Down to Business: The secret's in the oven when it comes to wood-fired pizza, Billy Bricks owner says

Chicago Tribune

07-05-2025

Business: Billy Bricks
Address: 1763 Freedom Drive, Naperville
Phone/website: 630-799-6860; www.billbrickshq.com
Owner: Ric Gruber, 39, of Naperville
Years in business: 13 in Naperville; 20 total
What does your business do? 'We fall somewhere between fast casual and full service. … You order at the counter. We have an open kitchen. You watch everything be made quickly. Once you sit down, we have full service. We bring it out to you. We serve you. Real plates. Real silverware. We bus your table,' Gruber said. 'For being as fast as we are there's a certain level of quality we have and there's the actual dining experience.'
Any other locations? 'We have seven. Original store in Lombard, second store in Wheaton. This is number three. We have (locations) in Yorktown, La Grange, Oak Park and Highwood.'
Did you start the business? 'My dad Bill started it. When he was running the show, it was just Brix. Then we changed it to Bricks. … I changed it to Billy Bricks.'
To honor Dad? 'Partly and also to be able to go anywhere we want. I'm a branding guy. Bricks was too generic. … There's only one Billy Bricks.'
What else do you do? 'I'm an IP attorney. Intellectual property. I don't practice much anymore but that's my background.'
So, you use bricks to cook? 'It's a wood-fired brick oven. If you want to nerd out on ovens, we have an oven capable of sustaining a high temperature in the stone and the dome construction to have significantly higher top heat than your bottom heat. The top heat is 900 to 1,000 degrees, but the bottom should be 550 to 600.'
Why do you need that? 'The characteristic of the charring on the outside crust and the high heat allows that crust to have that pop. When you see that air pocket (in the crust) you can't do that without an incredibly high temperature. If you have a low temperature, the dough won't expand to what you want. … You get that nice crunchy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. You can't get that without the high heat.
'The temperature varies inside the oven. Dead center is probably the safest spot. The fire is actually rolling over to the other side, so the pizza next to that wall is more like to be burned. … There's a significant amount of craftsmanship to doing this.'
Did your father design the ovens? 'No. They've been doing this for centuries overseas. Our first oven, a guy from Texas built it. … We found these in Maine. These are French bread baking ovens, which are really cool. They're gigantic. When we introduced the New Haven-style pizzas for our larger sizes, the size of these ovens allows us to cook a significant amount of larger pizzas along with the traditional Neapolitan. We go up to 16 inches. … Neapolitan? We put right next to the fire. New Haven-style we push off to the side. Crispier. Lower temperature. Cook longer.'
How do you go from practicing law to making pizzas? 'Family business. Dad needed some help. And trying to do what I do, branding, vision, figure out financing. The business needed to be structured so we have long-term growth potential.'
How many employees do you have? 'Ten to 12 per store. … There's a lot of training. You can't put them on the line Friday night and hope for the best.'
Do you have a favorite pizza? 'Classic margherita with sausage on it.'
Any failures? 'We try (a recipe) and see what happens. Sometimes it's, 'Well, that was a bad idea.''
What about competition? 'This has always been a pizza city. … Every new place that opens forces you to up your game.
'People say, 'I can't believe the price of pizza today.' I say, 'I can't believe how great pizza is today.' It deserves the price because it's not what it was 20 years ago.'
When are you busiest? 'Friday is Pizza Night.'
Do you deliver? 'We do. A four-mile radius at all of our stores.'
What sets your pizza apart? 'We use the best cheese in America, Grande Cheese out of Wisconsin. The best cheese for cooking at high temperature.'
Any favorite stories? 'A very close friend passed away. I wasn't focused. I got a call, 'Hey are you guys arriving soon?' A wedding reception I forgot we were catering. We missed the cocktail hour, but we got there in time for the reception.'
Any future plans? 'We have our eye on some locations.'
What's your advice for someone starting a business? 'If you're going to do it, do it when you're young. You can rebound faster.'