No experience. No investors. No excuses.
Eugene never worked in a restaurant when he decided to open a pizzeria. He baked sourdough out of his house, built a small following, and got some press from Culture Map Dallas. Then, one day he decided, “This is going to be my business.”
Today, Carina is a packed-out, Roman-style sourdough shop just outside Dallas. No investors. No culinary degree. No restaurant reputation. Just passion. Trial and error. Understanding his customer. And pride in the product.
Every pizzeria owner needs to hear Eugene’s story (below), and use the lessons taught.
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Before diving in, grab a free worksheet and write things down as you read along.
6 lessons for building a thriving pizzeria
1. You need an obsession, not a restaurant background.
The owners who make it aren’t always the most experienced. But they have the passion to believe in their product and know it can be so much more than what it is.
Eugene worked in a restaurant for exactly six months, total. This wasn’t to build a career, but to learn enough not to embarrass himself when he opened.
He then figured everything else out by going to the Pizza Expo twice, watching hours of videos, and blindly calling pizzeria owners to better understand what he didn’t know.
That’s the secret.
Not credentials. Just obsession. And action.
Your turn: If you’re still feeling underprepared: make a list of what you don’t know and how to get the answer. Forums, expos, videos, other owners. The information is out there.
2. Know your customer before you design your menu.
We see a lot of owners building the menu they want, then hoping customers show up. In reality, the shops that thrive do it the other way around.
Eugene looked at the neighborhood first. “Very plush, very fit.” Detroit-style wasn’t going to work. So he built around thin-crust Roman-style pizza, which barely anyone else in Dallas was doing.
Within just two weeks, he found out that he he couldn’t make a living on 10-inch personal pies. Customers kept asking for slices. So he added a grandma-meets-Detroit square, cut it into six, and offered it by the slice in three flavors only: margherita, vodka, and pepperoni. Within a month, people were coming in just for the squares.
Knowing your customer means both giving them what they want, and also staying close enough to adjust before it costs you.
Your turn: Write down who your customer actually is, not who you wish they were. Then look at your menu and ask honestly: does every item on here serve that person?
3. Your menu is never finished.
A menu needs to change. Evolve.
Listening to customers through reviews, in-shop conversations, and on social media can help you understand the needs better, where you’re falling short, and where you can change things.
Remember, “You cannot sell the chef. You got to sell what they want, not what you want.” It’s about compromise. That’s the job.
Slice’s online ordering platform gives you visibility into exactly what’s selling and what isn’t, so your menu decisions are driven by data instead of instinct.
Your turn: Pull your last 30 days of sales data. What’s your slowest item? Is it slow because customers don’t want it, or because you haven’t sold it right?
4. Small footprint, smart operations.
Carina’s walk-in is a reach-in. There’s no dishwasher. A sandwich prep station sat where a pizza prep table should be because it was 31 inches wide and fit the space.
He’s still able to push out 60 pizzas an hour, chasing profit over volume. A tight, manageable shop where quality doesn’t slip is key.
Constraints aren’t a disadvantage. They force discipline. And discipline is what keeps quality consistent when it’s busy.
When you’re running lean, every missed call or fumbled order costs you more than it would a bigger operation. A reliable phone ordering system that captures every order isn’t optional for a shop like this.
Your turn: Figure out your busiest hour. Where do orders slip through the cracks? Fix the single biggest leak first.
5. The pizza community is more generous than you think. Use it.
If you have a question, reach out and ask someone. Slice has an active owner’s community on Instagram and Facebook, where owners ask all sorts of questions, and get answers from other owners.
This is a strategy. There are owners out there who have already solved the problems you’re about to face. From equipment and dough, to staffing and margins, most of them will tell you what they know if you ask a specific question.
And as you grow, your community will too. While maintaining the personal touch is ideal, enlisting help like Slice’s marketing tools will handle some of the communication so you don’t have to.
Your turn: Find one owner doing something you admire and send them one specific question this week. Most people say yes. And follow @slice on Instagram for more stories like this one.
6. “I’m never happy” is a superpower, not a problem.
When asked how long it took before he was happy with his product, Eugene told us, “I’m never happy.”
This is almost his point of pride. Never being happy means always tweaking. Always watching what gets finished at the table versus what comes back. Always asking whether it’s good enough to make someone reach for their phone.
Some advice for anyone looking to open a pizzeria: start with a perfect cheese pizza. Work on it endlessly. Get that right before you get creative. Fundamentals first. Everything else after.
The moment you think you’ve figured it all out is usually the moment you stop getting better.
Your turn: When did you last eat your own pizza like a customer? Do it this week. Order it for delivery, sit down, eat it, and be honest about what you find.
Forgot to write this stuff down? No worries. Download the worksheet, print it out, and put it somewhere you’ll see it every day.
Ready to build a more profitable pizzeria?
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