&pizza has given away upwards of 8,000 free pies to furloughed workers during the shutdown.

Eric Fischer / Flickr

During the first week of the shutdown, &pizza offered a free pie to any federal worker at lunchtime, distributing upwards of 6,000 free pizzas, according to the company.

Inspired by José Andrés, whose restaurants have made a tradition of offering free meals to feds during shutdowns, the homegrown fast casual pizza purveyor decided to get in the action, alongside a bevy of other establishments that are providing discounts to furloughed folks.

“It just felt like the right thing to do,” says Vanessa Rodriguez, head of brand at &pizza. “It was a warm and fuzzy feeling at an otherwise challenging political time.” She adds that the offer—free pizza—was easy to communicate. It also happens to be one of the most substantial deals for furloughed feds in the city: While plenty of places are offering a free cup of coffee or discounts on their menu, &pizza is giving away its main product, a full meal, free of charge.

During the first few days of the deal, the stores saw long lines at lunch.

Rodriguez says part of the challenge was that the offer (and the shutdown) began right before the holidays, at a time when the storefronts were more lightly staffed to begin with. “At lunch time we had such a tremendous response and we were having people wait in line for a really long time,” she explains.

Less than a week into the offer, &pizza switched up the hours of the free pizza from lunch to dinner time.

“Operationally, we worked on how to handle the demand and the continued demand,” says Rodriguez, adding that the company has also redistributed staff members’ shifts during the giveaway. “Getting adjustments to our tribe schedule and to our offer allowed us to accommodate our paying guests.” (&pizza refers to its employees as its “tribe.”)

Since the first week, &pizza has given away at least 2,000 more pies, per Rodriguez. “I don’t think it’s necessarily slowed down—we are seeing more of a routine,” she says. “Whether they’re furloughed or whether they’re working, the employees have started to build their routine and they’re building their routine around us.”

She declined to say how much money this deal has been costing the company. “We try not to look at it that way,” she says. “We’re looking at it as a commitment we made to the community.” The company also declined to provide information about how many pizzas it sells per week on average.

The average pizza there costs about $10.75 before add-ons or tax, so multiply that by 8,000 and that equals about $86,000 worth of free pies.

Rodriguez says that the offer hasn’t resulted in a “particular shift or change in menu offerings or the kind of pies we’re moving.”

Federal workers are set to miss their first paycheck this Friday, and there’s no sense that the shutdown will end before then. Still, Rodriguez says the &pizza deal isn’t going anywhere until the federal government reopens. “We made the commitment.” In a follow-up email after this story’s publication, the company says that it will “continue to support federal workers throughout the duration of the shutdown in whatever way we can—but the specific deal may evolve as the shutdown continues.”

This story has been updated with additional comment from &pizza provided after publication.

Filed Under: federal shutdown 2018, pizza, shutdown, shutdown 2018,