'A Big Gamble': Pizza Mia Owner's Leap Of Faith, Dedication Still Paying Off Nearly 4 Decades Later

NEW LENOX, IL — It's been a grind, but Dave Dombrowski can still say he loves what he does.

Soon it'll be 35 years that the restaurant owner has been making pizzas—an adventure that began in his hometown Oak Forest, before expanding to Homer Glen and New Lenox. Dombrowski bought his first Pizza Mia location in 1991, then another in 1993 and a third in 2006.

Two are still running and successful, and it's been a bit of a journey to get there.

Dombrowski—whose New Lenox location marked 20 years in March—attributes his success to grit, sacrifice, innovation and, plainly stated, good food.

The name, though, made things a bit tricky from the jump. It had carried over from the pizza place first in its Oak Forest space, he said.

"If I could go back and change one thing, I’d change the name," Dombrowski said. "It’s hard to sell anything else other than pizza. The name implied just pizza. Unless they had the food prior, it’d be a hard sell."

Dombrowski first started making pizzas in high school, at a spot on 159th Street. He opted out of going to college, instead deciding to purchase a pre-existing pizza restaurant in Oak Forest. He sold his sports car to help pay off the previous owner's loan on equipment, and lived at home with his parents as he found his footing.

"All I did was work," he said. "... I don’t know if I would have made it if I had a family or a mortgage or anything. My parents were both teachers—for me not to go to college, was really disappointing for them."

'You can’t work at a pizza place your whole life,' they'd tell him, he said.

"And, here I am," he laughed.

Sales didn't come easily at the Oak Forest spot, he said. He was the third or fourth owner there, and it took a while to build a customer base.

"Looking back on it, it was a big gamble," he said. "I thought I knew everything about making pizzas, because I’d been doing it for 5-6 years."

There was no social media, no viral marketing, he said—tools he's been able to embrace in later years of business.

"My social media was the phonebook," Dombrowski said. "I would take the Oak Forest phonebook, call 10 people, try to get ‘em to buy pizza. My goal was to get 5 pizza sales each day. Call 'em up, try to get ‘em to order a pizza, until I got five yes’s everyday."

Dowbrowski sold the Oak Forest location and moved on in 1997, next opening one in Homer Glen. He bought the location, closed it for six weeks and changed out the sign.

"That place took off right off the bat there," Dombrowski said.

He worked seven days a week, for 15 years at the Homer Glen location. As customers learned of his more extensive menu and catering services, the business boomed.

"That was a big, huge part of why we’re so successful," Dombrowski said. "You could have that same person come in 2-3 times a week, eat something different every time. It’s not the same order every time."

Dombrowski dabbled in franchising, with locations in Frankfort and Bolingbrook. The Frankfort location was successful for several years, before illness forced the franchisee to close.

He learned some tough lessons in trying to franchise.

"I thought it was going to be easier selling franchises than it was," he said. "Didn’t have luck finding the right combination, really."

In 2006, he opened the New Lenox location at 830 W. Laraway Rd. Having grown up in Oak Forest, he himself had been migrating southwest, eventually moving to Orland Park and Frankfort, where he lives now.

"When I came to New Lenox, it was a brand new spot," he said. "Pizza Mia was born again in New Lenox."

With the New Lenox and Homer Glen locations still thriving, he's able to reflect. He opened the latter at just 20 years old.

In July, Pizza Mia will celebrate 35 years in business. In celebration, he'll roll back prices to 1991 numbers: a large pizza for $8.45.

"I knew in high school I didn’t want to go to college," Dombrowski said. " That wasn’t for me. I enjoyed working in that pizza business: I loved it.

"Did I know I was going to fall into that? Probably not. Getting into it, all I knew, 'this was all I was going to do. There was no ‘fail.’ You just keep pounding it out.”

He's seen his food served for every occasion he can think of, and watched as families grow as employees. He used to pay kids cash to come in on Saturdays and hand-deliver coupons and flyers, he said.

"It’s how I found one of my best employee families," he said. "A year into it, the girl was turning 15, I hired her as my first phone call."

He has employed three generations of the same family in some capacity, from passing out flyers and coupons, to working inside the restaurant.

Another man worked as a delivery driver, and now his son works for Dombrowski, too.

"I’ve had so many families like that over the years," he said.

The Homer Glen location is owned by a franchisee who first began working for Dombrowski at just 15 years old. The location is still up and running at 14413 S Bell Rd.

"Having those relationships with employees over the years, has been rewarding. Those relationships are priceless."

Nowadays, the New Lenox location employs 20, and the pizza and chicken are the one-two punch, he says. Pizza Mia has become a beloved name in the communities where it operates. Many community groups and organizations have played a part in the Pizza Mia story, including schools in Homer District 33C, Frankfort 157-C, Manhattan D114, New Lenox D122, and athletics, band, music and theater programs at Lincoln-Way D210. In addition, he's supported the New Lenox Library, Trinity Services, New Life Church, Parkview Church, New Lenox Rebels, New Lenox Youth Football Association, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts, New Lenox Soccer and countless travel youth sports teams. New Lenox's Tom E Hartung American Legion Post 1977 and VFW Post 9545, as well as Morning Star Mission have been part of Pizza Mia's history.

He's still manning the business, because it's what he loves.

"At the end of the day, I’m an operator," he said. "I love what I do still. Even after all these years, I love going in. I don’t call it a job. I’ve been making pizza since I was in high school, and writing my own checks since I was 20 years old."

He's grateful for family and friends who have understood his absence when he's been manning the shop.

"A lot of ups and downs, personal sacrifices," he said. "I love the people. I really like the work. I love the customers, the fast-paced environment on a Friday or Saturday.

"I’ve taken off five Fridays over the years—I just don’t. That’s where the bread and butter is—Friday, Saturday, Sunday."

Business is good and the work is hard, but it's worth it.

"Being involved in the communities, seeing families grow over the years—the good times, the bad times," Dombrowski said.

"It’s not just about selling pizzas. It’s about the relationships."