‘He has a hustle in him.’ How an 18-year-old opened a pizza restaurant in Clovis
AJ Binning doesn’t seem like an 18-year-old.
Besides the fact that he’s got a full beard and mustache and has been working for years, he owns a pizza restaurant.
Yeah, you read that right. He owns Dough Boys Pizzeria in Clovis, on Clovis Avenue, just south of the Trading Post Shopping Center with Sprouts.
It opened in July, in the former Clovis Pizza Junction spot.
Binning is a 2020 Clovis High School graduate. He’s also a full-time student at Fresno State. Just how did he end up running his own business so soon after graduating?
Family is a part of it, but hard work has also played a big role.
“Honestly, it’s in my blood, I guess,” he said. “My family, we’re all hard workers. … I don’t mind working 14, 15, 16 hours a day.”
A child of immigrants from India, his dad works at a gas station and his mom at Foster Farms.
Binning spends his days juggling classes at Fresno State and running Dough Boys.
The restaurant has some of the some of the same pizzas its predecessor used to sell, plus a lot more.
In addition to the Godfather pizza with pepperoni, sausage, linguica and lots of veggies, there are several other pizzas on the menu at Dough Boys, plus sandwiches and wings.
Vegan and gluten-free crusts are available, and soy-based vegan wings will be on the menu soon.
There have been some bumps along the way.
Binning applied for a liquor license under his name and was rejected because he was 18. He’s now reapplying under the business name and hopes to be serving beer soon – even if he can’t drink it.
Technically, Binning co-owns the business with Jay Virk. That’s his brother-in-law, a local entrepreneur who built two hotels in Clovis and owns the No Surrender Laser Tag & Adventure Park locations.
“He’s my little brother-in-law. He’s been with me since he was 10 years old,” Virk said. “His work ethic is just unmatched … He has a hustle in him.”
Binning started working as a stock boy at a gas station Virk owned in Los Banos. He worked his way up and ended up managing another of Virk’s stations as a teen in Fresno. But he was looking for something more.
Virk ran across the closed Pizza Junction, which needed a few months of back rent paid off, before Binning could take over.
Yes, Binning has had a lot of help launching the business. Virk gave him access to all his business associates (including from the people at the Curry Pizza Company).
“Everybody helps him out pretty much at cost just to see this guy make it,” Virk said.
But Binning is the one making it all happen.
“I treat this as my baby,” he said.
He’s been saving money since he was 12. When he was in middle school and later high school, he took a duffel bag of candy to school to sell it. Sometimes he’d come home with $100 in one day.
So when it came time to pay the business’s permits and fees, Binning had the money.
He and his uncle did much of the work on the restaurant themselves, like reupholstering chairs and hanging whimsical signs. (For example, a mat says “Of course size matters. No one wants a small pizza” and a neon sign in the women’s bathroom says “Hello gorgeous.”)
An average day for Binning involves an 8 a.m. class at Fresno State, where he’s majoring in engineering. He took enough community college classes (including a public speaking class via Zoom because of the pandemic) that’s he’s technically a sophomore.
He opens up the restaurant at 11 a.m., takes more classes and then it’s back to the restaurant, where he juggles work and homework til after closing at 9 p.m. on weekdays.
“Everything here was just straight trial and error,” he said. “I burned so many pizzas.”
Mitch Lee, who has 10 years experience in the restaurant industry and is Dough Boys’ kitchen manager, guided him through much of the kitchen side of the business. He’s worked with young people before.
“In a management position, yeah, it’s kinda weird, but luckily he’s had the experience with the gas station,” Lee said. “He’s willing to learn. He’s not sitting back and letting me do everything.”
Details: Dough Boys Pizzeria is at 255 N. Clovis Ave. Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m Sundays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. 559-472-3877.
