Pizza My Heart, Inc.

What Pizza My Heart, Inc. does

Pizza My Heart, Inc. is a privately held, family-owned counter-serve pizza chain founded in 1981 on Capitola Beach, California, and headquartered in Los Gatos. The company operates over 30 company-owned locations concentrated across Northern California, spanning the Monterey Bay area, Santa Cruz, Silicon Valley, the Peninsula, the East Bay, Pleasant Hill, and Tracy. It merged with Pizza A Go Go in 1997 and has explicitly stated it has no plans to franchise or sell, opening only a few new restaurants per year.

The core product is hand-tossed pizza sold by the slice or whole pie, anchored by award-winning specialty recipes such as Big Sur (40 cloves of roasted garlic) and Little Sur, supplemented by build-your-own options, vegan and gluten-free variants, wings, salads, bread stix, and desserts. Beyond food, the company sells branded merchandise (city-specific t-shirts with over 3 million units sold, Shark Repellant hot sauce), gift cards, and offers a Fundraiser Program (30% donation back to non-profits), free school tours, and a developing rewards program. Pricing is unit-based across dine-in, carry-out, delivery, and large-order bundles, with cheese pizzas ranging from $19.50 (12-inch) to $29.00 (18-inch) and specialty pizzas up to $41.00.

The business operates on a direct-to-consumer, multi-channel model with website-driven online ordering, location-specific ordering pages (adorapos.net), and earned media coverage across regional outlets. The technology stack is described as standard POS without proprietary platform infrastructure; there are no disclosed AI/ML capabilities, integrations, patents, or institutional investors. Customer concentration is low, revenue is not publicly disclosed, and growth has been steady and organic rather than funded.

Name

Pizza My Heart, Inc.

Legal name

Pizza My Heart, Inc.

Website

https://pizzamyheart.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Pizza My Heart is a family-owned counter-serve pizza chain founded in 1981, operating 30+ company-owned locations across Northern California selling hand-tossed pizza by the slice or whole pie, sides, branded merchandise, and catering to local consumers, groups, and non-profits.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pizza Restaurants

NAICS

Limited-Service Restaurants (722513), Restaurants and Other Eating Places (7225), Food Services and Drinking Places (722)

SIC

Retail-Eating Places (5812), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Pizza QSR (THAFAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Pizza, Wings & Oven-Baked Prepared Foods (In-Store Concepts) (CRAHAKAE), Full-Service Catering (Off-Premise) (HSACAGAA), Event Catering (Weddings, Social, Private Parties) (THAFAIAB)

Keywords

• Counter-serve pizza
• California pizza chain
• Hand-tossed pizza
• Quick-service restaurant
• Pizza by the slice

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Gatos

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices30 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Pizza and Food Sales: Core revenue from selling pizzas by the slice or whole pie, along with sides including wings, salads, bread stix, and desserts. Also offers beverages including craft beer at many locations. Revenue is generated through dine-in, carry-out, phone orders, and online ordering at restaurant locations.
2. Merchandise Sales: Sale of branded merchandise including t-shirts (city-specific designs like Santa Cruz and Capitola), gift cards, and specialty items like Shark Repellant hot sauce. T-shirts are available in multiple sizes and are sold both in-restaurant and online.
3. Large Order Catering: Large order bundles and catering services for groups and events with discounted pricing. Offers pizza bundles for corporate lunches, parties, and events. Large orders of 10+ pizzas are appreciated with 24-48 hour advance notice.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Pizza My Heart operates a chain of 30+ company-owned counter-serve restaurants across California selling hand-tossed pizza by the slice or whole pie, with a menu that includes specialty pizzas (meat, vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free), chicken wings, bread stix, salads, desserts, and beverages such as craft beer at many locations. The company complements dine-in, carry-out, and delivery with branded merchandise (city-specific t-shirts, hot sauce, gift cards), large-order bundles for events, and a fundraiser program that donates 30% back to non-profit groups.

Product overview

Pizza My Heart is a surf-themed California pizza chain offering hand-tossed pizza by the slice or whole pie. The core product portfolio includes award-winning specialty pizzas such as the Big Sur (most popular, featuring 40 cloves of roasted garlic) and Little Sur (vegetarian favorite), along with meat specialty pizzas (Maui Wowie, Maverick's, Sunset Beach), and vegan/vegetarian options (The Mt. Diablo VEGAN, Vegan Big Sur, The Hook). Build-your-own pizza customization is available with various meat and veggie toppings. The company also offers a heart-shaped pizza for special occasions, plus snacks (Chicken Wings, Bread Stix), salads (Classic Caesar, Greek Salad, Chicken Walnut), and desserts (Kook-ie, Cinna-Bomb). Gluten-free rice flour crust is available for 12-inch pies. Beyond food, the company sells merchandise including Capitola and Santa Cruz Classic t-shirts (over 3 million sold worldwide) and Shark Repellant hot sauce in Cayenne and Habanero varieties. Additional services include gift cards, an online ordering system, Pizza Calculator tool for large orders, a developing Rewards Program, Fundraiser Program (30% donation back to non-profits), and School Tours for children. Founded in 1981 on Capitola Beach, the family-owned chain operates over 30 locations across California.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Specialty Pizzas Hand-tossed specialty pizzas with locally grown toppings, offered in 12-, 14-, and 18-inch sizes across meat, vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free varieties; award-winning recipes such as Big Sur and Little Sur.
• Create Your Own Pizza

Quantifiable outcome

• 1st Place 2007 West Coast Pizza Championships for Big Sur pizza
• +6 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Pizza A Go GocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1997In 1997, Pizza My Heart founders merged with Pizza A Go Go, another concept dedicated to great food, customer service and fun. This strategic merger enabled continued growth while maintaining the founding principles of quality and customer service. The combined entity has grown from the original Capitola Beach location to over 30 locations across California.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Round Table Pizza: Long-running California pizza chain with dine-in, carryout, and delivery; comparable Western U.S. footprint, family-friendly positioning, and counter/full-service mix. Most direct peer on geography and heritage.
• Pieology: Fast-casual personalized pizza chain with counter-serve and California roots. Closely comparable on custom-pizza format, dietary options, and price-tier, competing for similar dine-in and carry-out occasions.
• Mountain Mike's Pizza: California-born pizza chain with a similar surf/beach-culture heritage, counter-serve model, and footprint concentrated in the Western U.S. Direct comparability in menu (whole pies, by-the-slice) and unit economics in California markets.
• Straw Hat Pizza: Historic California pizza chain with dine-in, delivery, and family-oriented positioning. Operates in many of the same Northern California markets as Pizza My Heart and competes for the same family dining occasions.
• MOD Pizza: Fast-casual pizza chain with assemble-your-own model, counter-serve service, and broad U.S. footprint. Directly comparable on quick-service pizza format and dietary-inclusivity positioning (vegan/gluten-free options).
• Blaze Pizza: Fast-casual build-your-own pizza chain with a similar speed-of-service model and tech-forward ordering. Comparable on menu customization and counter-serve format, though operating at a national scale.
• Marco's Pizza: U.S. pizza QSR chain with dine-in, carryout, and delivery. Comparable on counter-serve pizza format, franchise-led growth model, and emphasis on quality ingredients — though primarily East/Midwest-focused.

Broad incumbents

• Domino's Pizza: Largest U.S. pizza QSR with heavy digital/loyalty investment and a national delivery-led model. Competes for the same pizza-order occasions but at much greater scale and with owned technology stack.
• California Pizza Kitchen: California-founded pizza-focused casual dining chain with a broader menu and full-service positioning. Comparable on California brand heritage and menu innovation but operates at a higher price point and service tier.
• Papa John's: Major national pizza QSR with delivery-led model and strong digital loyalty program (Papa Rewards). Competes directly for delivery and carryout occasions in overlapping California markets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pizza-my-heart

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pizza My Heart, Inc.