What if the smartest way to start a pizza business isn’t opening a restaurant… but avoiding rent entirely?
In this episode of the What's Good Dough Podcast, we spend the day with Jeremy and Michelle, the team behind Gabacool Pizza, an award-winning pizza pop-up that built a powerful brand without the massive overhead of a traditional restaurant.
From prepping in a commissary kitchen to selling out at brewery pop-ups, they’ve built a business that prioritizes flexibility, creativity, and community.
Throughout the episode, they break down their entire workflow—from prep and transport logistics to branding, menu design, and the realities of running a food business without a permanent location.
If you've ever thought about starting a pizza business but were intimidated by restaurant rent, this episode offers a real blueprint.
Highlights:
02:57 – Arriving at the Petaluma commissary kitchen
03:12 – Why pop-ups still need a legal kitchen space
04:25 – Storage rules and health regulations for food businesses
04:57 – Managing trips between the kitchen and the event location
05:39 – Preparing ingredients for hundreds of pizzas in a shared fridge
06:39 – Organizing dough trays and prep workflow
09:41 – Why their commissary kitchen supports the local community
10:43 – Supporting artists and designing the Gabacool brand
11:19 – How they originally transported their entire pizza operation in small cars
12:00 – Designing a van setup for maximum efficiency
16:00 – Packing equipment and organizing mobile pizza operations
20:00 – Why brewery pop-ups work as a business model
23:57 – Building real relationships with brewery partners
25:10 – Selling out early and the challenges of high demand
30:00 – The realities of running a pizza pop-up every weekend
37:24 – The physical demands of catering and pop-up events
38:53 – Creating a clean and memorable pop-up brand experience
46:05 – Lighting, propane, and the technical side of running a mobile kitchen
50:00 – Dialing in oven temperatures for outdoor pizza service
01:00:00 – The moment a pop-up setup starts feeling like a real restaurant
01:05:49 – Creating weekly specials using local farm ingredients
01:06:20 – Non-food tasks required to run a food business
01:06:30 – Branding, merch design, and social media strategy
01:08:55 – Running a business without a traditional office
01:10:48 – Designing marketing materials from a phone or tablet
01:11:04 – Michelle’s background in events, design, and hospitality
01:15:30 – Learning to run multiple pizza ovens during service
01:16:40 – The trial-and-error process of improving systems and workflow
01:16:47 – Winning a scholarship to Pizza University
01:19:00 – Overcoming imposter syndrome in the pizza industry
01:31:25 – Dough ball size, fermentation, and pizza technique
01:34:00 – Jeremy’s culinary school experience and career path
01:35:42 – Breaking down how their pizza bakes in the oven
01:50:24 – Reflecting on making over 20,000 pizzas and building a community
Follow them:https://www.gabacoolprovisions.com/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557383763722
https://www.instagram.com/gabacool_provisions?igshid=NzZlODBkYWE4Ng%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
Thank you to our show sponsors:
Bacio Cheese:
https://bit.ly/3FmQ3up
Corto:https://bit.ly/457DNII
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New Zealand