Pop-ups to try in metro Atlanta: Ghost Pizza

In 2023, Jackson and Roebuck launched the pop-up pizzeria Ghost Pizza (instagram.com/ghostpizzaatl), named after the ghost-premises-style kitchen where they do much of their prep.

Credit: Courtesy of Ghost Pizza

Credit: Courtesy of Ghost Pizza

Although pizza is a relatively new area of ​​interest for them, between them they have nearly 30 years of experience in metro Atlanta restaurant kitchens (Jackson’s Gunshow, Bar Mercado, Iberian Pig and Noble Fin; Roebuck’s McKendrick’s Steak House, Eclipse de Luna, Hovan Mediterranean Gourmet and St. Cecilia).

They also grew up with parents who passed on their love of cooking to their sons. Roebuck’s Colombian mother started asking him to help in the kitchen when he was 7. Jackson’s father is known in their Gwinnett County neighborhood for his cheesecakes, and his mother regularly made Southern specialties.

An experience while working at McKendrick’s foreshadowed Roebuck’s future plans: While preparing a meal for the restaurant’s other employees, he decided to try making a pizza. “By accident, it tasted so good. It looked a little embarrassing. But from then on, people told me I should open a pizza place.”

Jackson, for his part, said he “took YouTube University training” to learn how to make the pizza he began serving as part of his meal prep business. “It was a lot of trial and error. I had so many batches of dough go bad before I got to a point where I was like, ‘I can actually sell this.’”

Jackson describes Ghost Pizza pizzas as a “mix between Neapolitan and Detroit style,” with a soft, thin center and crispy edges.

Credit: Courtesy of Ghost Pizza

Credit: Courtesy of Ghost Pizza

The pizzas are brushed with sun-dried tomato butter, sprinkled with cotija cheese and topped with a drizzle of basil oil to “bring a little twist,” Jackson said.

Another trick that sets Ghost Kitchen’s pies apart: The dough includes a proprietary spice blend and either IPAs or lagers from the brewery where the pop-up will be appearing that week.

“It was originally a way to get breweries to call us back, but beer actually has a great flavor component and reacts well with yeast,” Jackson said of the dough, which the pop-up also prepackages for customers who want to make their own pizzas at home.

Although Ghost Pizza uses non-traditional ingredients, the sauce is classic, with San Marzano tomatoes, olive oil, salt and a touch of garlic and basil.

The 12-inch pies, all created in-house and cooked for 3 to 4 minutes in Gozney portable pizza ovens, include Pepperoni, Margherita, Vegetarian, Bianca White Sauce, Carnivore and Signature, which features pepperoni, tomatoes, ricotta cheese, onions and 14-day fermented Japanese chile peppers, a variety of spicy, dried red chile peppers that have a flavor profile similar to Calabrian chile peppers.

“Fermentation dampens the heat profile,” Roebuck said. “The heat hits you, but it goes away quickly, so it doesn’t burn your mouth. Even people who don’t like spicy foods very much say they can’t stop eating them.”

Credit: Courtesy of Ghost Pizza

Credit: Courtesy of Ghost Pizza

The pop-ups also feature rotating daily specials, with recent options including the Con Fusion topped with barbacoa, pico, guacamole, Oaxaca cheese, cilantro, fermented chiles and cotija cheese and the Shout Out to CiCi’s dessert pie with caramelized apples, Cinnamon Toast Crunch streusel, caramel drizzle and a buttery brown sugar crust. Ghost Pizza occasionally offers a Pan con tomate without cheese with candied garlic, grated tomato and caramelized onions.

Specialties are often dictated by the availability of ingredients. Someone recently gave them some sheep’s cheese and they I plan on using it as a filling with figs, caramelized onions, and prosciutto. And Roebuck created a cheesecake calzone with the leftover cheesecake batter.

Although egos and creative differences can sometimes be obstacles for two-person operations, Roebuck said their personalities make them well-suited business partners.

“We’re both industry veterans and we’re both very gentle,” he said. “It’s all about communication and execution. When we come to an event, we’re like, ‘OK, do you want to stretch the dough or do you want to finish the pizza? How are you going to do that today?’”

Ghost Pizza has developed a following at breweries around town, and for the past three months, it’s been making an appearance every Friday at Pontoon Brewing in Sandy Springs. Starting in August, the pop-up restaurant will expand its Pontoon presence to Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

While pop-ups can be a pain, the couple said they wouldn’t have it any other way.

“People don’t realize how much time and effort it takes,” Roebuck said. “It’s not easy. It’s long days and long hours, but as Morris always says, we’ll sleep when we’re dead.”

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