From specialty pizzas to TikTok fame, local pizzeria Pagliai’s does it the Pag’s way since 1957

Since 2020, Joey Pagliai, 40, has built up a fanbase for Pagliai’s Grinnell through TikTok, slicing pizza with a katana sword, perfecting the art of the pickle pizza and keeping up with the latest trends the Pagliai’s way. This past year, Pagliai’s Grinnell has gone viral on TikTok, hitting nearly 3 million views on their most popular post. 

Joey and his wife, Haylee, took ownership of the business in 2017. Since then, Pagliai’s has seen substantial growth in the business, partially due to social media promotion. 

The Pagliai family started with just over 30 locations back in the 1960s and early 1970s. Currently, there are 12 locations, but Pagliai’s Grinnell is not attached to them nor benefits from any franchise fees. Paisley Pagliai, 11, has been helping out in the restaurant since she was 3. She is Joey’s oldest daughter and wingman when it comes to content creation. 

“It’s pretty crazy how many people walk in here, and you don’t even expect how many people you’re going to meet, how many people you’re going to talk to. Even how many steps you get in,” Paisley said. 

For Paisley, Pagliai’s is her home away from home. “Everybody that works here is like my other family,” she said. Paisley said she is eager to help out whenever possible, if there’s an open door, she will be there ready to lend a helping hand. 

Pagliai’s is a family owned business run by Joey Pagliai and his wife, Haylee, since 2017. (Thai Theodoro)

Pagliai’s has been working with Maddy Marsho, content director at Double You Marketing, Inc., for the past year and a half. Marsho has helped the restaurant develop a strategic marketing plan and execute business promotion through social content and an updated website interface. 

“It’s been very fun because you get to use your creative side, but you still get to use your arc. It’s nice to use your basics of, like, good crust, cheese. You still get to stay in line with your brand, your heritage and family traditions,” said Joey. 

Pagliai’s is unique in its preparation process, said Joey. The meat is raw, instead of precooked, and the cheese goes on last, instead of first. Pagliai’s has always done it their way, he said. 

Controlled chaos is the vibe behind the scenes in Pagliai’s kitchen, Joey said. The employees often experiment with new specialty pizza combinations, bouncing ideas off of each other. 

“I’m like Peter Pan. I’m in Neverland, so I don’t have to grow up. I get to stay with all the young people,” Joey said. 

Aside from their trending videos, Pagliai’s employees, alongside Joey, also go live on TikTok. These lives last for up to four hours and bring in, on average, a couple of hundred new followers each time, said Joey.

Typically, live viewers ask to see the finished pizza. Sometimes, they like to offer their own criticism, which Joey said he is not always opposed to. 

For Joey, this has worked to his advantage. “The more people you can spice up, the more action you get out of it,” he said. 

The attention is not always positive, Joey said.

“We’ve gotten female stalkers…everytime we go live, they’re on there. For us, we’re not used to that, we’re just dudes out here making pizza,” Joey said. 

“It’s wild what people do on the Internet,” Paisley added. 

Through TikTok, Pagliai’s has reached far beyond Iowa. They have had viewers interact with them from the United Kingdom and Australia. 

Joey said Pagliai’s has even had customers drive six hours from Missouri to come visit and try their pizzas after learning about them through TikTok.

“All of the marketing we’ve done definitely kind of makes us feel like the flagship. It’s cool to be recognized,” Joey said. 

Joey is confident that Paisley, alongside his employees, are carrying the skills they learn at Pagliai’s with them wherever they go. He said that previous employees have reached out to him to tell him that they are still using everything they learned in the restaurant on a day-to-day basis. 

“When I’m just playing with Play-Doh, for some random reason, my hands just make the pizza dough. They know what they’re doing and they just are like, ‘Okay, let’s do this. Boom. I got it, let’s go,’” said Paisley. 

Joey said it’s been striking to watch Paisley grow up so differently from his own childhood.

“They’re online a lot, and so it’s good that [Paisley] comes out and has these social interactions. It’s pretty neat,” said Joey. 

“It gives me pride when I walk in here knowing that I’ll always be welcome here,” Paisley said.