Cooking a fresh, high quality pizza in two minutes seems unreal, but one business is doing just that right here in Chico.

Aaron Souza has been dreaming up the idea of drive-thru pizza for the last three years. On Dec. 5, that dream became reality as he had the grand opening of his new business, Mad Dash Pizza & Wings.

Mad Dash offers three simple products: pizza, wings and milkshakes. But don’t expect typical drive-thru ingredients, because Souza’s products are premium, made with all natural cheeses, real meat and no artificial flavors or coloring.

“We’re keeping it simple to be able to really focus and concentrate on the product and then deliver it in a way that hasn’t been done before,” Souza said.

Souza has even had customized sauces made to give the chicken wings a one-of-a-kind taste. Sweet and sour, honey mustard, peanut Thai and bleu cheese buffalo sauce will be among the dipping options. All milkshakes will be made with real ice cream with a special flavoring coming from the inclusion of freshly squeezed orange juice.
The key to Mad Dash’s drive-thru is the high-speed pizza oven. The pizza stone heats up to 500 degrees in just 2 seconds and cooks a pizza in anywhere from 90 to 120 seconds.

“It’s time now where, because of technology, you can cook a pizza, an incredibly quality pizza, in drive-thru time,” he said.

Convenience and quality are the main attractions for Mad Dash. Having this new business in town gives people another place to eat if they’re short on time.

“What I’m doing is taking a good product and offering convenience, because in this day and age time is everything for people,” Souza said.

Souza most recently worked in the Bay Area, but is no stranger to Chico. He grew up in Gridley and his parents own a local art gallery, the Vagabond Rose, in downtown Chico. He’s very comfortable with the community, so when Souza found his location he knew it would be the perfect match.

Since Mad Dash isn’t a franchise, he’s excited to have the freedom be able to get creative and have fun with the business, Souza said. He’s already looking for ways to get involved with the community and take advantage of the great resources the north state has to offer.  One idea he has is to buy farmers’ market produce and create a special pizza made from those products on a certain day.

Seeing a drive through pizza place has struck a lot of interest in the community. Many people are already full of questions about this new concept of drive-thru pizza.
“People are interested. They’re curious and think it’s a good idea,” Souza said. “They are wondering how we are going to be able to pull it off, but I think I’ve got that taken care of.”

Mad Dash Pizza & Wings is located at 2391 Cohasset Drive next to Dutch Brothers and is open seven days a week.

By Kayla Cook