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Photo by Erin Nelson.
George Gilliam of Uncle G’s Pizza removes a pizza from the oven as he makes Detroit-style pizza at his home Feb. 15.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Like so many other people, George Gilliam found himself developing a few new hobbies during quarantine in 2020.
Gilliam began experimenting with making pizza, joining a plethora of social media groups and learning from those around the country, including one pizza maestro in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who he says has a “cult following.”
“I found this community online … it’s like the equivalent of Star Trek fans,” Gilliam said.
While Gilliam’s background is in the music business, and he’s currently going back to school to study social work, he’s always enjoyed cooking.
“I always loved cooking,” Gilliam said. “I do all of the cooking in my family.”
However, baking was a challenge, he said.
“It’s its own science,” Gilliam said.
That attracted Gilliam, who enjoys what he called the “nerdy side” of science.
A few months after he began experimenting, Gilliam is now planning on beginning his own pop-up pizzeria, a mobile restaurant where he will serve pickup orders of pizza for customers around the Shelby County area. Gilliam is working on expanding his restaurant, Uncle G’s Pizza, to Jefferson County as well.
Gilliam, who lives in Pelham, said this won’t be a typical food truck. He won’t be taking walk-up orders; instead, orders will be placed online and picked up at a certain time, probably in or around office parks, Gilliam said. He’ll be using two to four gas-powered Ooni pizza ovens which each can reach over 900 degrees, helping churn out the best pizza possible.
He hopes to be up and running in mid-May.
“I’ve been experimenting with a bunch of different styles,” Gilliam said.
Gilliam settled on all Detroit-style pizza, which has an almost deep-fried texture, he said. This Detroit-style gives the pizza a crispy edge with caramelized cheese.
Learning to become a master pizza chef wasn’t easy, Gilliam said, and included much trial and error.
“It’s been incredibly challenging,” Gilliam said. “There’s a lot of bad pizzas. I worked really hard at trying to perfect the craft.”
It also meant a lot of pizza-eating for the Gilliam family.
“My wife is super sick of eating pizza now,” Gilliam joked.
Still, creating pizzas and starting his own business has been a lot of fun, too, Gilliam said.
In addition to pizza, Gilliam will offer a cooler of traditional drinks and is considering adding dessert sometime in the future, but, at least for now, pizza is the star of the show at Uncle G’s Pizza.
To keep up with Uncle G’s Pizza, visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/unclegspizza.
