Bicycle Pizza serves a new way of doing business

There’s no doubt that restaurants are reinventing themselves, especially since the pandemic started last year and businesses all over the world had to pivot to primarily takeout and/or delivery models.

And it was at the beginning of this year that a new pizza business with a very unique business model launched on the Saanich Peninsula: Bicycle Pizza—an online-only and takeout-only pizza business.

The business is operated by husband and wife team Andrew and Vanessa Johnson at Beauregard Café. The couple’s complementary nature allows the business to go on: Andrew does the back-of-house side of the business, while Vanessa works on marketing, social media, and public relations for the business.

“The pandemic allowed us to dream big, pivot, and develop to a business model that adapts to the current environment,” said Andrew Johnson, co-owner of Bicycle Pizza. “It definitely wasn’t something that we were working on for years and years and then we finally executed; it was kind of a perfect storm and we didn’t want to wait anymore.

“Customers are looking for safe ways to enjoy their favourite foods and our business model provides the ideal way for them to enjoy extraordinary pizza safely at home. As we are all more comfortable pre-arranging everything virtually from doctor’s appointments, to click-and-collect groceries, the idea of online ordering has become our new normal.”

Bicycle Pizza serves a cross between New York- and California-style pizza with a little Mediterranean flair thrown in for good measure. The dough is old-school with no funny ingredients: soft flour (with a bit of whole wheat), water, yeast, and salt—and a little elbow grease too, as it’s mixed and rolled by hand. The long fermentation makes the dough easy to digest and gives it a great flavour too.

The Tasting Victoria team had the opportunity to try out Bicycle Pizza in one of their popups at the Union Pacific Coffee—and we loved it! We tried the Bicycle cheese pizza, made with tomato sauce, mozzarella, ricotta cream, black pepper, olive oil, and basil. We absolutely loved it and can’t stop talking about how good it was and when we are ordering it again.

The ordering experience is super friendly; it’s very easy to access the website, select your date and time, and see the menu (with photos!). The pickup process is super simple and easy as well, and, of course, does not require any contact with employees due to the current restrictions.

Andrew Johnson is no stranger to the food and beverage or pizza scene on Vancouver Island. He has been in the business for nearly 25 years and spent more than 10 years with Pizzeria Prima Strada. Needless to say, he learned to make pizza from the best in town.

“Nourishing people for a living has always been something I want to do. It’s in my blood. My fondest memories as a kid always involved food,” Andrew said. “As an avid cyclist, I like the euphemism of the bicycle—it’s agile, sustainable, and fun for everyone. That’s what I want this business to be.”

Andrew and Vanessa are planning to do more pop-ups, and they recently launched their frozen pizzas to take and bake at Beauregard Café and soon at other retailers. Follow them on Instagram to see what they’re up to!

Future developments include more pop-ups, gluten-free, brewery pizza and much more. And lastly, two words: PIZZA SUBSCRIPTION. This is also in the works but not yet ready. A subscription for frozen pizza home delivery.

Order online at eatbicyclepizza.com. Bicycle Pizza is available for pickup Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights from 5:00pm to 9:00pm. at Beauregard Café, 1191 Verdier Ave.

Find out more on Instagram at @eatbicyclepizza.