Operations
Pizzeria da Laura owner's dream a long time coming
Laura Meyer opened Pizzeria da Laura last year. Customers don't realize there's a real face behind the company, so connecting with her patrons is paramount.
March 14, 2024 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group
Laura Meyer cut her teeth in the pizzeria industry. Working for acclaimed pizza Chef Tony Gemignani since she was a teenager, Meyer is the proud owner of Pizzeria da Laura, which opened in March 2023, in downtown Berkeley, California, a block away from UC Berkeley.
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Laura Meyer. Photo: Pizzeria da Laura |
It's been a long road to owning her own restaurant. She went to work for Gemignani full-time following college in 2011, holding a kitchen manager position at Tony's Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco. She moved around in Gemignani's brands, working as a regional chef and as a teacher in Gemignani's pizza school.
But it was while participating in a focaccia pop-up outside the restaurants, during the pandemic, that she began to really consider opening her own restaurant. The pandemic was a slower time, so she had the chance to look around for a location, settling on a 5,000-square-foot building.
"It definitely evolved over time," Meyer said in a phone interview. "Originally when I was thinking about it, it was going to be super small, it was going to be manageable. It didn't need to be grand. And then as I started looking at locations, and rent and just factoring in all the things, it definitely grew into what it is today."
The restaurant has 120 seats and serves a variety of pizza styles.
On the menu
Where Meyer decided to put here restaurant, pan-style pizza didn't exist, so she had the market cornered.
"Where I was, it just made sense to feature the things that I was best at, and that was the pan styles, and do it in a way that was a little bit different," Meyer explained. Guests can pick their crust style from a variety of pan styles, as well as toppings.
Most restaurants only offer a few varieties of pizza, but Pizzeria da Laura offers Grandma, Detroit-style, Sicilian and New York.
"In my area there is a lot of pizza, but there's no pizza like mine," Meyer said. "No one's doing pan style pizzas. Everyone's doing their version of a round New York pie. Having pan styles really sets me apart because it's something that nobody else has. The fact that I offer more than one style but also that mix and match option (of toppings), it draws people in because there's options for everybody. … I want to be able to offer variety."
Meyer said Sicilian and Detroit are the top selling pizza styles. Most everything is made in house, from dough to sauces. Vegetables are cut on-site. She tries to source as much locally, or at least from California, as possible, and uses Corto olive oil and Stanislaus tomatoes because they're both from the state. Even the beer program utilizes California breweries over the big names. (The restaurant has a full liquor license.)
"The Bay-area folks are very accustomed to high quality and pretty much having what they want available to them at all times," Meyer said. "That crowd can be a little tough, but they love the thicker-crust pizza. I sell out of that style pizza almost every day."
For parties and large orders, the New York-style is always a hit because it can feed a crowd. "You get a little more bang for your buck in that sense," she added.
Pizzas are baked in electric deck ovens.
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Photo: Pizzeria da Laura |
Operations
Now that the restaurant has reached its first year of operations, Meyer said she maintains consistency by being on site every day.
"By me being here every day and working with my crew, it means that I'm teaching them not just how to make the pizza but also the finer details about cooking (and) about stretching. I'm trying to teach them first hand not just what my expectations are but actually how to make and cook great pizza."
When employees mess up an order, Meyer would rather have the employees make the order again and learn from their mistakes rather than push out bad pizza or the wrong product. 'Making sure they're putting out the right quality is definitely an emphasis for me, whether they have to remake it or not," she said.
Challenges
The physical build out of the restaurant went smoothly, but Meyer had chosen a building with a lot of the work already done. She just had to make it hers, such as building the bar.
Staffing has been Meyer's biggest challenge, much like other restaurateurs. "Making sure we're building the right staff with the right personalities — finding the people who care is hard," she said, "and not just who care but who have the right qualifications."
Finding the right management and keeping them has been especially difficult, Meyer said.
"There's just not a lot of people who want to work in this business anymore, especially when it comes to upper management," she added. "It's been hard to find management, so I've been doing a lot of it on my own."
Training is important, and Meyer said it's the only way to ensure longevity in the industry.
The pizzeria engages with customers as much as possible whether it's via social media or through restaurant reviews. Meyer responds to every restaurant review left for the brand. People who frequent her restaurant want to feel connected, and engaging with customers is imperative.
"People who come in to this restaurant don't realize there's a real 'Laura' behind Pizzeria da Laura," Meyer said. "It's not just a name. There's a real person working behind this, and I think people really gravitate toward that."
Advice
Now that she's got years of working in the pizzeria industry, Meyer said she would recommend anyone thinking of opening their own shop to first actually work in the business by getting a job at a pizzeria.
"There's so much to this that is unseen to the customer's perspective, and it's not just the hours of working," she said. "There are hours before the restaurant is even open.
"There's the people component of working with your staff and what that entails. There are so many moving parts to a restaurant, regardless of whether it's a small slice shop or a full-service restaurant, that the public doesn't see. You really have to have your heart in this if you want to do this and be successful."
About Mandy Wolf Detwiler
Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the managing editor at Networld Media Group and the site editor for PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com. She has more than 20 years’ experience covering food, people and places.
An award-winning print journalist, Mandy brings more than 20 years’ experience to Networld Media Group. She has spent nearly two decades covering the pizza industry, from independent pizzerias to multi-unit chains and every size business in between. Mandy has been featured on the Food Network and has won numerous awards for her coverage of the restaurant industry. She has an insatiable appetite for learning, and can tell you where to find the best slices in the country after spending 15 years traveling and eating pizza for a living.
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