Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark and Tara Fanello.
Hi Mark and Tara, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Our names are Mark and Tara. We were both raised in the South suburbs of Chicago, IL. We have been together since we were teenagers. We married in 2006 and started our family in South Chicago Heights, IL. You will find one of the best places to have an Italian pizza in Chicago, IL. We both grew up loving cooking, making food, hosting dinners, and watching people enjoy our creations. We hope you become one of those people.
We moved out to Powell, TN, in 2017, bringing with us a dream to blend our Italian roots with the flavors of the South. In 2021, we set out to create the ultimate Italian pizza in Knoxville. Our journey involved years of food experience, endless tasting, and fine-tuning with a team of family, friends, and neighbors. The result? Our pizza food truck, a unique blend of Italian and Southern cuisine, is ready to delight your taste buds.
The vision of Southern Yankee Pizza is to create a pizzeria that would be the first place thought of whenever someone thinks about pizza. But our vision is not just about us, it’s about you too. It’s about creating a space where you can enjoy good food, good company, and good times. We look forward to growing with you, to starting this journey together, and to making Southern Yankee pizza a place you love to visit.
You may ask yourself, why Southern Yankee Pizza? Our decades of passion for cooking have helped us create unique dough and sauce combinations that will leave your mouth watering. Our version of Chicago-style deep dish and our crust will make you feel like you have experienced the flavor of the South side of Chicago. We invite you to come and have a good conversation and have a great pizza with us. We look forward to seeing you.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Running a food truck has been one of the most challenging and exciting things we have done. Starting this from the ground up, from designing the trailer to tailoring our menu to serve our customers better, has been incredibly enlightening. Constantly learning and overcoming challenges that we never knew existed. Learning how to reduce product waste was an early struggle that we faced—not knowing how much to prep, not knowing how to anticipate sales for an event, and not knowing what questions to ask when booking events. As with any new adventure, creating a routine and improving our service time is something we will always continue to build on.
As you know, we’re big fans of Southern Yankee Pizza. What can you tell our readers who might not be as familiar with the brand?
We are a Pizza Food Truck that offers delicious pizza that we have been perfecting for years. Not only are we known for our unique crust and sauce, customer satisfaction is our ultimate goal. Building relationships with the community and fellow food truck operators has been the most satisfying part of this adventure. To have a customer base that finds us wherever we may be that day and sharing their experiences has been very gratifying. We strive to give our customers great food and great conversation.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
The most important thing to our success is consistently producing a quality product and maintaining our customer-first approach.
Pricing:
- $2-$25
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/southernyankeepizza/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076424517042&mibextid=ZbWKwL
- Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/southern-yankee-pizza-powell
- Other: Southern Yankee Pizza https://g.co/kgs/QfKHFns
Image Credits
Mark & Tara Fanello
