Meet the Owners: The Story Behind Catalyst Pizza Co.

Catalyst Pizza Co. didn't start in a commercial kitchen or a business plan competition. It started the way most good things do — with a passion that wouldn't quit and a community that deserved something better.

We fell in love with pizza the way a lot of people do: growing up eating it. But somewhere along the way, the love turned into an obsession. We started experimenting with dough recipes in our home kitchen, testing fermentation times, hunting down the right flour, and driving our families crazy with weekend pizza experiments. When friends and neighbors started asking us to make pizza for their parties, we knew we were onto something.

The vision for Catalyst was always bigger than just pizza, though. We wanted to create a place — somewhere you'd actually want to hang out, not just grab food and leave. We grew up in arcades, pumping quarters into Street Fighter and Pac-Man, and we missed that energy. We also grew up on rock and roll — the kind of music that makes you feel something. So we thought: what if we combined the best pizza we could possibly make with a killer retro arcade and classic music videos on the big screens? A place where families come for dinner and stay for Galaga. Where date nights end with a pinball tournament. Where the community has a spot that feels like home, with a killer soundtrack to match.

The music is a big part of who we are. Walk in on any given night and you'll see classic rock and roll music videos playing — Hendrix, Zeppelin, AC/DC, The Stones, Nirvana, Sublime. It's the soundtrack to great pizza. It brings energy to the room without overwhelming conversation. And honestly? Making pizza while watching a killer guitar solo never gets old.

Medford is a special town. It's tight-knit, supportive, and full of people who appreciate when someone puts in the effort to do things right. From day one, the community has shown up for us — and we show up for them every day by making the best food we can, keeping the arcade stocked with great games, curating the best music, and treating every customer like family.

We're not a franchise. We're not backed by investors. We're a small, independent, locally-owned pizza shop that cares deeply about what we put on your plate and how you feel when you walk through our door. Every pie is hand-stretched. Every cheesesteak is made to order. Every game in the arcade is chosen with love. Every song on the screen is a banger. That's the Catalyst way, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Thank you for being part of our story. We can't wait to keep writing it — one slice at a time.