By Charlie Pogacar
Hannah O’Hara was at the end of her rope. She couldn’t bear the thought of another shift as a machine operator, working for a boss she didn’t care for. Her close friend, Dean Rein, asked her: If she could do anything with her life, what would it be?
“And I told him, ‘I don’t know, I’d probably be selling pizza on a boat somewhere,’” O’Hara said.
Together, Rein and O’Hara have accomplished half of that dream—no boats involved. The duo co-own and operate Lisa’s Pizza, a 66-year-old neighborhood shop in Milwaukee where they’ve nearly doubled sales in less than two years. They’ve done so by implementing modern technology, longer hours and a series of updated systems.
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Getting there has not been without challenges, but, for O’Hara, it sure beats working in the factory.
Lisa’s Pizza has been a mainstay of Milwaukee’s Upper East side since 1960. Originally located on Locust Street, the shop moved just a block away to Oakland Avenue in 1962–and it’s been there ever since. O’Hara and Rein officially bought the business in January 2024 from the Bongiorno family, which had operated it for two generations.
The deal came together quickly. Rein, a real estate agent by trade, spotted the listing in late 2023 and asked O’Hara if she wanted to take a look. At the time, neither had significant restaurant experience—O’Hara’s background was in manufacturing quality assurance, while Rein worked as an industrial engineer—but both saw opportunity in a business with longevity, loyal customers and strong recipes.
“It already had the good bones,” O’Hara said. “Great food, great history. We knew we wouldn’t have to try to reinvent it.”
Instead, upon taking over the shop, they focused on what O’Hara knew best: process improvement. “In manufacturing, we call it continuous improvement,” she said. “How can we improve this? How can we make it more efficient? How can we fix recurring problems?”
And there was low-hanging fruit, like the fact that Lisa’s was still operating largely with a pencil and paper. There was no POS system, no online ordering and no third-party delivery integration. Those upgrades, O’Hara said, began an upward sales trend.
Then came more changes. Lisa’s had formally been open five days a week—O’Hara and Rein upped that to seven. In November, Lisa’s began serving lunch.
Each expansion required careful maneuvering, of course, to make it all work. Lisa’s now employs roughly 30 people, compared to about 10 under the previous ownership. O’Hara said the growth has been methodical—adding Sunday and Monday service first, then scaling again to support lunch without spreading existing staff too thin.
One of the more debated decisions involved third-party delivery. While many operators remain openly hostile to the platforms, O’Hara takes a pragmatic view. “It’s definitely a necessary evil,” she said.
Today, DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub account for about 11% of Lisa’s total sales. O’Hara said she views those platforms less as a growth engine and more as a cushion during slower periods. On busy weekends, the apps are paused entirely.
“My primary focus is building my own business,” she said. “If we’re already on two-hour waits from dine-in, takeout and our own delivery drivers, we can’t accommodate the apps.”
Roughly 30% of Lisa’s business comes from dine-in customers, reinforcing its identity as a true neighborhood pizza shop. That sense of place matters to O’Hara, who lives above the restaurant after purchasing the building along with the business.
“There’s no getting away from it,” she said. “But it’s also kind of nice. I get to walk through the dining room, see my customers, see my employees every day.”
Not all challenges have been operational. Midway through last year, O’Hara was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis after waking up one morning with severe vision loss in one eye. Further testing revealed lesions on her brain and spine—an overwhelming discovery for someone who had just poured her savings and energy into a small business.
“I didn’t want to get out of bed for a couple of weeks,” she said. “I was scared. Losing your eyesight is terrifying.”
After treatment restored her vision, O’Hara made a decision that mirrored the way she approaches the restaurant itself: keep moving forward. “I was like, I can’t let this hold me back,” she said. “None of us are promised tomorrow.”
That mindset helped drive the lunch expansion—and conversations about what might come next. Lisa’s recently added Detroit-style pizza to the menu, a Rein creation that has already become a top-five seller. Weekend breakfast service is being discussed. Long-term, space constraints may force an even bigger decision.
“We’re running out of room,” O’Hara said. “If we want to keep growing, we’re going to have to figure out what a second kitchen—or even a second location—looks like.”
For now, though, O’Hara is focused on steady improvement, adding incremental revenue with carefully measured decisions. “I think if you’re gonna do something, you better do it well,” O’Hara said. “That’s what we’ve focused on—just trying to grow it.”
O’Hara may not be selling pizza on a boat—but she’s a long way from the factory.
