Mahoning Valley - With Halloween weekend right around the corner, business for pizza shops throughout the Valley will be through the roof. As such, many local restaurants are encouraging customers to call early to ensure they get their pizza in time for the festivities.

21 News spoke to multiple pizza shops, with many of them telling us that Halloween is one of the busiest days for them along with the Super Bowl and New Year's Eve, and with many being understaffed, wait times could be longer depending on the location.

Anne Massullo-Sabella, co-owner of Avalon Downtown in Youngstown tells 21 News that on a busy day like Halloween, customers may have to wait up to three hours for pizza due to high demand and the fact that they can only fit so many pizzas into one oven at a time.

Other restaurants such as Wedgewood Pizza in Boardman and Westgate Pizza in Austintown say their wait time can range from 25 minutes to 45 minutes to an hour depending on the time you call.

"We start the dough usually around 7 in the morning but we'll probably start it a little bit earlier this weekend," said Joe Cupp, Manager at Wedgewood Pizza Boardman. "We'll start prepping the vegetables Friday or Saturday and we'll probably end up making twice as much dough on Sunday."

Most locations suggest that customers call a day or two in advance if they know what they want to order and when they want it by to make sure they get their pizza on time.

"If you know what you want you can call ahead now," Cupp added. "Tell us what time you want it, that's actually better for us. We can start making the timed orders earlier in the day. Plus, if we see that we're selling a lot of pizza, it allows us more time to make more dough if we need to."

However, if customers don't order ahead, restaurant managers and owners urge callers to be patient with staff, and if they get a busy line, continue calling until they're able to get through. 

In addition, some restaurants such as Uptown Pizza in Liberty tell 21 News that certain menu items are getting harder to restock due to supply chain issues.

Liberty Uptown Pizza manager, Starr Campbell says the restaurant is experiencing supply chain issues with onion rings, soup containers and sweet and sour dressing. 

Businesses like Uptown and Wedgewood experiencing these issues tell 21 News that they find alternate brands when experiencing supply chain issues. 

Steve Cocca, Owner of Cocca's Pizza told 21 News they are also fully staffing their shops like Wedgewood in Boardman and are beginning to prep for this weekends orders by stocking up on toppings and dough. Cocca added you should order as soon as you can.

"Some stores are okay with their delivery folks and some are just not fully staffed enough," Cocca said. "We're just going to base it on that and we encourage everybody to get their order in now."

"For us, our biggest thing is just making sure the staff stays calm and relaxed to get through the day," Cocca said. "We ask our customers to be patient with us."

Pizza spots also said can also consider using DoorDash or UBER Eats when ordering this weekend's grub.