Business & Tech
Big Mike's Pizza
Big Mike Elam offers a venue of sports and pizza, which are a reflection of his life's story.
Big Mike Elam has lived the quintessential life of sports and pizza. Working as a teenager in a New York pizza shop and playing high school football has led to a lifetime career. is the result of that combination.
Elam started with sports. A move from New York found him playing for the Pirates of Boca Ciega High School. A promising career in football inspired colleges to offer him scholarships. "I turned them down," he said. Instead he opted to start a restaurant business.
Elam earned his title early on. In his days gone by, he ran a sports-radio talk show out of his pizza parlor. Ernest Graham of the Tampa Buccaneers was a guest on this show. "He called me Big Mike." The name stuck and found its way onto the marquee of later restaurants.
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Elam has not given up his interest in sports, despite his career in the restaurant business. He and friends run a privately funded youth sports organization that is part of the Pop-Warner worldwide league. His team is the Pinellas Park Rebels. "It has turned out to be a full time job." The league offers children 5 to 15 years old a chance to play football.
Elam makes a point of being active in the community. He donates food to schools, offers gift certificates for student raffles, helps students get scholarships and encourages students to play sports. He also contributed to getting the Seminole Marching Band to the 2010 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
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Elam's personal history and interests show in his restaurant. Big screen TVs playing sports channels face in every direction. The pizzas are made in the style he learned in New York pizzerias. Pizza and wings are Big Mike's signature dishes. "We make our own blue cheese and hand toss our pizza crusts," he said.
Perhaps the most unique feature of the restaurant is Elam's emphasis on customer service. Elam can be found at Big Mike's every day. The waitresses and even Elam offer warm greetings to arriving guests and know many of them by name. "I want a personal relationship between the customers and staff," he said.