OTTO to Make Four Appearances at the 2016 International Pizza Expo

otto_pizza_expo

OTTO co-owners Mike Keon and Anthony Allen, and OTTO Director of Marketing, Eric Shepherd

This March, three members of the OTTO team will be making a total of four appearances at the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. (Yes, that’s really a thing.)

Over the past thirty years, thousands of restaurant owners, managers, manufacturers, distributors, food brokers, and service providers have been convening every March for this industry event — the largest pizza show in the world.

In addition to the International Pizza Challenge (bake-offs before judges in five divisions, with Pizza Maker of the Year finals) and the World Pizza Games (skills competition in five divisions), the four-day convention also features approximately 90 keynote addresses, seminars, workshops, panel discussions and demonstrations.

OTTO co-owners Anthony Allen and Mike Keon will be making two appearances.

On Tuesday, March 8, Mike and Anthony will be performing a live baking demo, ‘Pizza Outside the Box,’ where they will discuss OTTO’s penchant for non-traditional ingredient combinations. Attendees will get to watch step-by-step baking demonstrations of two of the pizzeria’s signature pies: The Mashed Potato, Bacon & Scallion pizza, and the Butternut Squash, Cranberry & Ricotta.

On Wednesday March 9, Mike and Anthony will present a seminar, ‘Creating a Unique Dining Experience in Nontraditional Settings,’ in which they will discuss OTTO’s unique dining environments — from a location in a former gas station to booths built out of scrapped pianos.

Eric Shepherd, OTTO’s Director of Marketing and Communications will be making two appearances at this year’s Pizza Expo.

On Monday, March 7, as part of the School of Pizzeria Management, Eric will be co-conducting a 4-hour workshop entitled ‘A Coordinated Marketing Plan for Pizzerias,’ in which he will share knowledge, tools and techniques to raise brand awareness, expand customer bases, and increase repeat business.

On Wednesday, March 9, Eric will lead a seminar entitled ‘Grow Your Customer Base With Cause Marketing’ in which he will discuss OTTO’s dedication to the communities in which it does business, through multiple weekly fundraisers in two states, and year-round support of local and regional charities, organizations, and schools.

This will be Mike and Anthony’s second year presenting at Pizza Expo, and Eric’s third time around.

If you happen to be in Vegas, come by and say hello. Other OTTO team members will also be on hand. We look forward to seeing you, and we hope to come back smarter, and inspired.

OTTO’s Yarmouth Guests Can Now Enjoy Full Service Dining

DSC_1037Six months after opening our Yarmouth takeout location, we are pleased to announce nightly full-service dining in the newly constructed Carriage House addition to the historic 367 Main Street complex.

During the day, customers may enjoy the dining area for takeout pies and slices, but starting at 5pm, guests can expect a full-service dining experience, with a full menu, including salads, appetizers, local craft beer on tap, and wine service.

We look forward to serving you.

The 1st OTTO Oscars! Submit your OTTO-themed Movie Poster and Win $100 Worth of Pizza Delivered to your Door on Oscar Night

It’s that time of year again – Oscar season! In honor of the 88th Academy Awards, we inviteTheShining you to post your own versions of OTTO-themed movie posters on our Facebook timeline and WIN!

Submit your movie poster by Thursday, February 25th. On Friday, February 26th we will choose the three best entries and award the following prizes:

1st place: A pizza party of $100 worth of pizza delivered to your home on Oscar Night* OR a $100 gift card & an OTTO T-shirt
2nd place: $50 OTTO gift card & an OTTO T-shirt
3rd place: $25 OTTO gift card & an OTTO T-shirt

A couple of rules to follow:

  1. You must incorporate one or both of the following: A photo of OTTO pizza AND/ORSpottolight the word ‘OTTO’ (Otto’s or Otto’s Pizza will not be accepted)
  2. Please use an existing film poster for your entry (see the Facebook gallery for examples)

Entries may be posted on our Facebook timeline or emailed to contactus@ottoportland.com. Winners will be contacted via Facebook or email on 2/26.

OTTO reserves the right to remove and/or disqualify entries that are not suitable for all ages, or which are otherwise not aligned with OTTO’s good taste.

We will add the very best entries to our ‘OTTO Oscars’ Facebook gallery, and elsewhere.

Get to it and good luck!

*The address must be within delivery range of one our locations in Maine or Massachusetts to qualify for an Oscar Night delivery

 

2015: A Year In Giving Back

Since we opened our first little slice shop on Congress Street in Portland back in 2009, giving back has been integral to what OTTO does. From day one, we have committed ourselves to bettering the communities in which we do business. We have been fortunate enough to continue this tradition into 2016 and beyond.

10414491_806020339409898_4134071848483003687_nIt is not lost on us that without having been embraced and supported by our communities over the past several years, we would not have been able to make community outreach an integral part of our company culture.

Our weekly fundraiser series now runs in 8 locations in two states. In addition to these events, we provide many in-kind donations to many deserving charities and community organizations throughout the year.

OTTO has been fortunate enough to have donated to over 250 organizations in Maine, Massachusetts and beyond in 2015. We are extremely grateful to be in a position to do so. As we close the year, we are thankful for the many wonderful organizations (and those who keep them operating) who tirelessly worked to better our communities in so many ways.

As we look back on the past year, we want to acknowledge some of the great organizations that we have had the pleasure of working with in some capacity. The following is a partial list of these organizations.

Thank you for all you do!

317 Main
American Cancer SocietyCGsEWPrVIAAaS8I
American Liver Foundation
Amirah Boston
Animal Refuge League
Anna Jacques Community Health Foundation
Art Play Nursery School
Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital
Bicycle Coalition of Maine
Bikers Against Child Abuse
Birth Roots
Boston Cares
Boys to Men
BreastFest Concert 4 a Cure
Brendan Conway Memorial Scholarship Fund
Brookline Arts Center
Brookline Community Mental Health Center
Brookline High School Model UN
BU Alternative Spring Breaks
BU Black Business Association
BU China Care Fund
BU Ellevate
BU Global Business Brigades11225257_1005999809411949_3853456183222734451_n
BU Global Water Brigades
BU Partners in Health
BU Relay For Life
BU Special Olympics Club
BU Student Volunteers for Special Needs
BU Unite For Sight
Buddy Up Animal Society
Cancer Community Center
Cape Celebrates Literacy and Authorfest
Cape Challenge 5k
Cape Elizabeth Jazz Cabaret
Cape Elizabeth Speech and Debate
Casco Bay Nursing Partnership
CBS 13’s Tri for a Cure
Center for Grieving Children
Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine
Christmas Tree Santas
Coastal Womens Healthcare 2nd Annual 5k for Postpartum Depression
Community Health Council
Connect the Tots
Coolidge Corner Community Chorus
Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation
Creative Portland
DayOne
Deering High School Chinese Club
East End Community School
East End Holiday Stroll
Easter Seals
Edward Devotion School12072666_1087917931220136_3592187942805901356_n
El Amor de Patricia
Engineers Without Borders
EqualityMaine
Falmouth Corner Preschool
Feed the DOG, Inc.
Figures of Speech Theater
FPD Education Foundation
Freeport Community Services
Friends of Casco Bay
Friends of Feral Felines
Friends of Newburyport Track
Friends of Willow
Front St. Study Center
Georgetown PTA
GHS Key Club
GHS Project Graduation
Girls On The Run
Good Shepherd Food Bank11406320_10152770783527820_6834360431906910084_o
Harvard Center For Ethics
HEAD Over Roof, Inc.
Helping Paws
Hour Exchange Portland
Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center
LearningWorks
Levey Day School
Longfellow Elementary School
Lucky Pup Rescue
Lynnfield Art Guild
Mad Horse Theatre
Maine Adaptive Sports
Maine Catholic Charitites Barrels & Brews
Maine Center for Creativity
Maine Chapter of Muscular Dystrophy Association
Maine Charitable Mechanic Association
Maine Friends of Animals
Maine Historical Society
Maine Inside Out
Maine Irish Heritage Center12248133_10153249482658733_242042729514050777_o
Maine Youth Rock Orchestra
Mama Hope
Mayo St. Arts
Merrohawke Nature School
Missions to Zanzibar
Multiracial Adoptive Family Collaborative
Multilingual & Multicultural Center
Munjoy Hill Neighborhood Organization
My Place Teen Center
Newburyport Education Foundation
Partners for World Health
Pennies for Poverty
Pie Man Theatre Company
Portland Buy Local
Portland Chamber Music Festival
Portland Nursery School
Portland Stage11698946_1030049273673669_6715835807551496429_o
Portland Sunrise Rotary Club
Portland Symphony Orchestra
Preble Street Resource Center
Primitive Condition
Project Nicaragua
Rainbow Tribe
REAL School
Resilience Hub
Ronald McDonald House
RunTriRide
Sable Oaks Golf Tournament for Camp Kieve
Safe Passage
Scarborough Education Foundation
Scarborough Land Trust
SealsFit
Sexual Assault Response Services
Silent Sidekicks10646796_985574444787819_8653778671969702376_n
Skyline Farm 5K Trail Run/Walk
South Portland Historical Society
South Portland Jazz Festival
South Portland Nursing Home
South Portland Public Library
Southern Maine Community Organizations Active in Disaster
Southern Maine Conservative Collaborative
SPHS Dollars for Scholars
SPHS Project Graduation
Spirits Alive 2015 Walk Among the Shadows
Starry Night 8.5k
Steps to Success
STRIVE
Student Veterans of America
Take Action Portland
Team On Belay
The Fresh Air Fund11112974_1006021342743129_2477605537619062446_n
The Locker Project
The Pixel Fund
The Riders Club
The Root Cellar
The Telling Room
Townscape
Trek Across Maine
Tri for a Cure
UNE Miles for Smiles
United Way of Greater Portland
University of Maine School of Law Women’s Law Association
USM Community Garden
USM Vets Holiday Party
USM Leadership Gala
Valpo Surf Project
Vet to Vet
Village Nursery School
Vivid MotionCKecefMWsAArOad
Wayfinder Schools
Wescustago Youth Choir
Westbrook Little League
Westbrook Seals Swim Team
WMPG
Women Around The World
Yarmouth Cares About Neighbors
Yarmouth Community Garden
Yarmouth Education Foundation
Yarmouth Historical Society
Yarmouth Lions Club
Yelp Helps
Young Non-Profit Professionals Netowrk
Youth & Family Outreach

AUTOHELM: OTTO/Rising Tide Collab Brew Is Back!

We are pleased to announce the return of Autohelm, a deliciously hoppy amber ale brewed by Rising Tide Brewing Company in collaboration with OTTO.

Autohelm_Poster_2

Diners at OTTO restaurants in Maine and Massachusetts will be able to pair their pie with this delightful winter brew, which made its debut last year.

This limited special collaboration will be available exclusively at OTTO.

If you didn’t have an opportunity to try Autohelm last year, you should get a piece of the action before it’s all gone.

Last year, the brew racked up a 3.73 rating on social beer discovery service Untappd, eliciting some of the following responses:

“Delicious!”
“Super solid!”
“Very solid hoppy amber. Piney hops with a strong malt backbone!”
“A sweet, hoppy Amber.”
“Very smooth. Almost creamy. Nice rich malts with hop balance.”
“Oh so good.”
“Great hoppy awesome. Full body with a little sweet.”
“Fan-freakin-tastic! Well done. Hoppy , refreshing, in a season of big heavy beers this was a refreshing change.”
“Wow that is delicious!”

Thirsty yet?

Come on down, grab a few pies, and a few glasses of Autohelm — and be sure to let us know what you think.

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OTTO’s Lindsey Gordon pours on the hops

 

 

The OTTO Holiday Gift Shop: Because Pizza

Face it. Nobody’s going to eat that fruit cake, Grandma isn’t going to use that iTunes gift card, and Dad already has 17 coffee mugs.

Head on over to shopottoportland.com for all your holiday shopping needs.ottoshop

Whether an office gift, a stocking stuffer, or simply the coolest gift under the tree, we’ve got you covered:

  • Shirts (3 Designs, sizes 12mo – XXL)
  • Caps
  • Beanies
  • Wine Glasses
  • Gift Cards (Can be mailed anywhere, with personalized message!)
  • Bumper Stickers

The OTTO Shop: Because gift-wrapping a pizza isn’t often advisable.

OTTO Gift Cards: The Gift That Gives Back

The hardest thing about buying an OTTO gift card for someone is not keeping it for yourself.

Don’t worry. We have a special Buy One Get One offer to soften the blow.

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From now through January 7, 2016, buy a $25 gift card, get a FREE $5 gift card of your very own! Buy a $50 gift card, get $10. Buy a $100, get $20. 

Buy one for everyone on your list, and you may not have to buy dinner in 2016!

Keep in mind that this offer is only available in-store.

Each gift card can be used at each of OTTO’s locations throughout Maine and Massachusetts, as well as at OCHO, our new burrito restaurant on Congress Street in Portland.

OTTO’s gift cards can also be used for online orders, phone-in orders, take-out, or delivery.  They can be stored in your OTTO mobile app, they can be reloaded, and you can check your gift card balance at any time!

Stop by any OTTO location and knock out your holiday shopping today!

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OTTO Honored By Yelp As One of 100 Top-Rated Businesses In North America

OTTO has been selected by Yelp as one of 100 “top-rated businesses” in America, and has been invited to a historic event taking place at Yelp’s San Francisco headquarters this November 4-5 called Coast-To-Coast: Coming Together Because We Mean Business.

12143320_10153662423869555_3043876664846898214_nOTTO was the sole Maine business selected by Yelp for this honor. Businesses were first nominated by Yelp’s North American community managers as “businesses that have a great reputation in their communities and on Yelp.” That list was then whittled down to 100 by Yelp HQ.

Yelp’s Business Outreach Manager, Corey Dane, describes the selected businesses as savvy in their approach to (and acceptance of) new customer feedback channels: “This choice group of business owners doesn’t get hung up by 1 and 2 star reviews; they use feedback to make necessary changes. Social is very much a part of their marketing strategy, and that includes taking an active role in managing their reputation on Yelp and in the community.”

Although the 100 businesses chosen for the honor range wildly in category, experience levels, and years in business, Dane says they have one thing that unites them: “their steadfast desire to build a robust business in their local market.”

OTTO is extremely proud to have been selected for this honor. As an independent restaurant group built and sustained on word-of-mouth exposure, OTTO has embraced Yelp as a valuable awareness tool, and as an important channel for engaging with its valued guests.

OTTO is looking forward to attending the events at Yelp HQ and hopes that the seminars and discussions will provide additional tools and knowledge to further harness the power of online feedback to continue to make OTTO the best it can be.

OTTO Rocks II! Submit your OTTO-ized Album Cover And Win $200 Worth Of Pizza

We invite you to salute OTTO’s 6 years of serving pizza goodness to New Englanders!Bakonia Post your own versions of OTTO-themed album covers on our Facebook timeline and WIN!

Submit your album cover by October 31st. On November 2nd, we will choose the three best entries and award the following prizes:

1st place: $200 OTTO gift card & an OTTO T-shirt
2nd place: $75 OTTO gift card & an OTTO T-shirt
3rd place: $25 OTTO gift card & an OTTO T-shirtPizza Jam

Entries may be posted on our Facebook timeline or emailed to contactus@ottoportland.com.

OTTO reserves the right to remove and/or disqualify entries that are not suitable for all ages, or which are otherwise not aligned with OTTO’s good taste.

We will add the very best entries to our ‘OTTO Rocks II!’ Facebook gallery, and elsewhere.OTTO Station

Check out entries from the original OTTO Rocks! for some inspiration.

Get to it! We salute you!The OTTO

ENZO’s Piece of Music History: The Police, Beastie Boys, Black Flag, Wu-Tang Clan & Metallica Drank Here

ENZONext to OTTO’s original slice shop at 576 Congress Street in Portland, you’ll find ENZO. The centerpiece of ENZO is its bar — a beautifully carved piece of craftsmanship in mahogany that exudes a sense of history. When you sit at the ENZO bar, you have the feeling that the bar has a million stories to tell.  If bars could talk, this one could tell you some stories.  It was once upon a time at the heart of one of rock’s legendary outposts: The Rathskeller (known lovingly as The Rat), located in Boston’s Kenmore Square.

The Rathskeller, Boston

The Rathskeller, Boston

For those of you unfamiliar with ENZO, it’s complicated. The cozy, beloved room opened in 2010 when the small space next to OTTO became available. At the time, when OTTO existed only as a take-out location, the expansion shared the same kitchen, served the same pizza, but had its own name, its own sign, and its own door. (Still does.) It offered OTTO customers a place to sit and enjoy their pizza with a glass of wine or a glass of craft beer.

Most folks sitting at the bar, however, might be unaware that their elbows are resting where countless rock legends rested theirs, before or after they graced the stage of The Rat.

The next time you visit ENZO, remember that you’re sitting where the following (and countless others) likely sat:

Sonic Youth at The Rat

Sonic Youth performing at The Rat

311
7 Seconds
Aerosmith
Agent Orange
Agnostic Front
Aimee Mann
Alex Chilton
At the Gates
B-52s
Babe the Blue Ox
Babes in Toyland
Bad Brains
Beastie Boys
Big Black
Black Flag
Blondie
Bloodhound Gang
Buffalo Tom
Butthole Surfers
Chris Isaak
Dag Nasty
Dead Kennedys
Del Fuegos
Dinosaur Jr

REM at the Rat

REM at the Rat

DMZ
Dream Syndicate
DRI
Dropkick Murphys
Fishbone
Flipper
Foetus
Galaxie 500
Gang Green
Gang of Four
GG Allin
Geezer Lake
Goo Goo Dolls
Gorilla Biscuits
Henry Rollins

The Cars at The Rat

The Cars at The Rat

Hole
Human Sexual Response
Husker Du
Iggy Pop
J Geils Band
Joan Jett
John Cale
Los Lobos
Lou Reed
Lyres
Mazzy Star
MDC
Megadeth
Melvins
Metallica

Aimee Mann at The Rat

Aimee Mann at The Rat

Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Minutemen
Misfits
Mission of Burma
Mother Love Bone
Napal Death
Patti Smith
Pixies
Poison
Powerman 5000
Quicksand
Quiet Riot
Ramones
Red Hot Chili Peppers

Talking Heads at The Rat

Talking Heads at The Rat

Redd Kross
REM
Richard Hell
Rick James
Scruffy The Cat
Sick of it All
Sonic Youth
Soul Asylum
Soundgarden
Steve Earle
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Suicide
Talking Heads
The Cars
The Clash
The Cramps

The Jam at The Rat

The Jam at The Rat

The Damned
The dB’s
The English Beat
The Fall
The Flaming Lips
The Go-Gos
The Jam
The Lemonheads
The Mr. T Experience
The Neighborhoods
The Plasmatics
The Police
The Queers
The Remains
The Replacements

The Replacements at The Rat

The Replacements at The Rat

The Runaways
The Smithereens
The Stranglers
The Wipers
Thin Lizzy
Throwing Muses
Til Tuesday
Tiny Tim
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Tool
U2
Volcano Suns
White Zombie
Widespread Panic
Wu-Tang Clan

To learn more about how OTTO acquired the Rat’s bar, click here.