Situated on vibrant South Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas there is a three-building “pizza compound” known as Home Slice Pizza. A Dine-in building, Take-out/Commissary, and a home converted into offices comprise the operation that pounds out over 8.5 Million dollars worth of New York Style Pizza, Subs, Salads, and Garlic Knots each year. This tremendous volume easily makes this pizzeria one of the busiest in the country.

Seeing a need for authentic New York Style Pizza in Austin; Home Slice was established in 2005 by Jen & Joseph Strickland, Terri Hannifin, and 33 private investors with the mission to “Create an Austin Institution, based on the original, unfailing goodness of authentic New York Style Pizza” – with no compromises.

When asked what made their pizza different from others, Jeff Mettler, Special Projects Manager, responded that “Home Slice Pizza is bona fide and legit. It is made with care and compassion and with the knowledge and responsibility of health and vitality. We do not cut corners; we do not cheat. We respect the craft and respect the craftsmen. We walk the path by those before us and meet the responsibility of making the world better for those who will follow us. All of this is to say simply, “food is made with Love. And Love is everything.”

The owner, Jen Strickland who has been dubbed the “Queen of Pies,” learned how to make New York Style Pizza from a mentor named Angelo in Flemington, NJ. Angelo allowed her and her husband Joseph to spend two weeks with him doing an internship of sorts; learning old-school methods from a real East Coast pizzaiolo. Having a solid business plan, building financial projections, establishing an unwavering commitment to quality, and having a demographic starved for authentic pizza led to virtually instant success for Home Slice Pizza. In an industry that sees a failure rate as high as 60%, Home Slice became profitable within six months and surpassed their sales projections.

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