a half hour journey west towards the mighty Mississippi. As we cross over the great river we enter Davenport, Iowa where our first gig will be held. HyVee customers are surprised to see our Palermo's Pizza Wagon. As always people are enjoying our samples so much that they are purchasing our Primo Thin, Rustico, and Hearth Italia in pairs. For anyone who is buying our product we are giving away a Palermo's Tour T-shirt. The things people will do for a T-shirt.

Friday morning rolls around and hey, we've got time to enjoy one of the Quad Cities' finer Disc Golf Courses, Devil's Glen. Do not be fooled by the name, there was only a small creek not a river of molten lava. Also, it is just a large hill, not a volcano. After the boys shoot a round, it's off to Moline, IL. It is Homecoming in town, and the Palermo's Pizza Wagon is detoured around the parade route. We finally arrive at the HyVee, to find a unique crowd. Here we find some customers that cannot wait to try on their newly given shirts. Their excitement is our pleasure. During our stay in the Quad Cities, we give away 120 pizzas to the local pizza lovers. Thanks for great hospitality; we look forward to another visit in the very near future!

While on the road you would think that you'd meet someone trying to sell you a sleeveless, flannel button down, or maybe a serving of Jello with glass shards in it. But these are not the people that the Palermo's crew meets. We meet Francie a kind gas station attendant that warns us of State Patrolmen making sure Trucker's equipment is up to standards. It is a good thing she gave us that warning because a few lights on the trailer were malfunctioning, with a little wiggle of the plug we were good as gold. Thanks Francie, now we are off to Kansas City.

We don't know what it is about KC, but we love it every time. We are blessed with great blue skies and a comfortable 82 degrees. We arrive at a very busy Price Chopper. There is a tent sale, brat fry, a radio remote and now free Palermo's! We want to thank FM 103 Jams for a few spots on air. This place is buzzing with energy, and bees. Did you know that a bee's favorite pizza is Palermo's Special Edition Pepperoni?? Consider your mind blown. Anyways, real customers are seriously impressed with our product, and cannot help but to buy a few to bring home. Saturday closes with a very satisfied populace, thank you Price Chopper.

It is now Sunday, the day we are waiting for: football Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. We arrive early, but people are already getting those BBQ's warmed up. It is hard for Nate to focus on the job at hand with all these glorious smells in the air. Nate may do the most good inside the trailer today, and I'm ashamed to say it, but we locked him in there. With that problem solved the Palermo's Breakfast and Primo Thin pizzas are flying through the oven! The party in which we are serving is in partnership with Miller/Coors and The Ultimate Tailgate. This is like tailgating heaven, all you can eat BBQ chicken, pork, and beef, not to mention the great pizza. A big thanks goes out to Kristen from Miller/Coors and Craig from The Ultimate Tailgate. We had a great time, and we hope to do it again in the future. As the game starts, we are packing up and heading home, it's only a short ten hour drive. Our trip ends with a sleepy-headed Kevin, a text-happy Nate, and a "sulking-because-we-are-going-home" Jake.

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Iowa Football Insanity

posted by Palermos Blogger : 9.11.2009 @ 12:59 PM

Miles From Home: 375

September 3-5

Well, if there's one thing that Iowa does big - it's football. We know of their appetite for corn, but

what about pizza?

It's Thursday September 3rd, and we're making the trip from our Minnesota adventures down to Ames, Iowa. Ames is home to Iowa State University, home of 48,831 screaming fans today. ISU's opponent tonight is North Dakota State University, a tough group clad in green and gold. But work comes first. After a players parade down the main road, hungry fans are flocking to our machine. Many remember us from when we were here last year for Homecoming. No sweatshirts needed this time around though, as the summer sun shines down on us from the heavens. One group that definitely remembers us is the ISU Cheer squad. They sprint over and gorge themselves on free pizza. Next year we're going to make them do a personalized Palermo's cheer before we hand out the freebies. Either way, thanks for the continuous support cheer squad! We are finishing up around game time, and 10 cases are in the history books. Lawrence, one of ISU's

event coordinators, hooks us up big time with free VIP passes for the game. Jack Trice Stadium, which holds 50,000, has an amazing VIP section with an incredible view. Situated directly behind the band, we can see every detail from the level we're on. Free food and drinks put the icing on the cake. We look like children in a candy store; a great way to end a very successful day. Thanks a ton Lawrence!

Friday is supposed to be a relaxing day off, but the Hawkeye Faithful is throwing a festival to honor Haden Fry, a long time, hall of fame, football coach. And this "Fry-Fest" is taking place in the field adjacent to our hotel. Charlie Daniels plans to take the stage, and I can imagine the insanity will soon follow. After a long night, the alarm rings at 5:30am Saturday morning. The black and gold fans (and dogs) from the Big Ten do football one way: BIG. As we are setting up at 6am, there are already tailgaters everywhere. By car, by truck, by bus, or by

RV - the Hawkeye faithful find a way to make it happen. We are set up in Rally Alley, the final walkway to get to Kinnick Stadium. We are slow at first, but the closer we inch to game time, the busier we get. And the response is going great. As usual, people love free, and people love pizza. We eventually will go through 10 cases today - with 1 case going to the band, LOL! Fresh off of naming a street after legendary coach Hayden Fry, the Hawkeyes go on to somehow get a victory from Northern Iowa University. Thanks for all the support Iowa! We'll be back soon.

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Palermo's Racing Team at Road America

posted by Palermos Blogger : 9.09.2009 @ 7:34 AM

It's National Championship time!!!!

After a very rockie beginning to the 2009 race season, Gino J Carini and the ERC MotorSports, Palermo's Pizza, MazdaSpeed, Hoosier Tire, Mazda3 manged to squeak out some decent finishes and end up 3rd in the points for the Central Division. And most importantly, we qualified for the National Championships.

Let me take a second and thank all who helped out. Lynn, Enzo and Mario, John D, Ed K, Chris D, Paul W, etc, etc. Too many to list. But with out these people and our sponsors, it could not be possible. Thank you Palermo's Pizza, Faith Technoligies, MazdaSpeed, Hoosier Tires, Carmex Lip Balm, The Jansen Group, AutoMekanika. ** (Your name here and on TV and internet)

This year, and for the next 3 years the SCCA's National Championship "Runoffs" are being held at the greatest race course in the country....Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

I'd like to encourage everyone to join us in the fun and come out and watch some super cool, super close and super fast racing. I do also encourage you all to enjoy everything else that is Road America too. (Brats, Beer, Chicken, Ice Cream, People Watching, etc.) We may even supply some food, snacks and drinks during the event.

The race is Friday, Sept 25 @ 2:00pm. I know it's a school or work day, but what the heck, it's racing and it's a Friday!!! We race rain or shine, so don't be afraid to make the short hour drive up to support our team.

Hope to see you there. Thank you again to everyone that helped.

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Kansas City part Deux

posted by Palermos Blogger : 9.04.2009 @ 7:14 AM

Miles from Home: 580

August 21st-24th

After devoting Thursday the 20th to travel, we are back in Kansas City. The air is just as gorgeous as it was the first time we were here. Today we are at a HyVee in Liberty. Not only is the Manager Daryl helpful, but he is also hilarious! Our early event is going smoothly, and shoppers are really enjoying our scrumptious breakfast pizza. A short break in the action for lunch, and we're off to another HyVee, this time in Lee's Summit, MO. 102.1 Star FM's DJ Dave Fogel is there to help us out. He defines the phrase "Radio Personality" it's too bad listeners can't see his flawless, flowing locks. Katie is with us for this trip, and she is slowly but surely becoming one of the guys. We are starting to serve at 1:30pm after a rigorous health inspection, which we pass with flying colors (as always). We are going through 10 cases of pizza, that's 120 of our finest pizzas! We'll be back at it again tomorrow morning!

Today is Saturday, and we are heading to Stanley, Kansas for a customer appreciation day, at the local Price Chopper. The atmosphere is buzzing with free food samples, train rides for the kids, and even a wacky inflatable, arm-flailing tube man! As if that wasn't enough, there is a 20 foot tall shopping cart powered by a hot rod engine. It is intense, we are getting slammed, and the free Monster Energy Drinks are fueling are success. Cheryl Keller, the event organizer, is a rock star. She's also making it possible for us to breeze through 17 cases of Palermo's finest.

Sunday August 23rd is here and we get to sleep in! Our only event on the agenda is at a Price Chopper in Blue Springs, Missouri. We aren't the only ones sampling today. Glorious Wisconsin pepper jack cheese freebies are available inside, and naturally we will indulge. Side note-people love the breakfast pizza in Missouri! Its good to see people as excited about our products as we are.

Monday, the start of the work week for most. The end of the work week for us. We are up while its still dark, as we have an A.M. date with Ball's Supermarket Headquarters. Cooking up pizza for the executives is tough work, especially when our electric components malfunction. Kevin, thank the lord, is a genius and fixes the slight setback by using a paperclip, a dryer sheet, and 4 rusty wing nuts. Kevin's new nickname: McGuyver. Katie is clinically insane by now, as Jake and Nate continue to do as many impressions as possible. Our 5 Kansas City events go very well.

Once again the weather is spectacular. As is the Jack Stack BBQ scent, which swims through our nasal passages. Blanc Burgers is also still a favorite during our stay.

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