Business & Tech
Who's Behind the Counter: Mario Flores at Village Pizza
An experienced pizza man, Flores talks about what goes into the best tasting pie, how much he appreciates his one day off a week and more.
Ever since Mario Flores arrived in the United States 15 years ago via El Salvador, he's loved to make (and eat) pizza.
For the last nine years he's worked at many of the various Vito's Pizzeria locations in Owings Mills, Reisterstown and Pikesville. Now, having settled in at Village Pizza on Main Street (also owned by Vito's), Flores is thrilled to be making his pies for the Reisterstown community.
Patch: How long have you been making pizza? What do you like about working in a pizza shop?
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Flores: Thirteen years. I like everything, making pizzas. Everything.
What do you like about working in Reisterstown? How are the people?
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I like these people. Good customers, good friends and I feel good with my customers. All of my customers are like my friends. The people call me by my name.
How did you learn to make pizza?
My brother taught me in New York in 1996. I made pizza there for five years, but I quit for two years to work [in construction]. After those two years I started making pizza again.
When you were working construction did you miss making pizzas?
Oh, yeah. And I missed eating my food too. I like pizza, salads, cheese steaks.
What do you think is the most important part about making a good pizza?
A little bit of everything. The secret of a good pizza is the cheese. You got to have good cheese. And the sauce. When you make the sauce, the better ingredients the better the sauce. Like Papa John's! If the sauce tastes good and the cheeses taste good, when you eat the pizza, it tastes good. And, we make pizza dough every day. I use fresh dough.
You said you work 12 hour days. So after a long day, what’s the first thing you like to do when you get home?
Relax a little bit, eat something, watch a little bit of television, shower then go to sleep.
Do you get to spend time with your family on days you work?
With this job, I don’t have too much time to spend with my family. I work ten to ten, six days a week. On my day off I spend all day with my family.
What kind of things do you guys do on your day off?
I go everywhere with my children. I go to the park, play soccer. Go to the church. We go to the mall for a couple hours. I spend the whole time [with] my family. It’s only one day, you know?
It’s tough at a pizza shop to not get very fat. You’re still in pretty good shape. How do you stay fit?
I don’t know. I eat pizza almost every day! I eat this food every day. But, I don’t feel too fat. A little bit of exercise. I go to the gym or sometimes exercise in my house.
