Meet Steve North | C0-founder, CEO, & South Shore Bar Pizza Ambassador

We had the good fortune of connecting with Steve North and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Steve, what do you attribute your success to?
About three years ago, I heard a quote from Earl Nightingale saying that his definition of success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal. While I haven’t achieved all of my goals as an individual and Mission Pizza is still just in its early phases as a company, I attribute my growth and our success so far to a commitment to becoming better every day, week, month, and year. I try to improve myself as a person and we’re continuously striving to improve our products, processes, and service as an organization.

I believe that everyone has or can develop a unique talent in themselves that’s worthy of sharing with the world. While I have always had a passion for delicious and unique foods as well as for customer service and interacting with people in general, I never dreamed I would have started a pizza business until 2020 when I first learned how to make the style of pizza I grew up on back home (south of Boston), That being said, I have always dreamed of being an entrepreneur and building something great that would support my family as well as my team while providing something of value for the community. I couldn’t be more grateful for the path this simple experiment in home pizza making has led me and my family down and I’m excited for what the future holds. I know if we stay dedicated to continuous improvement, we’ll reach or surpass all of our goals and dreams.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We make a unique and delicious style of pizza called South Shore Bar Pizza aka SSBP. All of our pizzas are made from scratch and cooked in special 10″ round pans. We push the sauce, cheese, and toppings all the way to the edge of the dough, so rather than a typical crust, our pizzas get what are called “laced” or caramelized edges which are extremely flavor packed and have a crunchy texture. Our crust is on the thinner side and gets nice and crispy on the bottom while remaining soft and fluffy on top under the freshly shredded cheese and homemade sauce.

When we started out, we had no idea how much work prepping to make dozens or hundreds of pizzas over the course of a few days would take, so we’ve gained a ton of respect for folks in the restaurant industry and the pizza business in particular. Since then we’ve gotten better equipment and improved our processes to where things typically run pretty smoothly as long as we’re fully prepared, but we know we’ll have to keep learning and adapting as we continue to grow and get busier.

One thing we’d like folks to know is that we’re committed to providing a great product, great service, taking good care of our team, and giving back to the community. In just a couple of short years we’ve already partnered with numerous local charity organizations as well as given directly to people in need, and we plan to continue to do so.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Hmmm, what are some of my favorite spots in DFW? Well, we’re a little further north nestled off of lovely 380 between Denton and McKinney, so we mainly stay up this way. Sharkrosa Wildlife Sanctuary is a great spot. We also love going into Denton and walking around the square; the candy store up there is a favorite of ours. Of course if a friend was in town I’d absolutely have to take them out to some great BBQ…Hurtados, Hutchins, and Tenders Smokehouse are a few we really enjoy. Street Tacos? Try OMG Tex-Mex Cocina in Denton. What else? Maybe take them hunting for some wild pigs? I kid!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My Shoutout goes to my wife who is our Co-founder, our daughters, my parents, and my sister for always supporting me in my dreams and understanding that all of the time, energy, blood, sweat, and tears we’re putting into this now is going to pay off in the end. I also want to Shoutout our team for all of the hard work they put in day after day, whether I’m in the kitchen with them or not, to ensure that we’re providing a delicious product and great experience for our customers, to the owners, managers and bar staff at Herf’s Denton County Taphouse for their support, and finally to the blue collar folks who invented this fine pizza in MA in the 1940’s as well as those who have perfected it over the years and shared enough of their secrets for us to be able to make a version that does justice to the style and compares to some of the best back home.

Website: www.missionpizzatx.com

Instagram: mission.pizza

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-north-a67ba7b

Facebook: www.facebook.com/missionpizzatx