When the COVID-19 pandemic caused Kevin Lynch’s previous line of work to dry up, at least for the considerable future, he and his wife Brenda did what any rational couple would do: sell their …
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When the COVID-19 pandemic caused Kevin Lynch’s previous line of work to dry up, at least for the considerable future, he and his wife Brenda did what any rational couple would do: sell their home and move to another state.
Later, Kevin and Brenda Lynch found a spot to open a small shop they’d call 5150 Pizza. While Kevin Lynch admits that set of decisions might seem a little courageously crazy, that’s the theme of their path and pizza shop anyway.
California state law includes code 5150, allowing for the temporary, involuntary psychiatric commitment of individuals who present certain signs of mental illness. The term 5150 long ago became a euphemism for crazy of all sorts, and it’s the title of the 1986 album by one of the Lynchs’ favorite bands, Van Halen.
“The name comes half from Van Halen and half from wanting to market our food as ‘crazy good,’” Kevin Lynch said. “One thing that can make pizza great is to have lots of options, so people can customize their meal, and yet they want it cooked the same way they enjoyed it at your place before.”
Kevin’s previous line of work was loss-prevention consulting, which he said was shut down by COVID-19. Noticing their home was valuable in what Kevin described California’s “nuts” real estate market, the Lynchs sold their home and moved to the Valley, where one of their three children had landed.
In the year 5150 has been open, Kevin Lynch said, the couple has been able to double sales.
“We’re not quite where we want to be yet,” he said. “But we’re getting a lot of great feedback on products.”
With only a handful of employees, Kevin mans the kitchen and Brenda takes care of many other aspects of the business, such as working the front counter during the lunch rush for the shop’s small dining area and maintaining an ordering schedule for raw product.
Brenda, who is also a notary product, said 5150’s hand-tossed crust can be baked up in a number of ways, to a customer’s preference.
“Some people have told us they were never that into specifying a crust until they tried ours,” she said. “And that’s before you even get to picking your toppings.”
Brenda said even though she and Kevin, who grew up in New York, had no previous restaurant experience, they have tried to be connoisseurs and study both the business and to learn about the foods they appreciate.
While the Chandler area already has several established single-location and regional pizza chains, the couple knew their background and determination to meet the needs of a diverse customer base would be key.
“There are so many techniques and ways to cook pizza,” Brenda Lynch said. “Besides, Chandler seems to already have competition in so many businesses. Look at how many barebecue places there are in town.”
Not all small business owners take the time to provide feedback and have dialogue with reviewers on Yelp and similar sites. The Lynches, however, finds some value in this.
“We can’t fix what we don’t know about,” Brenda Lynch said. “While we take criticism with a grain of salt, and realize we can’t please everyone, we want the chance to try and fix things that haven’t gone perfectly.”
We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
Jason W. Brooks is a News editor for the Daily Independent and the Chandler Independent.
He covers the Chandler area for both yourvalley.net and the monthly print edition while writing for and assisting in the production of the Daily Independent.
Brooks is a well-traveled journalist who has documented life in small American communities in nearly all U.S. time zones.
Born in Washington, D.C. and raised there and in suburban Los Angeles, he has covered community news in California, New Mexico, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska and northern Arizona.
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