How A 1000 Sq Ft Slice Shop Does 2 Million A Year
From What's Good Dough? by What's Good Dough
January 18, 2026 · 10 min
About this episode
Lars Smith discusses the challenges and strategies of running a successful slice shop during the pandemic.
What happens when you open a slice shop during a pandemic, with no dining room and no walk-in traffic? In this episode, we sit down with Lars Smith, Chef and Co-Owner of State of Mind Slice House and the mind behind State of Mind Slice House in Palo Alto. Lars shares how lessons from past failures, smart pricing, and intentional design helped him build a high-performing slice shop during and after the pandemic. Highlights: 0:52 – Opening during the pandemic 1:39 – Why smaller restaurants are winning right now 2:14 – Location strategy without foot traffic 3:27 – Designing the slice case 4:27 – Freshness standards and waste control 4:56 – Pricing slices and accounting for waste 5:51 – Customer-first mindset vs cost-saving mindset 6:21 – Weekly sales and waste benchmarks 6:53 – Scaling recipes from restaurant to slice shop 7:46 – Advice for aspiring slice shop owners 8:34 – Designing customer flow for high-volume service 9:19 – Final thoughts and takeaways Follow: https://www.instagram.com/lboogiesmith/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/stateofmindslicehouse/ https://www.facebook.com/stateofmindslicehouse/ https://www.stateofmindslicehouse.com/ Thank you to our show sponsors: Bacio…
People in this episode
Host: Claire
Guest: Lars Smith
Topics covered
- pizza
- restaurant management
- pandemic business strategies
- slice shop
- food design
- customer service
Keywords
- slice shop
- pandemic
- restaurant design
- pricing strategy
- waste control
- customer flow
Sponsors
Bacio Cheese, Corto
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: State of Mind Slice House
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