I spoke to Larry Pennington, owner of the new Zanzi’s Pizza To Go at 3301 13th St. in Ashland, and he reported excellent business during the restaurant’s first days in business.

Pennington said the restaurant’s strategy is to use “top of the line ingredients” and a highly efficient process to provide a superior product at a competitive price. Explaining the efficiency of the operation, Pennington said a customer’s pizza is actually assembled and in the oven by the time the order has been completed, with a very short wait before the finished product is ready to eat.

“We’re able to make those orders up and have them ready within a matter of minutes. It’s very quick,” Pennington said. “Our operation, and a great product, are what sets us apart.”

Zanzi’s “primarily sells 14-inch pizzas,” Pennington said, estimating that size makes up 99 percent of orders. Zanzi’s also offers Zips, which are 9-inch “individual pizzas,” as well as breadsticks, cheese sticks, wings, Italian subs and ham and cheese subs. There are three crust options for the pizzas — hand-tossed, St. Louis Thin and New York Style Thin.

Unless you have a somewhat unusual order, Pennington said there’s no need to call ahead — just pull up to the drive-through window and let them know what you want to eat. With fresh food coming out of the oven every 60 seconds, he says it doesn’t take long to get in, get your food and get back to your day.

If you would like a specific combination of ingredients, the owner advises calling it in on your way there, and they’ll have it ready when you pull up.

Zanzi’s is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday. Zanzi’s doesn’t offer delivery or dine-in service. To place an order, call (606) 324-1400 or visit www.zanzis.com for a complete menu.

Charm school

Paula Cornette at A Boutique, 1616 Carter Ave. in Ashland, is teaming with Brighton to host a charm school from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday.

Participants will have an opportunity to meet with Brighton representatives and see all of the new holiday charms and beads, and create a charm bracelet or necklace.

For more information, call (606) 324-1082.

Leftover notes

One of the toughest aspects of writing business stories is the process of “what to leave in/what to leave out.” I recently wrote a story about CJ Maggie’s American Grill in downtown Ashland and left out something General Manager Douglas Herron made a point of emphasizing during our interview.

Herron said the owner’s wife, Jeannie Rylands, and secretary, Shawna, “are the backbone of the whole thing,” while talking about the people who have made the restaurant a success.

Herron also provided a bit of trivia for those who wonder about the restaurant’s name. The C.J. part comes from owner C.J. Rylands, he said, while the Maggie’s part of the title is the first name of the owners’ daughter.

AND, from another set of notes scribbled during a visit to the Willard Milling Company, where Sexton Brothers Dog Food is manufactured, company founder Freeman Sexton looked at a bag of his company’s dog food and admitted he couldn’t recall the name of the child who drew the dog that has been on their bags since the company’s early days. He said he is pretty certain the hunting dog was drawn by a young girl as part of a classroom art project, and added he would love to find out who the artist was — and maybe even give them a big bag of his dog food to say “thank you.” If you know the artist’s identity, call the family-operated milling company at (606) 474-5754.

Bartender vote

I got a call from one of my favorite people in Ironton last week asking if I would tell people to get on their computers and vote for “Angie” as part of a local radio station’s online contest to determine The Tri-State’s Hottest Bartender.

Angie, who works at Frogtown USA, has some serious competition if you visit www.planet927.com, including Nikki from Old Town Tavern in Wayne; Lacey, Heather and Al from Mac-Reedo’s; Angela from Sky Box Sports Bar; Tia from Cheddar’s, and Amelia from Shenanigan’s in Ironton. Log on and support the gal who has served you best while enjoying something from the bar.

TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2651.