Dining
BY PARKS KUGLE
Victoria Moreno said the concept for Lovers Piz- zeria came about because she and her ancé, Dusty Dworak, wanted to spend more time together. “The name [Lovers Pizzeria] essentially exists because me and Dusty wanted to be together all the time, and we were like, what can we do where we just work together all the time?” Moreno said. Dworak said the name is also, at heart, about their deep and abiding love for pizza. The background Before the couple decided to open their own restaurant, Dworak was the pitmaster at 2M Smokehouse from 2016 to 2021. During his time at the smokehouse, the couple took a trip to New York, where they discovered their passion for coal- red style pizza. Moreno said their mutual passion for food made opening a restaurant together a natural decision. “Dusty has a passion for bread, and I have been a cook my whole life, so [with] our skills combined [making] pizza made so much sense,” Moreno said. In 2023, the couple opened their rst location at Steves Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue. During their rst seven months, business was fairly slow, with the couple selling around 20 pizzas a day. Then, in March 2024, they got busy and began selling out. Unfortunately, the couple said they had to suddenly close with a week’s notice due to di culties with their former landlord. It was during this time that they began to develop a following on social media. As they began detailing information about when they were going to reopen and where their new location would be, their following grew exponentially. When the current Lovers Pizzeria location reopened in Monte Vista, they had a line around the building and down the sidewalk. On their rst day, Lovers Pizzeria sold out 20 minutes before they opened. What they o er The couple said the philosophy behind their menu is serving food that they also love to eat. “I think San Antonio loves food that reminds them of home,” Moreno said. “And I think that our poblano, our tres leches, even the cookies, [are] things that remind them of stu that their mom or their grandmas would make.” Lovers o ers three pizza sauces—tomato, poblano Love at rst slice: patrons line the block for a bite at Lovers Pizzeria
Lovers Pizzeria uses hyperlocal ingredients to craft its pizza. ($22)
COURTESY LOVERS PIZZERIA
and vodka—fresh ingredients from Hill Country farms, pepperoni sourced from New Jersey, garlic bread and homemade desserts. Additionally, Dworak makes the naturally fermented sourdough crust fresh daily, using San Antonio spring water, our and salt. “I’m trying to crazy localize it,” Dworak said. “[To] do something that I love in the East Coast, the coal re pizza game, but bring it [here] and have it tied to San Antonio in a way. ... It’s naturally fermented local owers, sourdough pizza, [and] all of our produce—our mushrooms, our olive oil—all come from Texas.” Currently, the pizzeria can make 100 pizzas a day. Their most popular dessert is the tres leches. Moreno makes monthly tres leches avors, such as peaches and cream, fruity pebbles and horchata. What else? Since their relocation, lines form outside the door of the pizzeria almost every day they are open. Moreno said that the restaurant sells out of pizzas fairly quickly and the lines can result in a long wait to receive your order. “It almost has that feel where people are kind of just hanging out. It’s a super cool vibe, Dworak said. “People get to talk to each other, you’re just hanging out, it organically just kind of happens like that. [The experience has] been really cool to see people even lining up in the rst place.”
Couple Dusty Dworak (left) and Victoria Moreno opened the rst location of the pizzeria in 2023.
PARKS KUGLE COMMUNITY IMPACT
E. FRENCH PLACE
E. ASHBY PLACE
N
105 E. Ashby Place, San Antonio www.instagram.com/lovers.pizzeria
20
COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
Powered by FlippingBook