Based in St. Louis, Katie's is leading a frozen pizza revolution that sprouted from Katie Lee's ... [+] restaurants during the pandemic.

From the time she was 11 years old, Katie Lee knew restaurants were her destiny. She envisioned herself at the helm of a dining experience that combined artistry, community, and delicious yet simple cuisine. What she didn’t foresee was the resilience and ingenuity it would take to achieve her vision. Today, as the founder of Katie’s , she’s reinventing frozen pizza and positioning her brand as a leader in the burgeoning “restaurant-quality at home” movement.

Rooted in St. Louis but inspired by her deep love of Italian food and culture, Lee’s story is one of resiliency and determination, with a hefty dose of creativity and an uncompromising commitment to quality.

“It’s been a long and winding road,” Lee admits, reflecting on her early days as a restaurateur. “I didn’t take a traditional path. I was a high school dropout and an addict at 15. Let’s just say my career options were limited. But I was lucky; I’d always loved restaurants and it’s probably the only industry that welcomes 15-year-old dropout addicts.”

An Italian Restaurant Unlike Any Others

After a transformative stint living in Florence, Italy, Lee returned home inspired. With help from her father, Tom Lee, she opened her first pizzeria in 2008, introducing St. Louis to traditional Neapolitan style pizza. Her eponymous restaurant led the artisan pizza movement in the Midwest, winning over locals with its handcrafted, elevated approach to Italian cuisine.

Today, there are three branches of Katie’s in St. Louis, with plans for expansion among Lee’s other working projects. But Lee is quick to refuse taking the full credit for the success of Katie’s restaurants. Behind the scenes is a group of likeminded folks which Lee refers to as the Chefs Collective. Under Lee’s leadership, the group comprises executive chef Jake Sanderson and a team of talented cooks: Cary Mcdowell, Derek Woodley, Edgar Escobar and Mario Escobar, all contributing ideas and recipes while maintaining an efficient yet jovial working environment in which everyone thrives.

If there’s one thing that’s obvious when visiting Katie’s is that everybody loves their job. The love the staff have for each other and for the food they prepare is immediately palpable, and it shows in the taste and presentation of each and every dish. From handmade pastas to seasonal specialties created with local ingredients, the menu at Katie’s honors traditional cuisine and adds a modern, personal approach. And as Katie’s is truly a family afair, Lee’s brother Johnny acts as COO and her mother, Brenda, is the art director for the company.

At Katie's Pizza, fresh pasta is made daily in a dedicated space in full view of the dining room.

From Pizza Ovens to Grocery Aisles

Lee’s entrepreneurial spirit truly shone during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she pivoted her business in a way few could have anticipated. Faced with the existential threat of restaurant closures and lay-offs, Lee transformed her three restaurants into improvised frozen pizza assembly lines, keeping her entire team employed and her community connected. The result? An entirely new business venture.

Since launching her line of frozen pizzas and pasta bakes, Katie’s has achieved a staggering 200% annual growth rate, doubling its sales every year and catching the attention of major retailers. The frozen pizza market was estimated to grow from $19.84 billion in 2023 to $20.87 billion in 2024, and its projected to keep growing steadily.

“I’d love to say we devised a master plan to fill a gap in the market, but the truth is, it was born out of survival — survival to keep my team working, our restaurants open, and our purpose alive,” explains Lee. “That experience shaped who we are and where we are today. We’re bringing the craft and passion of our restaurants into grocery aisles, with real food made by real people. Those are the two most important ingredients.”

In just four years, Katie’s has built a state-of-the-art facility that continues the artisan methods born in her kitchens. Every pizza is hand-stretched, wood-fired, and topped with select, all-natural ingredients that reflect the team’s uncompromising commitment to quality. Even the flour with which they make the pizza and pasta comes from locally-grown wheat.

At Katie's, each pizza is hand tossed, wood fired and topped with high quality ingredients before ... [+] packaging and freezing.

“Every product we make tells a story of tradition,” says Lee. “It’s about honoring the process: dough, that is leavened for 48 hours, hand-stretched, and wood-fired. It’s about quality: whole, natural ingredients layered with care, just like we do in our restaurants.”

Beyond frozen pizzas, Katie’s has expanded its offerings to include jarred pasta sauces and dry pastas that deliver the same dedication to quality and craft. Currently, Katie’s offers six different flavors of frozen pizza and three jarred pasta sauces, as well as dry pasta, premium olive oil and balsamic vinegar from Italy, all sourced by Lee herself, under the Katie’s Fine Foods label.

Achieving Massive Milestones After Hardship

Lee’s journey was far from easy. For years, she lacked majority control of the restaurants that bore her name. First, she had to prove herself.

Lee finally achieved a monumental milestone in 2024, gaining 100% ownership of Katie’s — a testament to her resilience and dedication. “It’s been a 16-year journey that started with 0% ownership,” she says. “My name was on the door, my vision was on the plate, but the company wasn’t mine. Gaining full control feels like reclaiming what I’ve built. It’s been a journey of standing by my vision, learning from the struggle, and staying true to what I believe.”

Katie’s reached another milestone in 2024 when the company won Walmart’s coveted Golden Ticket competition, which opens the door to national distribution and positions the brand as a leader in the premium frozen foods category. For Lee, this represents more than just a business opportunity, it’s a validation of her vision and her team’s hard work.

“Winning Walmart’s Golden Ticket wasn’t just a business win; it was proof of what passion and resilience can achieve,” says Lee. “It’s about blending the Italian Way —love, craft, quality ingredients — with the American Way: innovation and hustle.”

Katie's Pizza executive chef Jake Sanderson and founder and CEO Katie Lee accept the Walmart Golden ... [+] Ticket award.

Reimagining Convenience Without Compromise

Katie’s products stand apart in the crowded frozen food market. Each pizza and pasta bake reflects Lee’s relentless pursuit of quality: hand-stretched, wood-fired crusts; chef-curated, all-natural ingredients; and a commitment to tradition that’s rare in the category.

“Artisan isn’t just a marketing word for me,” Lee explains. “It’s how I was raised. Whether it was watching my mom work in her studio or making something by hand in the kitchen, I grew up believing the process matters as much as the product.”

This ethos is evident in every aspect of Katie’s. From the ingredients to the techniques, the brand reflects a fearless commitment to the artistry of food — a bold departure from the industrialized approach that dominates grocery aisles.

“Americans want real food, not industrialized products,” she says. “We’re making artisan food the Italian way—simply, fearlessly, and honestly. Our approach isn’t ‘What’s the most we can get out of the market?’ It’s ‘What’s the most we can give to it?’”

At Katie's state-of-the-art production facility, pizzas are cookd in a wood fired oven for a perfect ... [+] Neapolitan style crust.

The New Archetype

As Lee builds her brand, she’s carving out a new archetype in food and entrepreneurship. Comparisons to industry leaders like Rao’s, Siete, and Carbone are inevitable, but Lee’s path is uniquely her own. She’s also reflecting on the extraordinary personal and professional journey that brought her to this point in her personal and professional life. Through a serialized memoir project, Lee is sharing her story with her customers, releasing it one chapter at a time and capturing the raw honesty and deep connections that define her life and work.

Part restaurateur, part cultural innovator, and wholly dedicated to redefining how we eat at home, Katie Lee is just getting started.

“This is just the beginning,” she says. “Italy taught me that food can be nourishment for the soul, so we want to nourish more souls. We know the difference that quality food can make in people’s lives, and we’re excited to share that with as many people as we can.”