Stoned Dough might be a new start-up, but already its young owners have big plans for the mobile pizza trailer business.
Officially launched in August 2018, Stoned Dough is the brainchild of Megan Black and her boyfriend, Douglas Hollon. They are carving out a niche in the San Antonio market, but plan to relocate to their hometown of Houston, live with family and dedicate their full-time attention to re-launching in Houston while maintaining a presence in San Antonio.
“Long term, we plan on doing this for some time, maybe one day even having our own food truck park,” Black said. “But for right now, we are just working as hard as we can.”
Black and Hollon co-own the company, and Black’s father, Doyle Black, serves as president and manages the back-end business operations. They began working on the idea when Black was still a senior at The University of Texas at San Antonio after helping other friends launch their food vendor business. They had never been exposed to mobile catering, but were energized by the business and the people they were meeting.
“We love food and we love cooking, so we took a step back to think about what we wanted to do for a business,” Black said. “We went through a ton of ideas and we thought everyone loves pizza, but no one was doing mobile wood-fire pizza in San Antonio.”
And so Stoned Dough was born. Black says it has been well-received in the community based on the versatility of pizza and its broad appeal ─ both kids and adults enjoy a slice. So far, their best-seller is a classic ─ pepperoni ─ which they make with turkey pepperoni for a healthier and less greasy option. However, they are always experimenting with new ideas and ingredients to create unique options for their customers.
One item Black says that customers are always interested in learning more about is the wood-fire oven. Stoned Dough purchased the 1500 B Short oven from Bread Stone Ovens Company and received it in January 2019. While they are still getting used to all the oven can do, it has already become a major talking point due to its eye-catching size.
They have also seen the benefits on the actual product. Black says the new oven is the perfect level to cook off the trailer and its heat retention means they can cook longer and take advantage of the residual heat. They plan to use the oven for a variety of doughs and are looking forward to experimenting with all the benefits it provides.
“We learned early on that you get what you pay for, and when it was time to truly invest in an oven, Bread Stone Ovens was hands down the best product for the price and we couldn’t be happier. Customers are very impressed,” Black said.
Customers can mainly find Stoned Dough at food truck parks, but Black is hoping to participate in local festivals and gatherings now that they feel more confident that their oven can retain heat long enough to get them through the event. It is all part of the learning process for these young entrepreneurs in their journey to build their business.
“Cooking is a creative process and being my own boss, I am able to create what I feel my customers would enjoy instead of following the ordinary,” she said. “We’re learning everything on the go and we get to make it our own.”
