Uploaded February 2024 | Updated September 2026, 5 hours ago
This week, we chat with Odie O’Connor, owner of Boxcar Pizza in Portland, Oregon. Boxcar is a vegan Detroit style pizza shop. His first venture into the pizza biz was a wood-fired pizza cart. On the show, we got the skinny on Odie’s next pizza project, a New York-style pizzeria in his hometown of San Diego, California, offering New York sourdough pies, as well as Sicilian and Grandma.
That’s five styles. Odie has a passion for pizza dough and learning. We talk about the process and the various styles. He shares how he decided to go into business with each style.
Doing a vegan Detroit pizza is unique. He details what he wanted in a Detroit pizza and why it’s open to all pizza lovers. Yes, we even talked cheese, since it’s a signature of the style.
In a Conversation in Pizza Today Magazine, Odie talked about the R&D of his Detroit. He said “When developing the vegan recipes I always consider taste, smell, allergens, and food cost. Our meats are typically made from either vital wheat gluten or textured vegetable protein. Once I decide what the base will be, I begin adding spices and liquids that I think will best represent umami flavors and also bake how I want them to on the pizzas. It really is just research, trial, error and then repeat.” Read his Conversation: pizzatoday.com/topics/people-pizzerias/conversation-odie-oconnor-boxcar-pizza-portland-oregon
Check out Boxcar Pizza on Instagram at instagram.com/boxcarpizza and his new project instagram.com/odiespizza .
This week, we chat with Odie O’Connor, owner of Boxcar Pizza in Portland, Oregon. Boxcar is a vegan Detroit style pizza shop. His first venture into the pizza biz was a wood-fired pizza cart. On the show, we got the skinny on Odie’s next pizza project, a New York-style pizzeria in his hometown of San Diego, California, offering New York sourdough pies, as well as Sicilian and Grandma.
That’s five styles. Odie has a passion for pizza dough and learning. We talk about the process and the various styles. He shares how he decided to go into business with each style.
Doing a vegan Detroit pizza is unique. He details what he wanted in a Detroit pizza and why it’s open to all pizza lovers. Yes, we even talked cheese, since it’s a signature of the style.
In a Conversation in Pizza Today Magazine, Odie talked about the R&D of his Detroit. He said “When developing the vegan recipes I always consider taste, smell, allergens, and food cost. Our meats are typically made from either vital wheat gluten or textured vegetable protein. Once I decide what the base will be, I begin adding spices and liquids that I think will best represent umami flavors and also bake how I want them to on the pizzas. It really is just research, trial, error and then repeat.” Read his Conversation: pizzatoday.com/topics/people-pizzerias/conversation-odie-oconnor-boxcar-pizza-portland-oregon
Check out Boxcar Pizza on Instagram at instagram.com/boxcarpizza and his new project instagram.com/odiespizza .
