OUR STORY
TRICYCLE PIZZA IS THE CREATION OF A YOUNG FEMALE ENTREPRENEUR WHOSE DESIRE WAS TO BUILD SOMETHING UNIQUE & TO MAKE THE TASTIEST PIZZA AVAILABLE.
“My passion for business and pizza led me to embark on a journey where I’ve been able to build a business focused on wowing people’s pallets. I wasn’t expecting such an incredible response when I embarked on this adventure 10 years ago.”
I hope our story and business inspires you!
Hi, I'm Danica!
Thanks for stopping by!
I’ve been an entrepreneur since I could remember, I joke that I’ve been in business since 2nd grade when my sister and I would sell pencils and erasers out of our desk and popsicles after school.
In 2012 after being part of a big company lay off where I was a buyer; I decided to take a leap into something I could pour my time and passion into without it feeling like “work”. I knew there was something out there for me, I just didn’t know what it would be, so I prayed about it.
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Weeks later, believe it or not; I was inspired by our local farmers market to jump in and get involved in our local region. I saw the need for good pizza; in a matter of days I decided that pizza would become my specialty, so I got to work.
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Here’s a funny story that was not as funny then, but it was surely humbling and did set the tone for the hard work and resilience required to run the business I envisioned. Within a couple of months of deciding to pursue a pizza business, I acquired my first mobile wood-fired oven. It was used, I found it on e-bay and negotiated a crazy good deal on it; it was just the exact model and color I wanted but thousands of dollars less. It arrived and when I saw it in my mom’s driveway (my driveway was too steep) I realized; what did I get myself into? This thing is enormous!
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I called my uncles, cousins, and neighbors to come over to have pizza because I was starting a pizza business! (Big mistake) Well, you see; you can’t just press the power button on a wood fired oven. My mom and I tried our best to follow youtube videos to try to fire up this massive oven, but we had no luck. The highest temperature we achieved that evening was 125 degrees! (1,000 degrees was our goal) I was very bummed (and a tiny bit frustrated), I had to take the pizzas into my mom's kitchen and ended up serving our guests sad looking pizza that day.
"I realized that day that if I wanted to get good at this pizza endeavor, I would have to put in thousands of hours and hard work so that I could get good at it.''
My mom and I spent the next 8 months learning how to properly manage a 1,000 degree wood fired oven and how to make tasty pizza. We're self taught, we learned by watching videos and listening to interviews from the best pizza makers in the country.
“Getting good at anything requires much effort, time, resilience, grit, resourcefulness, I could go on and on; we're still working on it."
We sold out in a couple of hours at our first event and we began to draw large crowds at farmer's markets, it was then that I realized we had something special that foodies were hungry for. We also got very busy catering events and had the opportunity to cater high profile weddings & parties.
"I'll never forget one night looking over at all the cleanup we had after a big party we catered, I saw my mom taking a break; she was having pizza with Adam Sandler.​ I walked over and Adam said he had eaten a lot of pizza but still wanted more, so he and my mom ate that pizza together. That gave me a big smile inside and out."
I designed a mobile pizza truck with glass windows so our customers can still watch their pizza being made. Several shop owners told me the project was impossible and wouldn't work, that I would have trouble finding someone capable of building what I wanted. I kept on looking until I found the fabricator who could do it.
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In 2019 after three very successful and fun years at our Monterey location, Tricycle Pizza took an innovative step in making fresh & quality frozen pizza available at local grocery stores and once again got to working hard in this new adventure. In 2022 Tricycle Pizza found its new home in Seaside, a place we can serve our fans hot pizzas once again while continuing the production of frozen pizzas.
In 2016, I expanded into a new dining experience, something different from the traditional brick and mortar and realized my dream of opening a permanent location in my hometown
in Monterey.
I’m very fortunate to have my family in the business. My three sisters and I have a blast, and having my parents involved is a blessing. I couldn’t be following this crazy pizza dream without their support. Together along with my team are passionate about working hard to create some pretty tasty pizza. Come by to visit us in Seaside, my hope is that you are able to taste the love we put into them.
OUR
MISSION
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is to bless our customers by providing a high quality memorable pizza experience.
We strive to bring love & refreshing joy through the food we love to create.
In all things, we seek to glorify & honor God by being faithful stewards of all
that has been entrusted to us.
1950 Fremont Blvd. Seaside, CA