Marco’s Pizza

Photo: Art Sidner

Mankato: Marco’s Pizza

Pam Breeden, acting general manager of Marco’s Pizza, grew up in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, where her mother worked in a dental office and her dad drove truck for Coca-Cola. In a telephone interview, 32-year-old Breeden said, “My dad always said if you’re going to do something, then do it right. He would lead by example. I learned from both my parents to always pay attention to detail and take pride in your work.”

Breeden learned aspects of her current job while working in high school as a customer service and satisfaction clerk for Kmart before graduating from Grand Rapids High in ’00. After some personal detours, she landed in New Ulm in 2004 as a stay-at home mom studying business management through Rasmussen College online.

“Then I did customer service jobs for Northwest Airlines and Nextel, for their websites, but I was at the point in my life where I didn’t want a sit-down desk job,” she said.

So she took a job as cook at Ron’s Pine Street Café in Nicollet, then Uncle Albert’s (Eagle Lake) and finally Bonfire (Mankato), where management eventually asked her to prepare and cook pizza. A love was born. After researching “three or four” other job possibilities, she settled on Marco’s Pizza when the location opened in January 2014.

She said, “Marco’s Pizza and Family Video are owned by the same company (from Springfield, Illinois). In Mankato, we have a window between the two stores so people can order their pizza while on the video side. We can also deliver a movie with your pizza.”

She continued, “I like everything about this business. I like how every pizza is the perfect pizza. We don’t sacrifice on quality. We make all our dough fresh in-house for the classic crust and we use fresh vegetables.” The business has carryout, delivery, and eat-in, and features cheesy bread, cinnamon squares, toasted subs, salads, and wings. She added, “Tell your readers I have a wonderful fiancée, too.”

Marco’s Pizza

Address: 551 Belle Avenue

Telephone: 507-388-8888

Web: marcospizza.com