About Stretch
Who we are. What we make. Why it's loud.
Pizza is better loud
Stretch started in 2014 as a 14-seat counter on Queen Street East with one deck oven, a borrowed mixer and two people who wouldn't stop arguing about crust. Teresa made the dough. Dev ran the till and the slice window.
The rule from day one: every pie is stretched by hand from dough that rested two days. It's slower. It's also the reason people line up outside on a Friday at 1 a.m.
Today there are three shops, about forty people and still one dough, mixed every morning in the Junction kitchen. In 2021 we hired our own drivers and started taking orders on our own site, so the money from your order stays with the shop that made it.
We're not fancy and we're not quiet. We're a neighbourhood pizzeria that wants to be your Friday night, your office lunch and your 1 a.m. slice.
How we got here
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2014
Teresa and Dev open a 14-seat slice counter on Queen East with one deck oven and a borrowed mixer.
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2016
The slice window opens for late nights. The Leslieville line becomes a Friday thing.
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2018
The Junction opens with booths, a back room and the kitchen where every batch of dough now starts.
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2021
We hire our own drivers and start taking orders on our own site.
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2023
Midtown opens near Yonge and Eglinton, built for pickup, delivery and office lunches.
The real rules
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01
Dough first
Every ball rests 48 hours in the cooler before it is stretched by hand. No shortcuts, no par-baked bases, no frozen crusts except the gluten-free ones we buy sealed.
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02
Order direct, pay fair
Our site, our prices, our drivers. When you order here, the shop that made your pizza keeps the money, and the driver keeps the tip.
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03
Feed the block
A dollar from every large pie sold on Tuesday goes to the Pizza Lunch Fund, which pays for pizza lunch days at public schools near our shops.
The people stretching
About forty cooks, counter staff and drivers. Here are four you might meet.
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Teresa Mancuso
Co-founder, dough
Grew up folding dough in her uncle's bakery in Woodbridge. Still mixes the Monday batch herself.
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Dev Okafor
Co-founder, shops
Ran the slice window for its first two years. Now runs the three shops and answers the catering line.
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Lina Haddad
Kitchen lead, Junction
Runs the dough room and the pizza-making parties. Has taught about a thousand kids to stretch a pie.
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Sam Rivera
Delivery lead
Hires and schedules our drivers. Knows which buildings on Queen East have broken buzzers.
The Pizza Lunch Fund
A dollar from every large pizza sold on Tuesday goes into the fund. It pays for pizza lunch days at four public schools near our shops, with a vegan and a gluten-free option on every tray.
- Every Tuesday, $1 from each large pizza goes into the fund.
- Schools choose the day. We bring the pies, the plates and two cooks.
- 31 lunch days last school year, with vegan and gluten-free on every tray.
Teachers: email hello@stretchpizza.example to ask about a lunch day.
Come say hi
Grab a slice at any of our three shops, or order direct and we'll bring it to you.