Operations
With 23 years of expertise, Lars Smith launched State of Thoughts Public Home, a family-owned Bay Space pizzeria with three places that differentiates itself from chains by providing a singular California-style pizza, made-from-scratch meals and a dedication to worker care.
Photograph: State of Thoughts Public Home
December 18, 2025 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group
Lars Smith reduce his enamel within the pizza enterprise the old style method. He labored for California-based Pizza My Coronary heart and has 23 years of expertise beneath his belt.
Immediately, he owns State of Thoughts Public Home, which has three places within the San Francisco Bay space, positioned roughly between San Francisco and San Jose. The idea of State of Thoughts arose when Smith’s father neared retirement and it grew to become clear Smith and his brother would stay within the restaurant enterprise. They needed to open a household restaurant, and selected a neighborhood pizzeria that includes beer, previous arcade video games and a celebration of their household’s ties to California — the music, environment and meals.
The Los Altos location opened in 2018, a slice store opened in Palo Alto in 2021 and the third unit opened in Redwood Metropolis in 2023.
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Lars Smith makes a pizza in his pizzeria. Photograph: State of Thoughts Public Home |
On the menu
Smith described his pizza as California fashion, usually thought of a “third rail” within the trade. It’s influenced by each New York and Neapolitan pizza, however they “do our personal factor,” Smith defined in a cellphone interview.
“Our pizza is influenced by many kinds,” Smith stated. “The beauty of being the place we’re right here within the Bay Space is we do not have an extended custom of pizza and we’ve got very open-minded clientele and such an exquisite various vary of meals. There is not any custom that I’ve to be a part of.”
The Public Homes provide 14-inch spherical pizzas and quarter-sheet Grandma pies. The Slice store affords 18-inch and 20-inch pizzas, plus a pan pie. The model often does a Roman-style pizza, Smith’s newest ardour.
The main target is on recent, native and seasonal elements for toppings. Smith stated in a saturated market, he needs to distinguish himself. He does not have any curiosity in attempting to compete with the massive chains or their reductions.
“I haven’t got the sources,” Smith stated. “I am by no means going to win that competitors as a result of the massive chains, they have much more cash to place into advertising and marketing and buying than I do, proper? We knew we wanted to distinguish ourselves.”
He is additionally keen about recent elements and distinctive taste mixtures and seasonality. The make dressings and French fries from scratch, and wing sauces are made in-house. Wings are fried uncooked and are cooked to order day by day. Even a number of the mayonnaises are made by hand.
“If I wish to have a restaurant that my prospects are going to wish to come to, if I am engaged, and my household and I who run the enterprise are keen about what we do, it is going to be a greater product and a greater environment as a result of we’re not attempting to say what is going on to promote probably the most or what’s one of the best money-making,” Smith stated.
Pizza accounts for about 60% of gross sales, and so they bake in electrical deck ovens from Cuppone. Although they opened with fuel, a few 12 months and a half in they could not sustain with demand, so he began completely different choices and settled on electrical decks.
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Photograph: State of Thoughts Public Home |
Operations
How does the staff keep continuity because the model grows? Smith jokes that he does not sleep. It has been a piece in progress. Smith stated they’ve needed to double down on customary working procedures and processes.
He is additionally developed good groups at every of the places, and so they run nicely. Current staff got here to the brand new shops as they opened to assist them run. “They’ve caught round and that is been big. So, we’re not reinventing the wheel or reinventing the tradition each time we open,” he stated.
The model is household owned and operated. And whereas Smith stated it is “hokey” to say they deal with individuals like household, it issues to him that staff are nicely taken care of and that their work provides that means to their life. Full-time staff are supplied medical insurance and there is PTO and sick go away for managers.
“I believe having a spot that individuals are taken care of, and so they take pleasure in coming to work, simply creates positivity for buyer interactions and helps develop the model as nicely,” Smith stated.
The COVID-19 pandemic was difficult for Smith and his staff, because the eating places had been closed for a very long time because of California restaurant guidelines. That was a studying alternative, and it gave Smith perspective on what an enormous downside was.
Smith stated he ready for what would occur if enterprise did not come, however he did not plan for the demand on the first two eating places.
“There’s occasions the place the demand simply fully outpaces what we’re able to, and we’ve got to determine what these both guardrails or emergency brakes are in order that we will proceed to offer the highest quality meals and repair and never simply get completely overwhelmed,” Smith added.
They use Toast, and Smith stated selecting that model was one of many single finest enterprise selections they’ve made. “I am undecided we might have survived the pandemic with out having converted to Toast with their on-line ordering capabilities and quite a lot of the cool instruments they’ve there, and so they’ve solely grown. So, we use Toast and we completely find it irresistible,” he stated.
Providing recommendation
Smith’s dad had one requirement for Smith and his brother after they stated they needed to start out a pizzeria: write a marketing strategy. It isn’t horny, however it is advisable know your numbers earlier than you begin.
Added Smith: “Even in case you have sufficient non-public fairness to open it by yourself, I nonetheless suppose having a powerful, detailed marketing strategy that may be adequate to go to the financial institution is one of the best first step any operator can take.”
About Mandy Wolf Detwiler
Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the managing editor at Networld Media Group and the location editor for PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com. She has greater than 20 years’ expertise protecting meals, individuals and locations.
An award-winning print journalist, Mandy brings greater than 20 years’ expertise to Networld Media Group. She has spent practically 20 years protecting the pizza trade, from impartial pizzerias to multi-unit chains and each dimension enterprise in between. Mandy has been featured on the Meals Community and has gained quite a few awards for her protection of the restaurant trade. She has an insatiable urge for food for studying, and might inform you the place to search out one of the best slices within the nation after spending 15 years touring and consuming pizza for a dwelling.
