By Tracy Morin
Mike Dansak and Allen Dalton, owners of Palm Beach Mobile in Palm Beach, Florida, are going beyond mere mobile pizza catering—they’re looking to create memorable experiences for guests. “As we became more involved in the event industry, we realized that clients were looking for more than just food,” Dansak explains. “They wanted interactive experiences that would make their events stand out.”
Here, the duo shares the many lessons they’ve learned while operating a mobile pizzeria, how interactive experiences meet modern customer demands, and how mobile outfits can evolve far beyond “just pizza” to make an indelible impression on guests.
PMQ: Tell us about the origins of your mobile business.
Mike Dansak: I’ve been in the pizza and restaurant business for more than 20 years. Foodservice has been a big part of my life, and over the years I’ve had the opportunity to work in different areas of the restaurant business and eventually operate and partner at a wood-fired pizza restaurant.
After spending so many years in traditional restaurants, I started looking at the industry differently. I loved the food and hospitality side of the business, but I also saw an opportunity to take the restaurant experience to the customer instead of waiting for the customer to come to us.
Allen Dalton: That was the beginning of Mikey’s Pizza Co. Mike launched his mobile pizza business in 2023. The concept was simple: bring quality, wood-fired pizza and genuine hospitality directly to people’s homes, weddings, corporate events and private parties. His motto is “Bring friends together through wood-fired pizza,” and that really sums up what we’re trying to do with the business.
What started as a mobile pizza operation has grown into something much bigger. We still have pizza at the center of everything we do, but we’ve built the business around creating a great experience for our clients, their guests and family.
PMQ: How has the business evolved beyond just mobile pizza?
Dansak: This has been one of the most exciting parts of the business. I met Allen at one of our events, and we quickly realized there was an opportunity to build something together that went beyond pizza. That relationship led to the creation of Palm Beach Mobile, which focuses on bringing additional food and hospitality experiences directly to events.
Through Palm Beach Mobile, we offer things like roving caviar, fresh cannoli pipers and roving oyster shucking. These are designed to complement the pizza and give clients the ability to create a more complete food and hospitality experience while keeping everything mobile and interactive.
The inspiration really comes from Allen watching how guests interact with food at events. People enjoy seeing something prepared right in front of them. It becomes part of the event rather than just another food station.
Pizza remains at the center of what I do, but these additional offerings allow us to give clients more options and create a more intimate experience.
PMQ: With pizza at the center of the operation, tell us about the dough development and what makes it unique.
Dansak: Pizza is something I’ve spent a huge portion of my career working on and with, so the dough is extremely important to me. We wanted to create a pizza that had the characteristics of a great wood-fired pizza: light, flavorful and crisp, but still with enough structure and chew to hold up to the toppings.
Because we’re mobile, consistency is also a huge part of the development process. Making pizza in a restaurant is one thing; making great pizza in someone’s backyard, at a wedding or at a large event, where the environment is constantly changing, is completely different.
Our goal is to keep the pizza approachable while still giving people something that feels special. We cook our pizzas in a 900º wood-fired oven and focus heavily on quality ingredients, proper fermentation and getting the pizza out to guests hot and fresh.
PMQ: What lessons have you learned from operating a mobile pizza business?
Dansak: I’ve learned that mobile foodservice is a completely different animal from operating a traditional restaurant. You have to think about everything: what time to get there, where you’re parking, power, water, weather, setup time, guest flow, equipment, transportation, prep, staffing, service, breakdown. You’re essentially building a temporary restaurant every time you arrive at an event.
One of the biggest lessons has been that the equipment and setup are only part of the equation. You need a system that allows you to consistently produce high-quality food regardless of the environment.
We’ve also learned that every event is different. A backyard birthday party might require a completely different setup and approach than a wedding or a corporate event. Being flexible and understanding what the client actually needs is extremely important.
Probably the biggest lesson is that hospitality doesn’t change just because your restaurant has wheels. The customer still expects great food, professionalism, esthetics and a great experience.
PMQ: What advice would you give someone who is considering a mobile operation?
Dalton: There are a lot of challenges, and I think that’s something people sometimes underestimate. You’re dealing with weather, transportation, equipment, limited space, changing event conditions and the logistics of producing food away from a traditional kitchen.
You also have to be extremely organized. In a restaurant, if you forget something, you may have a storage room or another kitchen nearby. When you’re at someone’s home or at an event venue, you don’t have that luxury.
My advice would be to start with a very clear concept and build your systems before trying to grow too quickly. Make sure you understand your food costs, labor, equipment, transportation and the actual amount of work required to execute an event.
And, most importantly, don’t sacrifice quality just because you’re mobile. Your food and hospitality are still your reputation.
PMQ: How do you market your business to new customers while maintaining relationships with past clients?
Dalton: A lot of our business has come from word-of-mouth and relationships. Events are unique, because you’re constantly meeting new potential customers. You may be catering a wedding and have 150 guests watching you work. If they love the food and the experience, those guests can become your next customers.
We also use social media, our website, and referrals and relationships with event planners, venues and other hospitality professionals to generate new business.
But maintaining relationships with existing clients is just as important as finding new ones. We want people to remember us not only because they enjoyed the pizza, but because we were easy to work with, professional and genuinely cared about their event. Our goal is to create customers who call us again for their next event and recommend us to their friends.
PMQ: How has the business grown since its launch?
Dansak: The growth has been rapid and exciting. When we started in 2023, we were primarily focused on smaller private events and proving the concept. Since then, we’ve expanded into weddings, corporate events, private parties and larger-scale events. We’ve had the opportunity to work with some great clients and large organizations.
We’ve also grown from simply offering a pizza setup to being able to provide different mobile formats, depending on the event. We can operate with one of our several pizza carts, mobile pizza van or larger mobile kitchen-style setup.
The biggest change has probably been the types of events we’re able to handle. We can do an intimate backyard party one weekend and then turn around and execute a much larger event with hundreds of guests.
PMQ: What’s next for your business? Do you have any plans to expand further?
Dalton: We’re continuing to grow the mobile side of the business and expand the types of events we can service. Long-term, I’d like our brand to become recognized as a complete mobile hospitality company, with pizza remaining at the center of the brand.
Palm Beach Mobile gives us the opportunity to expand that concept by bringing different food experiences together under one mobile hospitality platform. We’re continuing to develop our mobile equipment, event capabilities, and additional food and hospitality experiences. We’re also looking at opportunities to expand our relationships with venues, corporate clients, event planners and larger organizations.
The goal isn’t simply to become a bigger pizza company—it’s to build a recognizable hospitality brand that can bring a great restaurant-quality experience almost anywhere.
PMQ: Is there anything else you’d like to add about your mobile business’ evolution?
Dansak: One of the things I’m most proud of is how much the business has grown while still keeping the original idea intact. Pizza has always been about bringing people together. Whether it’s a backyard party with 20 people or a wedding with several hundred guests, there’s something about fresh pizza coming out of a wood-fired oven that gets people together.
That’s what we wanted to build with Palm Beach Mobile—not just a company that serves pizza, but a company that creates a great experience around food. We’re still a relatively young business, and I’m excited about where it can go. The mobile food industry has opened up a lot of opportunities, and I think there’s still a lot of room to grow.
Tracy Morin is PMQ’s associate editor.
