Toto’s: Kindness and Caring Lead to Longevity

By Jim Dees

Sami Malzoum has the distinction of owning Toto’s, the first pizzeria in Australia. The original store opened in 1961 under different owners, and Sami bought the business in 1984. Now, ten stores later, Sami is quick to answer when asked how he and his family have persevered all these years.

“Family and freshness,” he says. “This is a family business. With our business, we’ve had customers grow up coming here. They have met their spouses here, have had children, and then the kids grow up and bring their kids in. My wife and I and our two sons run it, and we treat our customers like family. If you treat your customers with friendliness and care, and provide them with a meaningful experience, they’ll stay with you. Family is the foundation of the nation. You have good family, you’ll have a good nation.”

Sami’s son, Zain confirms that his father adds that touch of family that has made Toto’s a favorite for a quarter-century.

“My dad is unbelievable in the way he talks to the customers,” Zain enthuses. “He knows all of them and he speaks to all of them. I specialize in ‘back of the house’ issues, so it works out perfectly. He is at his best interacting with customers. He asks about their families and they ask about ours. He is Toto’s official welcoming ambassador.”

“When people walk in we want them to feel like they’re at home,” Sami concurs. “I want them to feel like their wife or momma is preparing the food.”

Universal Language
“A smile is the language of the whole world,” Sami says, as a wide grin crosses his face. “Sometimes the simplest things are the most important, like the words, ‘love’ and ‘peace.’ The simplest things have the greatest meaning behind it, even something as simple as thank you.” While friendliness and a good attitude are cornerstones of the Toto success story, Sami acknowledges that the food has to back up the smiles.

“Everything we serve is fresh,” Sami declares. “We don’t use anything frozen. Our staff comes in at 5 in the morning to start making our sauce. We make it fresh every second day. I have to concentrate on making sure all our meats are fresh. There is no substitute for that kind of effort. When everything is fresh, you feel good after you’ve eaten.”

Sami says when he took over Toto’s, the pizzeria served pizza exclusively. Sami quickly changed that.

“We wanted to keep Toto’s as close to the same as possible, but we felt the menu could be expanded.” And expand, they did. Toto’s now serves pasta, veal, chicken, seafood, steaks and salads, as well as ice cream and cappuccino. Sami says his clientele supports such variety.

“Australia is a great nation and a very multi-cultural society,” he points out. “We cater to all cultures.”

World Stage
Sami says drama classes he took in college have helped shape his attitude toward business.

“I feel like the people are the audience and you are the actor,” he relates. “I use the principle of the stage in my drama. And I teach the people I work with to be that way. You’re basically making a show for people’s dinner.”

Sami also takes a humanitarian approach when it comes to those less fortunate. He says a group of homeless people routinely gather at Toto’s and he has instructed his staff to feed them pizza.

“Our mission here is not just to work and make money, but to help others,” Sami declares.

“You have to live your life with dignity. In the end, you can’t take anything you built with you.” In fact, free pizza is an old tradition at Toto’s. The previous owner gave away free pizza in the early 1960s because Australians were so unfamiliar with it.

“No one ate pizza except the Italians and they made theirs at home,” Sami recalls.

Sons Rising
In the coming years, Sami and his wife will eventually turn all the operations over to their two sons, Zain and Serg (check names or omit). Sami says he has no fears about their abilities.
“Sometimes the student becomes smarter than the teacher,” he says with a smile.  “I feel that way about everyone who works here. I’d like to see all of them do even better than I have.”

Zain says his plans for the business is careful growth but also retaining the venerated style of Toto’s.

“I call it “modern/traditional,” Zain says with a gleam in his eye much like his dad’s. “We’re renovating the main store this year. We’re toying with idea of rolling out a line of gourmet pizzas. We’re going to be careful about too many changes to something that has worked for 45 years.”

Zain, 31, has worked many of those years himself. He started as a dishwasher at Toto’s at age 8. By age ten he was putting garlic butter on the breadsticks, then he worked as a waiter, and he was made manager by age 17.

“My father is a true believer and I believe in what we’re doing,” Zain opines. Zain intends to do a lot of market research in the next few years to prepare himself for running all 10 stores and opening new ones. One idea Sami says he will pass along to his sons is to be cautious about opening more stores.

“We’re not a huge company,” Sami points out. “We have to protect our name and go about expansion, step by step. I know people who have millions of dollars in the bank and they’re not happy.”

Happiness is key to Toto’s longevity. Sami is happy and he sees to it that his employees and customers are happy also.

“How you treat people is the most important thing,” Sami says. “Quality food is important, of course, but nothing beats service with a smile.”

As Sami meets and greets his legions of customers he’ll be the first one to smile. “Life is a gift from God,” he says.

Recently, in (What month?) , Sami and his family decided to remodel Toto’s. They gave the restaurant an overhaul and brought it back to look more like its original layout and did a Grand Re-Opening to the applause of all of their lifelong customers, friends and family. Now Sami has one more surprise and accolade in store. After PMQ Editor-in-chief Tom Boyles and PMQ Australia Publisher Stephen Millar visited Sami and his family, they, along with PMQ Publisher Steve Green decided it was time to give the Malzoum family and Toto’s the recognition they deserve from the pizza industry. Congratulations to Toto’s and the Malzoum family on being the second inductee into the Pizza Hall of Fame. You will be able to view the plaque that officially inducts Toto’s into the Hall of Fame at his restaurant and view more photos at www.pizzahalloffame.org. Congratulations.