As a semi-industrial area, Serpentine Road, Pembroke, can be busy with truckers, warehouse workers and tradespeople buzzing through at an early hour.

To cater to the area’s needs, Fire & Slice Pizzeria is now offering takeout breakfast from 6am to 11am.

“People kept asking for it,” owner Henry Harris said. “At first, our answer was ‘not right now’. Then we thought, maybe there is an opportunity there.”

Since starting breakfast two weeks ago, they have found customers’ tastes to be pretty basic.

“People want eggs and bacon,” Mr Harris said.

They offer some variation with that, such as eggs Benedict, pancakes and waffles, but never stray too far from it.

“That helps us get the food out quickly and get people in and out,” Mr Harris said.

Fire & Slice opened at 9 Serpentine Road in July 2021, just after the pandemic. There were doubters.

“Many people think it is crazy to start a business at any time,” Mr Harris said. “I don’t agree with that. You have to have an action plan and have it be as well thought out as possible.”

One of their secrets to success has been listening to customer feedback, even when the client preferences are slightly puzzling.

“Overseas, it is common for pizza shops to offer a single slice of pizza on a paper plate,” he said. “Our customers wanted a box. We started offering them a smaller lightweight option.”

He also found that when their patrons ordered three slices of pizza, they wanted each one in its own box. The pizzeria accommodated that also.

Like many Bermuda food businesses, Fire & Slice has been hit by rising food costs in the last five years.

“We buy our supplies from local importers,” he said. “When they change their prices, we don’t have much control over that.”

Mr Harris said his business is doing its bit to support the local economy by employing 12 full-time staff members and three part-time people.

Two years ago, the firm transitioned to cashless transactions only. This was partly driven by safety concerns, and also because it is easier to tally things up at the end of the day when everything is credit-driven.

“If someone tried to rob us, the most they would get would be a pepperoni pizza,” Mr Harris joked. “We have no cash on the premises.”

The move was not popular with all customers.

“We got a lot of flak for that,” Mr Harris said.

Now, he said, their regulars have accepted the policy.

Mr Harris’s advice to other people wanting to start a business is listen to your customers.

“Sometimes you can act on feedback and other times you can’t,” he said.

• For more information, see Fire & Slice Pizzeria on Facebook and Instagram