Bottaro Wood-Fired Pizza, San Diego, California

An article in the Encinitas Patch profiled a firefighter who started a mobile oven business as a sideline to prepare for retirement.

The article says in part:

After almost 30 years with the Encinitas Fire Department, firefighter John Gonzales began contemplating his upcoming retirement in 2015.

He thought it was time to shake things up in his life, and make a move, and this past July, he started Bottaro Wood Fired Pizza. Bottaro is the maiden name of his mother, an Italian-American.

In launching a business, Gonzales decided on a product that he loved himself and knew something about.

The business is Bottaro Wood-Fired Pizza, San Diego, California. The home page says in part:

Bottaro Wood Fired Pizza is an oven on wheels and as we like to call it "Pizza A-Go-Go". We also have salads and appetizers and cook all our food on site. You can find us at Street Fairs and Farmers Markets and also cater Private Parties and Events.

We use the freshest, local produce available, make our own sausage and use organic flour from Utah. Your pizza will bake in about 90 seconds in temperatures of 700 to 900 degrees. All your Family and Friends will appreciate the uniqueness of a Wood Burning Oven as we prepare and cook their food using "Old World" techniques right in your backyard or favorite setting.

This sounds like an interesting variation on the mobile oven business.

Bottaro Wood-Fired Pizza, San Diego, California

An article in the Encinitas Patch profiled a firefighter who started a mobile oven business as a sideline to prepare for retirement.

The article says in part:

After almost 30 years with the Encinitas Fire Department, firefighter John Gonzales began contemplating his upcoming retirement in 2015.

He thought it was time to shake things up in his life, and make a move, and this past July, he started Bottaro Wood Fired Pizza. Bottaro is the maiden name of his mother, an Italian-American.

In launching a business, Gonzales decided on a product that he loved himself and knew something about.

The business is Bottaro Wood-Fired Pizza, San Diego, California. The home page says in part:

Bottaro Wood Fired Pizza is an oven on wheels and as we like to call it "Pizza A-Go-Go". We also have salads and appetizers and cook all our food on site. You can find us at Street Fairs and Farmers Markets and also cater Private Parties and Events.

We use the freshest, local produce available, make our own sausage and use organic flour from Utah. Your pizza will bake in about 90 seconds in temperatures of 700 to 900 degrees. All your Family and Friends will appreciate the uniqueness of a Wood Burning Oven as we prepare and cook their food using "Old World" techniques right in your backyard or favorite setting.

This sounds like an interesting variation on the mobile oven business.

Bola Pizza, Austin, Texas

My faithful Google Alert informed me of a rather different take on a mobile pizza business.

I caught an on-line food column from the Austin Chronicle about Bola Pizza, Austin, Texas.

What makes Bola Pizza different from most other mobile pizza businesses is their extension of their business into frozen pizza.

This is not to say that they are not also doing catering and farmers' markets in the Austin area, but very few mobile pizza businesses have branched out into frozen food.

Good luck to them.

Olive Pizza, Minneapolis, Minnesota

While doing some shopping at Midtown Farmers Market in Minneapolis on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011, I spied a tent with the legend "wood-fired pizza" emblazoned on it.

Checking it out I saw a pizza oven built into a trailer, and a crew running a wood-fired oven to make pizza.

This turned out to belong to a business I had not heard about, Olive Pizza, Mobile Wood-Fired Pizza.

Their web site doesn't give a lot of detail about their business. The earliest date currently showing on their calendar is August 27, 2011.

They were selling a variety of pizzas for $7 each. I did not have the opportunity to try one.

I did take a few pictures, but I'm not able to upload them at this point.

I wish them luck. (I can't say I'm impressed by their web site.)

June 28, 2012: I saw that their web site says that they are at the Bloomington Farmers Market, no longer at the Midtown Farmers Market.

Mobile Wood-fired Pizza Catering Twin Cities

I'm adding this post because it's a common search term, and I thought I would prepare an answer for it.
(Updated 6/8/2012)

I have identified mobile wood-fired pizza catering businesses in (and near) the Twin Cities that make the effort to be easily found. All of these are (or will be) listed on my Business Ovens page (local to Minnesota and Wisconsin) and on my Mobile Oven page in the Mobile Oven Businesses section (which is worldwide).

• Big River Pizza
• Olive Pizza (added 9/26/2011)
• Pizza Festa di Viaggio (permanently relocated to Nashville, TN; sorry)
• Red Wagon Pizza Company (added 07/09/2012)
• Russell Glover Farm (River Falls, WI, but also serving the Twin Cities)
• Thyme to Entertain
• Wandering Fire (St. Croix Falls, WI, added 6/8/2012)

I have not used any of these businesses. I don't know how much they charge.

If you find similar businesses in Minnesota (or elsewhere), leave me a comment, and I will add them to my link collection.

Woodfire Brick Oven Pizza, Rockford, Illinois

I stumbled across a mention of Woodfire Brick Oven Pizza, Rockford, Illinois while doing a related Google search.

They have a "Restaurant/Cafe" Facebook page. (Their info page has a link to an inactive domain.)

They have gotten some mention in a local blog (here), and in on-line news article (here and here), and in bits about the Rockford City Market, "Joe D’Astice, owner of Wood Fire Brick Oven Pizza, serves pizza from the oven at City Market in downtown Rockford."

Black Beauty, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

A separate catering operation of Pizzeria Prima Strada, their mobile wood-burning oven, Black Beauty, is available for hire.

Whistler Wood Fired Pizza Company, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada

Apparently some people are reading this blog, and deciding that they ought to be mentioned.

That's fine with me.

I received an e-mail from Korey Klein informing me of the existence of Whistler Wood Fired Pizza Company, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.

I was sent what should have been a link to their home page, but I had to search using Google to find it.

Their home page says in part:

Whistler Wood Fired Pizza is an all-natural product, baked in a "portable" wood fired oven. We can set up in a park, parking lot, or flat lot, as long as we can bring our trailer through.

Their home page has a slide show showing a couple of different wood-fired ovens on trailers.

They also have a Facebook page.

A Google search turned up a couple of YouTube videos (one that looked to be in a farmers market and another about a new oven trailer).

I want to thank Korey for e-mailing me. It shows that some people out there are interested in the subject that this blog is dedicated to.

The Rolling Stonebaker, Beverly Shores, Indiana

An on-line article from a site about northwest Indiana profiles a couple who created a mobile oven business centered in Beverly Shores, Indiana.

They call their business The Rolling Stonebaker.Their home page has a couple of neat pictures of their truck.

The article says in part:

Georgian and Chaddock cooked up the idea of The Rolling Stonebaker pizza truck, a reconfigured 1949 Studebaker fire truck that debuted last summer at Michiana private parties, farmers' markets and impromptu roadside events. The Stonebaker serves pizza from a wood-fired brick oven at the rear of the truck. The Stonebaker was so popular the Beverly Shores, Indiana, couple purchased a second antique Missouri truck for this season, which runs through Thanksgiving.

 It's clear from their site that they move around a lot.

Quest for Oven Links Updated for Mobile Ovens

I have updated my Quest for Ovens links site. I have factored out the two collections of links related to "Mobile Ovens," which had been in different parts. Now you can find "Mobile Oven Suppliers and Projects" together with "Mobile Oven Businesses" on the same page.

This makes the "Businesses with Brick Ovens" links page smaller, as well as focusing the "Mobile Ovens" links page for ease of access.

Pizza Moto, Brooklyn, New York

I found a hospitality jobs listing on Craig's List for a pizza maker.

It was for a business named PizzaMoto. The listing says in part, "We make lovely Neapolitan brick oven pizza outdoors every weekend at the Brooklyn Flea and in Central Park for all the Summer Stage shows throughout the summer."

That sounded intriguing.

They didn't provide a web address with the listing, but I found their home page and their Facebook page. Both pages have some pictures of their oven.

They have several reviews on their listing on yelp.

The Pizza Cart, Cedar City, Utah

Apparently there is  more than one business named The Pizza Cart (linked to its Facebook page).

This one is in Cedar City, Utah.

Pizza Tonight, Richmond, Virginia

Richmond.com has a piece about Pizza Tonight of Richmond, Virginia.(The contemporaneous blog for Pizza Night has a correction.)

This is a story of a hobby turning into a business.

The story says in parts:

"You had to be friends or friends of friends to get invited to the Deroche’s house in the Fan to enjoy Victoria’s homemade pizza dough. At Pizza Club, Victoria provided the pizza dough and her guests got to top it with whatever they wanted: from fresh feta and basil to pizza carbonara with pancetta, eggs and hard cheeses...."

"But now, this pizza club is going public with Pizza Tonight, gourmet pizza kits handcrafted by the Richmond couple...."

"And in a few weeks, Victoria hopes to bring her brand new portable wood fire oven -- which is currently en route from Colorado to Richmond -- to farmer’s markets where she can fire up a gourmet pizza pie on the premises….just for you...."

(04/17/11) They  must now have their oven, since they have a new portable oven business described on their page.

Pele's Fire Catering, Jacksonville, Florida

I saw a Google ad for Pele's Fire Catering, Jacksonville, Florida, on this blog page, so I followed the link.

The home page doesn't say where they are located, but the area code indicates the Jacksonville area. The home page says in part, "Specializing in Gourmet Neapolitan Pizza. Come visit us every Saturday at the Riverside Arts Market."

Pele's Fire Catering has a page on Facebook.

Bend Pizza, Bend, Orgeon

It seems like Bend Oregon must be a hotbed of mobile pizza businesses.

Now I have found Bend Pizza, which seems to be the third mobile pizza business in Oregon that I have found today.

Their "About Us" page says in part, "In the Spring of 2010, Chris set out to make the first-ever, MOBILE BRICK OVEN, in Central Oregon! Employing his own passion, and with just the right amount of help from others with a little expertise in masonry and fabrication... Chris has successfully built his Mobile Brick Oven... and is ready to start making fresh, delicious pizza for the masses!!"

The Pizza Cart, Bend, Oregon

A post in the Visit Bend blog mentioned The Pizza Cart, Bend, Oregon.

The post says in part, "The Pizza Cart offers hot brick oven pizza. You can get thin crust personal pies made with hand-rolled dough, homemade sauce, local meats from the Redmond Smokehouse, hand roasted vegetables and fresh delicious cheeses."

Pyro Pizza, Portland, Oregon

While looking for a different restaurant on the web I stumbled across mention of Pyro Pizza, Portland, Oregon.

They also seem to have a Facebook page.

01/24/2011 Wood Fired Pizza Class, Brooklyn, New York

Most of the time what I see are businesses where you get to eat food prepared in a wood-fired oven, and maybe even watch it get made and cooked.

Here is an opportunity to get some hands-on experience: 01/24 Wood Fired Pizza Class

The description says in part, "This Interactive class will cover Wood-fired cooking in the pizza oven with our friend at Best Pizza. Anthony Falco and Angelo Womack will teach how to do everything and more in the wood fired oven.... This small class will really give you the know how not only to use one, but to build your own wood fired pizza oven, on a trailer, or in your yard!"

Of course, you have to pay the fee and go to Brooklyn Kitchen, but that's not so bad.

Inferno's Wood Fire Pizza, Honolulu, Hawaii

I guess if I were to be focused only on wood-fired pizza places, then checking pizza blogs would be a good strategy. That is not by focus, but this pizza blog entry came to my attention.

The blog describes Inferno's Wood Fire Pizza, Honolulu, Hawaii, and embeds a YouTube video.


The review says in part, "The odor of fresh pizza being cooked in an outdoor wood fired oven is unmistakenable. There under a tent, in the corner of a parking lot, you will discover an amazing pizza operation.
...This is a portable pizza operation. A traveling pizza circus. Complete with all that you would expect and demand of great pizza. And if you are looking for wonderful pizza, you just found it."

Mobile Pizza Oven For Sale, Colchester, Connecticut

There was an entry (now expired) on Craig's List for mobile pizza oven for sale.

Here is the description, "Mobile wood fired oven with many improvements, trailer is road safe and CT dmv inspected, brakes, mounts for various tools and work has been done to ensure longevity. Brand new retails for 17,000. Genuine hand forged copper exterior,"  and the asking price, $10500.

Just in case you were thinking of starting your own mobile pizza business.

If you got to this post by searching for "mobile pizza oven for sale" then here is a potentially useful link for you; it's a topic called "Mobile Oven Suppliers and Projects" that is part of my mobile oven link collection for my "Quest for Ovens" site. (The link collection evolves, so there will be more links added as I find them.)


I also have links to "Mobile Oven Businesses" on this page. I have found that some places, like Bend, Oregon, and here in the Twin Cities (St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota) have multiple mobile oven businesses.