Frequently Asked Questions

Wood-Fired Pizza Catering Across Southern California

How does your wood-fired pizza catering work?

We bring our mobile olive-wood-fired ovens, chef team, and full catering setup directly to your location. Our team arrives early, sets up outdoors, and fires pizzas continuously throughout your event.

Guests enjoy a buffet-style, continuous-service experience: pizzas are baked, sliced, and replenished non-stop, so people can graze, mingle, and come back for seconds (and thirds) as they like.

We also offer fresh salads, pastas, gourmet platters, and desserts to round out the menu for weddings, corporate events, studio catering, and social celebrations.

What kinds of events do you cater?

Olive Wood Pizza focuses on off-site, on-site-cooked catering for:

• Weddings & rehearsal dinners

• Corporate events, office lunches, client meetings, and all-hands

• Studio, production, and on-set catering

• Social events & celebrations: birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, showers, retirements, celebrations of life, holiday parties, team parties, reunions, and more

• Private residence events, estates, venues, and courtyards

If your event needs great food, fast throughput, and a memorable live-fire experience, we’ve probably done something just like it—many times.

How many guests can you accommodate?

We cater everything from intimate 25-guest gatherings to large-scale events with hundreds or even thousands of guests.

• Smaller events: 25–75 guests

• Mid-size events: 75–250 guests

• Large events: 250+ guests, often with multiple ovens and expanded staffing

• We are regularly part of 1,000+ guest events and have supported events serving thousands of attendees alongside other vendors.

Your proposal will be tailored to your guest count, service style, timing, and menu.

Where do you cater? What areas do you serve?

We cater throughout Southern California, including (but not limited to):

Los Angeles County

Los Angeles • Downtown LA • Hollywood • West Hollywood • Beverly Hills • Brentwood • Santa Monica • Venice • Culver City • Marina del Rey • Playa Vista • Manhattan Beach • Hermosa Beach • Redondo Beach • El Segundo • Torrance • Palos Verdes • Pasadena • Glendale • Burbank • Studio City • Sherman Oaks • Encino • Woodland Hills and more

Long Beach & South Bay

Long Beach • Signal Hill • Lakewood • San Pedro • Rancho Palos Verdes • Lomita • Gardena and surrounding communities

Orange County

Newport Beach • Costa Mesa • Irvine • Laguna Beach • Laguna Niguel • Dana Point • Huntington Beach • Seal Beach • Fountain Valley • Tustin • Orange • Anaheim • Fullerton • San Juan Capistrano • San Clemente • Lake Forest and more

Wider Southern California (case by case)

Parts of the Inland Empire, Ventura County, North San Diego County, Temecula wine country, and select destinations for larger events.

If you’re not sure whether your location is within range, just ask—we’ll confirm options and travel costs.

What kind of space do you need for the oven and setup?

Our ovens must be set up outdoors for wood-fired cooking. Service can be indoors, but the oven and active cooking remain outside.

We operate two types of mobile oven setups:

1. Rolling Ovens (Smaller Setups)

   • Require a minimum 36” wide, flat, hard-surface path from loading area to setup location

   • No steps; ramps or elevator access may work if they are 36”+ wide and structurally appropriate

   • Ideal for driveways, courtyards, patios, parking lots, and similar spaces

2. Trailer-Mounted Ovens (Larger Setups)

   • Require space for a trailer and towing vehicle (roughly one to two standard parking spaces)

   • Clear drive-in and turn radius, with safe, legal parking for the duration of service

We’ll confirm space, access, and which oven setup is best for your event during the booking process.

Do you need power, water, or access to our kitchen?

No. We are fully self-sufficient.

• We do not require power

• We do not require water

• We do not need access to your kitchen

We bring our own ovens and set up our mobile kitchen with prep tables, tools, and equipment.

We do ask that hosts provide a table, tables or a suitable surface for serving food—this allows us to set up a beautiful buffet and leave extra food out when our team wraps service so the party can continue.

What do you provide? What’s included?

Every full-service event includes:

• Our mobile olive-wood-fired oven(s)

• Professional pizza chef(s) and service team

• Continuous buffet-style pizza service for the contracted service window

• High-quality compostable plates, napkins, and utensils

• Necessary display risers, serving platters, and serviceware for pizzas, salads, and sides

• Setup and breakdown of our mobile kitchen and service area

Add-ons (at additional cost) can include:

• Salads and pastas

• Gourmet platters (charcuterie, cheese, crudités, fruit, dessert platters)

• Desserts and sweet finishes

• Additional service time, staffing, or multiple ovens for large events

All details and inclusions are clearly outlined in your proposal and on our Menus page.

Can you handle dietary restrictions and special requests?

Absolutely. Our goal is simple: everyone eats and feels taken care of.

We regularly accommodate:

• Vegetarian & vegan guests

• Gluten-free guests (gluten-free crusts available)

• Dairy-free guests

• Pork-free or beef-free menus

• Kosher-style service (respecting separation of certain ingredients; not a certified kosher kitchen)

• Allergy-aware service where we can minimize cross-contact as much as reasonably possible

Let us know your guests’ needs in advance and we’ll recommend a menu mix and clear labeling to keep everyone comfortable and confident.

How long do you serve food?

Most events include 90 minutes or 2 hours of continuous buffet-style pizza service as part of the package.

During that time, your menu, including pizzas that are stretched, topped, wood-fired and sliced, are replenished continuously so there is always hot pizza and other menu items prepared on-site in small batches available.

For larger events, extended timelines, or multi-wave service (e.g., different groups at different times), we can customize service windows and staffing in your proposal.

What are your pricing and minimums?

Our packages start at $1,250 and scale up depending on:

• Guest count

• Day of the week and time of year

• Event type (wedding, corporate, studio, social, etc.)

• Travel distance

• Service duration

• Menu selections and add-ons

We regularly produce events that range from intimate gatherings to large, multi-oven productions in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Minimums:

Event minimums vary by date and demand. Weekday lunches and off-peak dates typically have lower minimums, while prime Saturdays, holidays, and peak months may have higher minimums to reflect demand and the opportunity cost of the date.

Your proposal will clearly outline:

• The minimum for your specific date and time

• What’s included

• All per-guest pricing and add-ons

All pricing is kept clear and transparent and is always kept up to date on our Menus page.

Do you charge a travel fee?

Yes, for events beyond our standard local radius.

• We include travel within approximately 35 driving miles of our Signal Hill / Long Beach commissary

• For events beyond 35 miles, we charge $10 per mile (one-way) from our kitchen

This helps cover staff time, fuel, and equipment wear and tear for extended travel. Travel charges will be clearly shown on your proposal.

Are you licensed, insured, and health department compliant?

Yes. Olive Wood Pizza operates as a fully licensed and insured catering company and is health department compliant with an A rating.

We regularly work at high-end venues, studios, and event spaces that require:

• Proof of insurance (COI)

• Health permits and compliance

• Vendor onboarding or approval by a venue

If your venue or office requires documentation, we can provide all necessary paperwork as part of the booking process.

How far in advance should we book?

For prime dates (especially Saturdays, holiday periods, and peak wedding months), we recommend booking as early as possible—those slots fill quickly.

That said, we also handle short-notice events whenever our calendar and staffing allow.

If you have a date in mind, the best next step is to submit a quote request or availability check so we can:

• Confirm availability

• Provide a detailed proposal

• Lock in pricing and minimums for your date

How do I book Olive Wood Pizza for my event?

The booking process is straightforward:

1. Submit a quote request or availability check through our website

2. Our team will review your event details (date, time, location, guest count, event type)

3. We’ll send a detailed proposal with package options, pricing, and any recommended add-ons

4. To reserve your date, you’ll complete our catering agreement and initial payment (outlined in your proposal)

5. We’ll stay in touch as your event approaches to confirm final guest count, menu choices, and timing

Our goal is to make the process easy, transparent, and responsive—from first inquiry through event day.

What happens on the day of the event?

On event day, our team:

• Arrives early to park or position the oven and set up our mobile kitchen

• Coordinates with your planner, venue, or host on final placement and flow

• Fires the oven, preps ingredients, and gets pizzas ready to roll at the agreed service start time

• Provides continuous buffet-style service for the contracted service window

• Keeps the area tidy throughout service and fully breaks down and cleans up our workspace before departure

We leave your space clean, food beautifully set out (with extra where appropriate), and your guests full and happy.