Tiny SLO pizzeria sells out nightly. Why are fans so devoted to My Friend Mike’s?
Tucked away off Broad Street in San Luis Obispo is a small pizza restaurant that sells out every night it opens its doors.
The menu has just eight pizzas and two salads, with options changing on a weekly basis. You can’t order slices, and customers are encouraged to order ahead of time — or show up to discover that the pizzeria has already dished out all its dough for the night.
Inside the pizzeria, the aesthetic is minimal. Floral table cloths are put up in front of the register, hanging plants decorate the space and a communal wood table sits in the center of the room.
The main attraction at My Friend Mike’s is what’s created behind the counter — the 16-inch pizzas.
The pies have spawned a loyal local following and has fans figuratively drooling in the comment sections of Reddit posts.
When asked why customers keep coming, My Friend Mike’s owner Mike Radakovich didn’t mince his words.
“They say it’s the best pizza,” he said.
Who started popular SLO pizza restaurant?
Radakovich had a career working in San Luis Obispo sporting goods retailers for more than 15 years.
“Sports Warehouse, Tennis Warehouse, Running Warehouse, Skate Warehouse — I worked for all those places,” he said.
In his time off, his taste buds kept running into one issue — he couldn’t find good bread anywhere, Radakovich told The Tribune.
So he took matters into his own hands and started making his own.
For more than a decade now, he’s been perfecting pizza dough and batches of bread.
A few years ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Radakovich decided it was time for a career change.
“I was like, ‘I think I could probably make pizzas. I could probably make X amount of dough and make a living,’ “ he said. “So that’s what we did.”
Where is My Friend Mike’s?
My Friend Mike’s opened up shop at 2324 Broad St. in San Luis Obispo in April 2022.
At the beginning, Radakovich and a friend were whipping up 22 pizzas a night. He planned to scale up slowly as he learned the ins and outs of running the pizzeria.
My Friend Mike’s gradually added a few more employees and expanded production, going from 50 pizzas per night to 70 to 90, he said.
Now Radakovich has six employees. They’re baking up to 110 pies per night, four days a week.
What makes My Friend Mike’s pizza so special?
Two words: The dough.
According to Radakovich, the ingredients that go into his pizza crusts are simple: flour, water, salt and time.
At My Friend Mike’s, the pizza dough-making process never takes less than 48 hours and can extend up to three days.
The fermentation process yields a complex sourdough that is perfect for pizza crust, Radakovich said.
“We just concentrate on making the dough. I think that’s our main difference between other places,” he said. “We’re very dough-focused. We use really good flours.”
What goes on top of the pizza isn’t an afterthought, either.
Pretty much all of the vegetables, herbs and fruit used by My Friend Mike’s are locally grown at the “best farms in the area,” according to Radakovich, including Windrose Farm in Paso Robles, Perez Produce in Los Osos and City Farm SLO in San Luis Obispo.
In the summer, the shop accumulates hordes of tomatoes and peppers to can and ferment for year-round pizza production.
In the winter, employees cure “a ton of Meyer lemons” that are topped on pies for a bright citrus punch, Radakovich said.
The restaurant sources its sausage from Cattaneo Bros. in San Luis Obispo.
The menu changes week to week depending on what’s in season.
As of Thursday, March 20, the restaurant was offering a pizza with chanterelle mushrooms, celery root and roast onion featuring creme fraiche, greens, aged mozzarella and chili flakes. The pie was topped with herbs, olive oil, sea salt and fresh Parmesan cheese.
Other recent menu highlights include the Loaded Veg with shaved garlic, greens, purple broccoli, Castelvetrano olives and red onions, as well as the Pepperoni & Peppas, featuring Sicilian oregano, pepperoni and house-pickled jalapenos.
My Friend Mike’s employee Madison East said she’s spent the last three years working at the pizzeria because of its dedication to making pizzas from scratch with the best ingredients available.
“(Nearly) everything is touched by us and processed by us, and that feels really good,” she said. “And we’re very transparent about where everything is coming from.”
“It’s so nice to provide super high-quality food,” East said.
Broad Street eatery gains loyal following
Over the past three years, My Friend Mike’s has gained a loyal following. No night goes by where the shop doesn’t sell out, according to Radakovich.
“We make 90, we sell 90. We make 110, we sell 110, and then we close up and we go home,” Radakovich said.
The pizzeria has accumulated a variety of regular customers who rave about My Friend Mike’s as some of the best pizza in town.
In a recent post, Reddit user DGsociety posted a picture of a My Friend Mike’s pizza. A flood of compliments followed.
“Only pizza shop in SLO that makes pizza properly,” Reddit user slokenny commented.
“Finest pizza, finest folks,” another Reddit user, Gwipdit, wrote.
Reddit poster Flowersinpaintings called My Friend Mike’s the “best pizza in town,” adding that they “often see Mike at farmers market getting ingredients!”
Radakovich says My Friend Mike’s has been successful because it’s working at a small scale that allows it to perfect the details of each pie.
The restaurant’s mission is not to continually expand and maximize sales but to make quality pizzas, he told The Tribune.
“We’re pretty particular about everything along the way,” Radakovich said. “I think it can drive everyone a little bit crazy.”
Does restaurant have plans to expand?
My Friend Mike’s is not adverse to some growth, according to Radakovich.
The next step may be opening the pizzeria for an extra day a week on Wednesdays, he said.
Radakovich also has some ideas for a lunch menu, but that will be introduced further down the road, he said.
“Slow and steady is probably our motto,” Radakovich said.
When is My Friend Mike’s open? How can I order pizza?
My Friend Mike’s is open from 4 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, 4 to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday. The restaurant is closed Monday through Wednesday.
You can pre-order a pizza online up to a week in advance or dial the restaurant at 805-464-6438 to place an order for pickup.
“Don’t try to walk in and get one, but you’re always welcome to call,” Radakovich said.
The restaurant sells 16-inch pies that feed around two to three people. You can also pick up salads, as well as a selection of foreign wines and local brews, according to its website.
Radakovich advised customers to order early in the day because pizzas often sell out by the evening.
This story was originally published March 21, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
