Business: Freedom Brothers Pizzeria & Ale House
Address: 1293 S. Naper Blvd., Naperville
Phone/website: 331-249-6613; www.freedombrotherspizza.com
Owners: David Svoboda, 58, of Naperville; and Corey Svoboda, 53, of Naperville
Years in business: 3 in Naperville, 9 in Plainfield
What does your business do? “We’re a full-service restaurant, full-service pizzeria. We specialize in three different styles of pizza: Neapolitan, tavern-style and Detroit. And we have lots of salads, sandwiches, pastas, appetizers,” David said.
What sets you apart? “Everything has a rock ‘n’ roll theme. The appetizers are the opening acts. The salads are the green room. Sandwiches are the roadies. Pizzas are the headliners. Pastas are the mosh pit,” Corey said.
Why the rock theme? “I guess when we thought we were going to do this, we didn’t want to open just any old restaurant and be like everybody else. We had to put our little touches to it. We had to enjoy what we were doing. We want to be happy at work so we surround ourselves with what we like,” David said.
What do you like besides rock music? “Craft beer, whiskey, pizza,” David said.
“We have over 300 whiskeys,” Corey said.
Do you offer special promotions? They offer Tuesday night trivia and live music on Friday and Saturday nights. “There’s also ‘singo,’ which is rock ‘n’ roll bingo, on Thursdays,” Corey said.
How does singo work? “They play each song for 30 seconds. If you have that song on your singo card, you blot it. You get five across, you yell ‘singo.’ It’s a progressive jackpot with cash. It starts at $225 and it grows $25 each week. The jackpot has been up to almost $800,” Corey said.
Why the Freedom Brothers name? “Svoboda, our last name, means freedom in Slovak. … My wife came up with it,” David said.
How did you get into this business? “I was working out in Phoenix at a pizzeria,” Corey said. “I followed a friend to another pizzeria. … Then I came back to Illinois. (David) was working his 9-to-5 sales job. I was begging him to open a business with me. He was fed up (with his job and) said, ‘OK, let’s try it. What do you want to do?’ I said, ‘Let’s do pizza,’” Corey said.
What is Neapolitan-style pizza? “Neapolitan is cooked under three minutes in an 800-degree brick oven. It has a softer, chewy crust. More foldable,” Corey said.
“People weren’t used to it. Some of the Ingredients were sliding off. We had to coach our customers. They didn’t like it at the start. It was tough for a while,” David said.
Tavern style? “That’s thin crust Chicago style (cut in squares). I grew up on that,” Corey said.
Detroit style? “There’s a famous chain called Buddy’s in Detroit. Awesome. I think we are right up there with Buddy’s,” David said.
“It looks heavy but it really isn’t. It’s an airy kind of crust. But the thing that gives it its signature is the caramelized cheese on the edge. Instead of putting the sauce on first, it goes on last,” David said.
What’s it like working with your brother? “We’re brothers. We’re going to have disagreements. But it doesn’t escalate like when we were kids,” David said.
“One time (when we were kids) he was wrapped up in the long telephone wire in the kitchen cooking something. I thought, ‘He’s trapped,’ so I went and spit on him,” Corey recalled with a laugh. “He didn’t catch me. I left the house.”
What’s your key to success? “It’s a lot of work. You have to commit yourself, put a lot of time into it. Be creative. Remember this is a fun job. Make it fun. Our staff is amazing. They help us grow,” David said.
How do you know someone can be a good hire? “You have a feeling about people when you talk with them,” Corey said. “We have a fun question. We ask, ‘If you can be any musician dead or alive, who would you be?’ We ask them (about) their last concert, things like that. It opens people up a little more.”
What about competition? “It doesn’t bother us. There’s enough business out there for everybody,” David said.
What’s your advice for someone starting a business? “You have to have a business plan. It’s so important. … You can’t think you know all that stuff, because you don’t. … Ask people for advice. Always ask questions,” David said.
“Take a couple night’s sleep on it and decide if you want your business to now run your life. You never stop thinking about it, especially now when things are so expensive,” Corey said.
Steve Metsch is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun. If you know of a business you’d like to see profiled in Down to Business, contact him at metschmsfl@yahoo.com.
