Baby Blue Pizza

Baby Blue Pizza was a vegan pizzeria in Portland, Oregon. The restaurant operated from July 2019 to January 2022, closing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Description

The restaurant served seven vegan pizzas with sourdough crusts and toppings like meatless pepperoni. Sometimes gluten-free crusts were used.

History

Vegan chef Odie O'Connor, who previously worked at Gracie's Apizza, began operating Baby Blue as a food cart on Hawthorne Boulevard in southeast Portland in July 2019. Approximately two years later, O'Connor related the business to the Rose City Food Park. He closed the cart for approximately one month during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing him to explore making other types of pizza and open a separate small pizzeria called Boxcar Pizza. Like many restaurants during the pandemic, Baby Blue operated via take-out or bike courier delivery at times. The restaurant closed in January 2022; employees were given the option to work at Boxcar Pizza.

Reception

Michael Russell included Baby Blue in The Oregon's 2020 overview of Portland's five best new pizzerias. He said Baby Blue "stands out for the quality of its chewy, blistered dough" and was "leaning the charge" amongst the city's new vegan pizzerias. The Portland Business Journal gave the business a rating of 5 stars. Waz Wu included Baby Blue in Eater Portlands 2021 overview of "where to find knockout vegan pizza in Portland" and said, "This successful pop-up-turned-food-cart slings some of the most exciting vegan pizza in town." Wu also included the business in a 2021 list of 13 "vegan food carts to visit in Portland and beyond". Baby Blue was a nominee in the Best Vegan Pizzeria category of VegNews magazine's Veggie Awards in 2022.