Spring Mills couple looks ahead after successful first year with mobile pizza business

When Zoe and Chris Meyer launched Pappas Pies (a nod to Zoe’s Greek maiden name and family, not a reference to a possessive papa, Zoe is quick to point out) earlier this year, the couple had no idea how popular their little mobile wood-fired pizza business would be.

During their first event, Zoe wondered if people would even come.

“They sure did. We served 120 pizzas in two hours. It was nuts. That was enough for me to say ‘we can do this’ and here we are,” she said.

Cooking up wood-fired pizzas is nothing new for the Spring Mills couple — they’ve outfitted their home with an outdoor brick oven and frequently turn to it when entertaining — but their careers have thus far never led either anywhere near the hospitality or food and beverage industries. Still, when Zoe spotted a mobile pizza oven for sale on Facebook, it sparked inspiration. The Meyers decided to give the business a go, working events on weekends. They rationalized it was a good fit for multiple reasons, including the abundance of new outdoor events around the county, as well as the unique style of pizza they planned to sell.

The response, they said, was “overwhelming,” with their calendar quickly filling with both public and private events.

Pappas Pies specializes in Neapolitan pizza, with a crispy bottom and puffier crust. Zoe makes the crust herself — the lengthy process requiring she get started days in advance of an event — and tops it with fresh mozzarella and basil. The wood fire adds an extra layer of flavor that she says you just won’t find at your average pizzeria that cooks with an electric pizza oven.

The best-seller on the menu? The Barrel Roll, a white spinach pizza. Not far behind is the Frost Hollow Fig, with fresh figs, arugula, goat cheese and a basalmic drizzle. To please customers who want something a little more familiar, Pappas Pies also always offers plain pepperoni and margarita pizzas, the latter which is Zoe’s favorite. “I feel it lets you really taste the flavor of our crust,” she said.

For an average event, Pappas Pies sells more than 100 pizzas, with the average pie feeding about two people. The business’s quick success, Zoe said, has definitely given her a new appreciation for those in the concessions industry.

“It’s not like you just roll up and show up and sell your stuff and leave,” she said. “You’re prepping, you’re cutting, you’re doing all this stuff before and then, when you come home, you’re cleaning up. It’s a lot.”

Still, she calls the business a passion and, after a planned hiatus over the winter months, looks forward to getting back to work, but still only on the weekends. “We both have full-time jobs. We don’t really want it to get much bigger. I want it to stay fun. The plan is to keep it fun and keep enjoying what we’re doing.”

The Pappas Pies 2022 calendar is already filling with private events like weddings. The catered events typically allow for four different types of pizza and Zoe says “we just make pizzas until they can’t eat pizza anymore.”

But whether she and husband Chris are working a festival or private party, the enjoyment remains the same, as does Zoe’s favorite part of the business.

“(It’s) seeing people’s excitement — seeing people excited to be outside, to come poke their head (in) and want to see what’s going on in the oven, and making people happy,” she said. “It’s been sort of a doom-and-gloom last couple of years. And who’s not happy to see pizza?”

Learn more about Pappas Pies at www.pappaspies.com.

This story was originally published October 22, 2021 at 5:00 AM.