When asked how he came up with the name for his trailer, Pedroso’s owner Thiago Vasconcelos just laughs. “Pedroso is my middle name. If I called the trailer ‘Vasconcelos Pizza,’ it would be too long.”
Vasconcelos moved to Austin four years ago with his wife, Alissa Gibson, whom he met while living in San Francisco. The two recently opened their second trailer at Round Rock Tavern at 113 West Main Street in downtown Round Rock.
Vasconcelos was born and raised in Brazil but moved to the Bay Area when he was 20, starting his career out at his uncle’s pizzeria. “I worked with him for three or four years and then bounced around a few different pizza shops there. I ended up getting a job at Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, which is one of the best places in the country. I stayed there for 10 years. He makes a bunch of pizza styles there so I got a chance to learn a little bit about each style.”
Vasconcelos and Gibson then moved to Texas, where he worked for a bit at Bufalina Due and DeSano, mainstays of North Austin’s pizza scene. “My wife used to live here before she moved to San Francisco. I came to visit here a couple times and I loved the vibe. It seemed pretty similar to Brazil – hot and a lot of nature. We decided to move because it’s more friendly here. In California, it can be very expensive.”
The two originally planned a brick and mortar but the COVID-19 pandemic derailed those plans. They nevertheless achieved success, just with a food truck. They were then approached by Round Rock Tavern about setting up shop and ended up going with a different menu than their original truck. Dubbed the “square pie trailer,” the Round Rock location adds a Detroit style pizza as well as their Sicilian style pizza and Long Island-influenced Grandma style.
Pedroso’s has achieved a cult fandom online from their original Burnet Road location and has already proved popular in downtown Round Rock during the couple of weeks they’ve been open. It’s only a matter of time before crowded lines start forming for this trailer on weekend nights.
This article appears in January 26 • 2024.
