Around the corner or around the country, Mangia's Heart-Shaped Pizzas are so popular that Valentine's Day is the company's single largest sales day of the year, every year.  (Yes, larger than Super Bowl Sunday!!!)  Mangia sells around 3,000 Heart-Shaped Pizzas every Valentine's Day in Austin alone.  Mangia's founder, Jeff Sayers says, "Super Bowl sales are nothing compared to Valentine's Day at Mangia.  Super Bowl is big but Valentine's is really, really huge."

Customers start calling weeks in advance to place their orders and the vast majority are orders for pickup or delivery.  In fact, approximately 90% of all orders are for the half-baked, Heart-Shaped Pizzas.  Mangia partially cooks the pizza and all the customer has to do is take it home, add the sauce and finish the baking for about 15 minutes. 

The Heart-Shaped Pizzas are made Chicago Stuffed pizza style and are available with any combination of ingredients, in all sizes and at the same price as any of Mangia's regular stuffed pizzas.  There's no extra charge for Heart-Shaped Pizzas and they are available all year around. 

E-Commerce - Nationwide Shipping Available:  For those who would like to send a special gift to a long-distance Valentine anywhere in the continental U.S., half-baked, Heart-Shaped Pizzas may be ordered on-line at www.mangiapizza.com, just click on "Order a Pizza."  The pizzas are shipped overnight via Fed Ex and guaranteed delivery for Valentine's Day if ordered by February 9th.  (Available all year around.)

Valentine's Package:  Mangia also offers a "Mangia Amore" Valentine's package that includes two wonderful salads, a delicious heart-shaped brownie for two and a bottle of red or white wine for just $24.95, plus the price of a Heart-Shaped Pizza.  (Available for dine-in, carryout and delivery.)

Catering:  Heart-Shaped Pizzas are also available all week with any Mangia Catering order.  This is a great option for office meals and customer appreciation events.

Sayers believes the Heart-Shaped pizza's popularity is based on a couple of things.  "I know for some people - us guys especially - Valentine's gifts can sometimes be a problem.  Our Heart-Shaped pizza is unique and whether it's given by itself or as a complement with something else, it's a special gift that will be remembered for a long time.  And best of all, it's delicious!"

For the uninitiated, Mangia's Chicago stuffed pizzas are like a pie. A layer of bottom crust, cheese and your choice of ingredients in the middle, then another layer of dough above with Mangia's own pizza sauce to top it all off.  

Specialty pizzas are nothing new for Mangia.  After the Heart-Shape was introduced, Mangia followed it with the Football-Shape to pay tribute to the Texas Longhorns 2005 National Championship.  Heart and Football-Shaped pizzas today?.tomorrow, who knows?   When asked about that, Sayers answers with a grin.  "We've got a couple of other shaped-pie ideas cooking which aren't quite ready to take out of the oven, but we'll let everybody know as soon as they're ready to be served."

Awards - Pizza Today Magazine recognized Mangia Pizza as the "National Independent Pizza Company of the Year" in 2005.  Mangia is the first and only Texas restaurant to receive this lofty industry honor.  Mangia has also been named "Best Pizza in Austin" by most local polls over the years including this year's Austin360.com poll, as well as, being a perennial winner in the Austin Chronicle  "Readers' Poll."  Another measure of success is Mangia's national ranking this year as the 19th largest (based on revenue) independent pizza company in the U.S. 

MANGIA CHICAGO STUFFED PIZZA - AUSTIN & Round Rock, Texas

Locations:       2401 Lake Austin Blvd., 8012 Mesa Drive, 3016 Guadalupe, 12001 Burnet Road,

Round Rock at 1700 East Palm Valley and Austin Bergstrom International Airport, Gate 12.

Hours of Operation:    Open Seven Days a Week

Sunday - Thursday:  11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Friday & Saturday:  11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Services:  Dine-in, Carryout, Delivery & Catering

Catering:  512-374-0800

Website:  www.mangiapizza.com