Stoked Pizza Wants to Open Another Restaurant, and It Needs Your Help

Stoked Wood Fired Pizza Co. in Washington Square. / Photo provided

When Stoked Wood Fired Pizza Co. opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Brookline last spring, it was a bit of an experiment. Could they translate the unique, mobile wood oven setup that put them on the map into a casual, family-friendly neighborhood bar? Nine months later, the answer is a resounding yes.

Co-owners Scott Riebling and Toirm Miller are taking early steps to open a second location (and potentially even more down the line), and they’re seeking the public’s help to help them determine where.

Boston Restaurant Talk picked up the survey that Stoked tweeted out. The simple online forum asks users for data about their visits to Stoked’s Washington Square restaurant and to its truck, and asks where folks would like to see Stoked go next. The eight potential neighborhoods listed (there’s also a write-in field) include Fenway/Kenmore, Newton, Union Square in Somerville, and beyond.

“We have the luxury, the uniqueness, that we have a food truck and we’ve taken it to all these areas,” Miller says. “Why not go right to our customers who have been supporting us from the beginning? We want to get the pulse of where it would be a good fit.”

In opening the Brookline spot, their goals were to build a local following, and to develop the systems necessary to grow the brand. On those accounts, it’s been very successful, Miller says.

“We certainly do not have grand plans to be a mega-chain… [but] We’ve got a great team of employees and management that want to grow with us, and it’s a natural progression for us to start looking for a second one and keep promoting our people from within,” he says.

Washington Square isn’t going anywhere. “[It’s] such a vibrant neighborhood—the Publick House, Washington Square Tavern, the Fireplace, the Abbey—to us, it was a really good fit,” he says. And that kind of community is what they’re looking for in this new real estate hunt. Miller has looked at a few properties around town, but he says the team is not in a big rush.

“It’s gotta be the right fit. I know we’re going to know it when we see it. The timeline is literally when Scott and I look at each other and say, ‘This feels right,'” he says.

If you’ve ever walked by a vacant storefront in your neighborhood and thought, “There should be pizza in there,” now is the time to let Stoked know. There’s no set date for when they’ll stop accepting suggestions, but the sooner they find the perfect property, the sooner there will be more Stoked Pizza in the world.

Stoked Wood Fired Pizza Co., 1632 Beacon St., Brookline, 617-982-FIRE, stokedpizzaco.com.