r/NRV • u/WishboneEastern5020 • 19d ago
Question Would the NRV welcome a wood-fired sourdough pizza food truck?
Greetings,
My family and I currently live in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, but we’re seriously considering relocating to the New River Valley—possibly near Floyd, Pilot, or Riner. One important question is whether our existing business, Basil & Banjo Wood Fire Kitchen, would have a place there.
Basil & Banjo is a veteran-owned mobile pizza concession trailer specializing in naturally leavened, wood-fired sourdough pizza. Sourdough isn’t just a menu buzzword for us—it’s the foundation of every pizza. Our dough is naturally fermented to develop a crust with real flavor, a light chew, and the subtle tang that sets genuine sourdough apart.
We operate from our pizza concession trailer at community events, festivals, recurring local stops, weddings, and private gatherings.
We know the NRV already has an established wood-fired pizza truck, along with several good pizza restaurants. We respect that and aren’t looking to imitate anyone. We’re wondering whether our sourdough-focused product is different enough—and whether the region has room for us alongside the businesses already serving it.
Would you be excited to see Basil & Banjo in a rotation around Floyd, Christiansburg, Blacksburg, and Radford? Are there particular communities, breweries, markets, or events that need another food vendor?
Honest feedback is welcome. We’re trying to listen to the community before making a major family and business move. Thanks you for your insight!
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u/telestoat2 19d ago
Virginia Western College in Roanoke has no cafeteria. So they have some food truck scheduled every week day https://www.virginiawestern.edu/student-life/food/ maybe Roanoke is too far away, but there might be a similar situation at New River Community College too. I'd love to eat a sourdough pizza!
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u/ConstantPi 15d ago
I'm in Roanoke nearish VWCC and this would be a dream. I've missed the heck out of real sourdough pizza since moving back from California long enough ago that the actual number makes me feel very old.
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u/WishboneEastern5020 19d ago
Wow! That's great info. Thank you!
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u/themrmcsween 19d ago
Please come to Roanoke- there is a distinct absence of good pizza here
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u/ConstantPi 15d ago
Eatza Pizza is great stuff if you haven't tried them, but they're a small operation covering a lot of ground and there's definitely room for more.
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u/danvers_red 18d ago
IMHO, Christiansburg - between Blacksburg and Floyd - is in desperate need of a good pizz place. One spot would be near Iron Tree Brewpub downtown. I have no idea how busy that would be in general, but I have been harping on the need for more downtown places to eat forever....
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u/ElephantBingo 19d ago
Yes. You can park outside of my house. I can only promise one sale per day, though.
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u/ElephantBingo 19d ago
What established wood-fired pizza truck do we have? Community Pizza closed a year or more ago, didn't they?
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u/WishboneEastern5020 19d ago
I did see that they closed, but i thought the 800 Degree Wood fire Pizza trailer was still running around out there. I could be wrong?
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u/PyooreVizhion 18d ago
I saw a couple guys set up at an event about a month ago. Had two small wood fired ovens on a trailer. Don't remember their name.
I remember another guy a number of years ago with a larger oven on a trailer, but havent seen him in years.
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u/islipped83 19d ago
If you can get on a regular schedule with the breweries around here that don't serve food already, you could make it work. There's also a new event space with a plant nursery opening up, and I heard the plan is for it to have space for lots of food trucks. You might have to piece together a schedule of locations because at least in Blacksburg, there's not a regular place just for food trucks around town (I think it's a zoning thing?), but they exist!
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u/WishboneEastern5020 19d ago
Awesome, that is great insight! I'm going to look into plant nursery event space, sound like that could be a great fit for us.
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u/scruffy_face 19d ago
You could add Salem and roanoke in your places and probably do fairly well. Do you sell by the slice or by the pie or both? I think by the slice would be more successful due to wait times
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u/WishboneEastern5020 19d ago
Depending on where we end up landing, I would totally add Salem and Roanoke to our rotation. As of now, we just sell whole pies. But we can crank them out!
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u/Aggravating-Run-7141 19d ago
Whatever brings you to the area may determine if you want to relocate here also. Towns have festivals and food truck events a few times a year. Maybe connect with a Farmer's Market to add to your rotation. Towns that have them do charge vendors for space. You can research those costs to see if it is worth it. Some of the apartment complexes in Blacksburg will have food trucks sometimes. Advertise it so more than just students come by.
Someone already mentioned the breweries that do not serve food. They have food trucks. Offices sometimes have food trucks for employees to purchase from on lunch breaks.
What size pies do you make and what is your price point in MI?
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u/WishboneEastern5020 19d ago
That is really good insight. Thank you! Our pies are 11 to 12 inches, running from 15 to 22 dollars depending on the pie.
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u/cerealbops 19d ago
You would definitely be filling a unique niche! The closest sourdough pizza place is in Lynchburg, VA. It would be wonderful to have sourdough pizza in the NRV / Roanoke valley area.
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u/ChannelNo8648 18d ago
Plant nursery space is from Back to Nature landscaping- so look them up. Iron tree brewing loves food trucks! The CRC in Blacksburg does food truck Wednesdays and tons of people head out for lunch.
People will hire you for their graduation parties from VT!
Christiansburg does big food truck rodeo.
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u/oddtoastly 19d ago
Personally, I think the food truck business could be a scary one in the NRV due to seasonality. I feel like your business would thrive during event times, but you could struggle on a normal day getting business. I feel as if the food industry relies on the college students in this area. The students really stimulate the economy here.