We believe everyone has a deep rooted desire to better their community and the simple idea of satisfying our neighbors bellies was our primary motivation. We quickly learned how comfort food could spark joy during uncertain times. It was part of our mission to not only feed people but to also give back to organizations, charities, and non profits who were doing the hard work. We committed to donate $1 from each pizza to pandemic relief. This slowly evolved to include all local organizations as we are all affected in one way or another by the pandemic.

The same day Brandon found out he was furloughed from work was the day we created the Instagram handle. The name Pandemic Pizza might be catchy but it was meant to signify the unprecedented state of the world. It was our way to show our dedication to give back. Like many things in life it was a leap of faith.

We started in our studio apartment located in East Village. We figured we might make a couple of pizzas for our friends and families but after only a couple of days we were getting upwards of 50 orders a day. All out of our tiny home kitchen oven. We couldn’t believe it. We soon realized we were going to need help. Chris and Brandon have been best friends for years (they will even be The Best Man in each other’s weddings). Chris was days away from being furloughed himself. Naturally they joined forces with the help of their fiancées – Gaby and Myself (Molly), we split up the work evenly.

We would wake up each morning and the smell of pizza was everywhere. Every corner of the room was piled to the ceiling with pizza boxes. Our fridge was cleared out and only contained pizza sauce, cheese and toppings. We literally dreamed about what tomorrow’s pizza special would be.

We were quickly lifted up by the community who so graciously donated dozens of pizzas to local hospitals. It was one of the most moving experiences of our lives. I will never forget the feeling of gratitude when delivering our pizzas to the first responders. Pandemic Pizza may have been born in the midst of a tragedy but through it we have found hope.

We were shown that tragedies unite communities. There is unity in their efforts to bring relief.We are moved by what we were able to create, as you may notice when reading this. It is more than just pizza to us. It’s our passion. We are dedicated to serving the best pizza we can create. We couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity to be able to give back!