JERSEY SHORE — “With the help of the vacuum sealer, labeling and a lot of sweat and equity,” Pizza To Go owner Michael Allison was able to make his vision of high-quality, restaurant-style frozen pizzas a reality.

Michael, who owns the business alongside his wife, Abbie, has operated the restaurant since 2017 when it was still located just off of the Thomas Street exit going into Jersey Shore. Since then, the two moved their business to their current location at 680 Railroad St. The two have continued to be consistent with Pizza To Go’s mission of quality food and valuable experiences.

Prior to their second child being born in 2019, the restaurant was open seven days a week. Still, the restaurant remains open six days a week, Monday through Saturday, and is closed on Sundays.

Through the challenges of the pandemic, labor shortages and inflation, Michael had an idea to take their beloved pizza recipe and make it available to customers in the convenience of their own homes.

“In 2022 came inflation, so we had to juggle all of that and it got to a point that we not only recognized that it affected us as a business, but it affected our entire community and nation,” Allison said. “I wanted to come up with an idea to try and generate a product that our community could enjoy from Pizza To Go and still take part in our product without us being open.”

From there, Allison began working on creating the pizzas and taste testing.

“I have always been a frozen pizza guy…I think they are good. I think the convenience standpoint entices people,” Allison said. “I started cruising up and down the frozen pizza aisles at stores and what I found were a lot of the big box stores, but what I didn’t find was a high-quality restaurant pizza, and that is when my mind started going. I’m an innovator and a creator by nature, and I saw an opportunity and wanted to find out the parts and pieces to where I could make this a feasible avenue for us.”

Allison then began the process of taking Pizza To Go’s recipe and making it into a frozen option.

“I’ll be honest, the first 15 of them weren’t so good,” he said. “I had to work out the proper technique for freezing a pizza…it is not as easy as what people would think.”

Allison’s goal was to ensure the same quality pizza that customers receive at the restaurant and through delivery was comparable to the frozen pizza option.

The frozen pizza recipe Allison created is no different from the pizza customers receive in the store.

“It is the same dough, same sauce, same toppings, and you still get the nice rise at your home that you would if you were to come into the restaurant,” he said. “It took a lot of trial and error.”

Once Allison had gotten his combination of recipe, freezing technique and cooking time balanced, he had staff members try the pizzas and provide feedback. The feedback allowed Allison to make some minor adjustments before getting the pizzas out in the freezers for sale.

“It became very simple after that (feedback)…I just needed to figure out how to mass produce the product,” he said.

Currently, Allison is making the pizzas by hand by himself. He currently makes and sells about 150 of the frozen pizzas per week.

The pizzas, which are 12-inch pies, have various toppings and range in price from $6.99 to $11.99.

The types of pizzas available are cheese, pepperoni, pepperoni and sausage, garlic spread, meat lovers and hot wing.

Plus, they are made just like any other frozen pizza. These pizzas do not need to be thawed; they can be cooked frozen on a baking sheet, pizza stone or pan.

So far, the pizzas have been “flying out of the freezer,” Allison said.

“Folks are coming down here buying three, four, five, six at a time and supporting us which is wonderful,” he said. “That’s the cool part…we have had a lot of repeat customers.”

He has added that the reception has been booming on social media with customers sharing photos of the frozen pizzas made at home.

The 12-inch pizzas are also great for campers who travel in the area.

“We tend to have campers from Philly, Reading, New York…they come in and stop in on Thursday and camp for the weekend. The 12-inch pizzas fit into the camper ovens. I have had a lot of people excited about it.”

But this adventure doesn’t stop here.

Allison said he eventually would like to “supply different organizations and school fundraisers.”

For more information, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Pizza2GoJS.