Hungry Howie’s is one of those brands that feels both iconic and familiar. People know the flavored crusts. They know the bright, community-focused stores. They know the brand’s personality. What they rarely see is the sophisticated training engine behind the scenes, the system that ensures every location delivers the same experience families across the country expect.
That consistency is not luck. It is the product of leaders like Al Newman, who have spent decades shaping processes, supporting franchisees, and building a culture where learning is ongoing and operational excellence is the standard.
Al’s journey into restaurant operations did not begin in a conference room. It began behind the counter, on the make line, and in the middle of busy Friday night rushes where speed, accuracy, and teamwork matter most.
He learned the business through repetition and real-world pressure, experience that later empowered him to guide franchisees across multiple markets. Because he has lived every role, Al understands exactly what teams need when the pace is intense, and he knows how to turn that insight into scalable systems that strengthen the entire network.
During our conversation on the Training Impact Podcast, Al reinforces one essential idea: training at Hungry Howie’s is never a one-time event. It is an operational discipline.
New employees receive foundational onboarding that builds confidence. Store-level mentoring reinforces habits that support consistency. Leaders coach, correct, and encourage constantly because learning does not stop, whether someone is new or has been with the brand for years. Hungry Howie’s treats training as part of the rhythm of the business, not an isolated task.
As Al explains, the goal is always to prepare people for reality. It is not enough to explain how to make a pizza. Team members need to feel confident doing it at 6:30 p.m. on a packed Friday night when the order screen is full and customers are arriving continuously.
That is why the brand ties knowledge directly to hands-on performance. Employees learn by doing. They gain clarity through coaching. They build mastery through repetition. It is a system designed for real-world execution rather than theoretical learning.
A major theme of the episode is culture, the informal and often unspoken force that unites hundreds of locations.
Al emphasizes that the strongest operators are not only skilled at executing tasks. They are skilled at building environments where people feel supported, communicate openly, and take pride in representing the brand.
Training plays an important role in shaping that culture. It sets expectations, provides shared language, and reinforces behaviors that define what great looks like across the network. As Al says, culture is not written down. Culture is modeled, practiced, and lived.
Hungry Howie’s continues to expand, and with that growth comes the need for clearer structures, stronger learning paths, and tools that support franchisees long after opening day.
The brand is investing in updated systems and content to ensure training scales with its network, a direction that aligns with the LatitudeLearning Training Program Roadmap. The goal is not simply to grow. The goal is to grow with intention and consistency.
The companion case study, Hungry Howie’s Pizza: How a Flavorful Franchise Built a Culture of Continuous Learning, explores the architecture behind the training program in detail. It covers learner roles, operational challenges, certification models, and how the EDOR method strengthens performance across the enterprise.
For anyone responsible for training in a franchise system, it provides practical insights into how structured learning supports business outcomes.
Throughout the conversation, Al returns to the fundamentals. Clarity, repetition, accountability, and communication.
When employees understand expectations, when leaders reinforce those expectations, and when the culture supports learning rather than punishment, everything improves. Turnover decreases. Customer experience improves. Franchisees feel more confident and more supported. Training evolves from a program into a strategic asset.
This conversation provides a clear look at why Hungry Howie’s has remained a resilient and respected brand for decades. Real training, delivered with clarity and consistency, is at the center of its success.
Al Newman brings a level of practical insight and real-world experience that any franchisor, operator, or learning leader can benefit from.
If you want to understand how a franchise maintains excellence at scale, this episode is worth your time.
🎧 To explore the full conversation, listen to the Training Impact Podcast episode featuring Al Newman of Hungry Howie’s.
📄Download the Case Companion Case Study: Hungry Howie’s Pizza: How a Flavorful Franchise Built a Culture of Continuous Learning
🌐 Learn more about Hungry Howie’s on their website https://www.hungryhowies.com/
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