Good Things: Pay-it-forward goes national at Rosa's Fresh Pizza
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
Dollar slices doing good.
When Mason Wartman decided to leave a career in finance and return to Philadelphia he brought something new to the city, Rosa's Fresh Pizza (25 S. 11th St.) a barebones pizza place that specializes in dollar slices. Conceptually there was never anything to argue about with this wallet-friendly 11th Street spot serving up fresh out the oven cheese slices for a dollar a pop and whole pies for $8.
Since opening in February of 2014 business has been brisk but Wartman's dollar-a-slice dreams got a big time boost this past Tuesday when he appeared on the Ellen Degeneres show. Watch the clip here.
Degeneres' interest was spiked after catching word of a pay-it-forward slice program that Rosa's introduced. Customers can purchase a slice and then buy as many slices as they'd like so that less fortunate folks can come in and enjoy a slice on the house. Due to the super low price point Wartman's shop is a place that is frequented by the homeless community and now even more so with the slice program. Rosa's keeps track of the pay-it-forward slices with neon colored Post-it notes stuck to the pizza shop's walls customized with notes reading "keep on truckin'" and "it's never too late for a change."
Wartman estimates that he's given away somewhere around 8,500 slices so far and after appearing on the Ellen show it's clear that some time in the national spotlight did a whole lot of good for Wartman and his charitable pizza operation. Venturing in around noon today the line was out the door with plenty of first time customers and there was a camera crew filming the lunch rush.
Cheryl and Rich, a couple from Cheltenham heard about Rosa's on the news and decided to swing by. "It's fabulous," Cheryl says. "We just came down today to donate some pizza, we don't really eat pizza. It's a special trip, we came from Cheltenham. We were going to the Reading Terminal Market but after I saw this we made a little detour over here just to make a contribution."
The walls of the shop almost completely covered in pay-it-forward Post-its interspersed with
thank you notes from grateful customers. One particularly heartfelt thank you comes written on a paper plate in black magic marker:
God bless you. Because of you I ate off this plate. It is the only thing I ate all day. I am a homeless veteran and get treated rudely when I ask for help, Rosa's treats me with respect. Truley [sic] a blessing. Thank you. Rob H. 11-29-14
