Not Just Better but Better For You: How Ya Dough’n, From Florida to the World
- Jul 6
- 4 min read
How Ya Dough’n burst onto the artisanal pizza scene in 2020 when husband and wife duo Garett and Gabby Goodman began turning their own sourdough into pizza in their backyard during Covid.
Fast forward to the present day, and the viral pizza brand is redefining the slice game, with soon-to-be six locations opened in the last six years. They have multiple South Florida storefronts, one in Las Vegas, and in a few months they will open another store in Boca Raton, their first West Boca location.
In and around South Florida, people take health, wellness, and fitness very seriously. We had a chance to chat with Garett about the health benefits of sourdough, how they come up with unique flavor combinations that turn out to be so delicious, and how they have achieved such steady expansion.
1. When you started making sourdough pizza, were you already aware of the health benefits or did you just prefer the taste?
Yes- that was the primary reason for our concept. We wanted to bring a “better for you concept” to the marketplace. The flavor was just the icing on the cake!
2. We have been hearing so much about seed oils. Are they as bad as people say? What role do they play, if any, in your recipes?
I’m not a doctor so I don’t want to step out of line here. Having said that, I know they claim seed oils cause inflammation which is obviously a major problem.
Currently, we do not use any seed oils in our food. We use extra virgin olive oil from Italy!
3. What is it about sourdough pizza that makes it so much lighter and easier to digest?
For us, it’s all about the long periods of fermentation, the flour we use, and the dough-making process.
We ship a high protein, bread flour (Giustos) from San Francisco which is the best flour you can buy. Most people use King Arthur Flour, which is just a brand name. They source flour from all over the country and repackage it. Giustos does the total opposite!
Next, most people make dough and sell it the same day. We make dough and we don’t sell it for at least 5 days. The longer the dough ferments the lighter and more easily digestible it becomes. I can’t say it’s gluten-free, but this dough is as low in gluten as possible with all things considered.
4. How do you achieve your unique sourdough? We hear that it is quite a process.
Our starter is the life line to the company. We feed it twice a day, 7 days a week.
When we first started, we used whole wheat flour and then we shifted over to a 70 / 30 blend with Rye. We use the Rye flour to enhance the sour flavor.
Today we have a production system we use to understand our par levels for production. There is a ton of math that goes into understanding the volume and the overall ratio.
5. According to social media, your pistachio pie seems very popular. Have you always been experimental with flavors? What is it that inspires new combinations?
When we first started, we offered one special per service. After selling out of pizza for a few months, we pivoted to operating two days a week, offering a new special each service.
Making the pizza was simple, creating new specials all the time, that was the hard part. I remember my wife Gabby busting my chops because I was taking too long to come up with the next special so I said, “How about you think of one?”
We spent some time bouncing ideas off each other. We wanted to incorporate truffle and honey into a pizza but we knew it needed another element. We started with pinenuts and eventually pivoted towards pistachios.
It was a happy accident but it’s the pie that really put us on the map.
6. Your brand has been expanding at an impressive rate. Can you share any plans for future expansion? Where do people request you open a new restaurant most often?
We have been very fortunate to expand as quickly as we have. We have one more store opening within the next few months here in Boca Raton. This will be our first west Boca location.
It’s a little bit of a surprise but we plan to begin franchising. We are lucky to have the greatest business partner anyone could ask for. John ferolitto Jr and family have played a major role in our ability to truly step on the gas. Their expertise in the F&B business has helped point us in the right direction.
Our secret to the success has been our commissary facility. As it stands, we have a production facility in Boca that produces all of our food out of one location. For example, dough, sauce, cheese, dressing, meatballs, cookie dough .. you name it, we make it.
Our business uses nothing out of a bag, we make everything from scratch.
This has allowed us to expand quickly so we don’t have to train a ton of people on how to produce our food; they need only to execute it at a high level.
I would say the most sought-after locations for now are Miami, Palm Beach, all over New Jersey and Manhattan. The suburbs in Vegas have been highly recommended as well.
To learn more visit www.howyadoughn.com