{"id":910479,"date":"2026-11-08T19:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-11-08T19:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/910479\/"},"modified":"2026-11-08T19:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T19:32:10","slug":"san-diego-mans-apartment-made-pizzas-sell-out-in-30-seconds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/910479\/","title":{"rendered":"San Diego man’s apartment-made pizzas sell out in 30 seconds"},"content":{"rendered":"

The hottest pizza in Southern California<\/a> isn\u2019t coming out of some fancy restaurant or trendy pizzeria \u2014 it\u2019s being baked in a guy\u2019s apartment kitchen, and getting your hands on one is practically a lottery.<\/p>\n

AJ Miller<\/a> doesn\u2019t have a storefront, a commercial brick oven or a delivery fleet. The Connecticut transplant simply cranks out 15 pizzas a week from his Ocean Beach apartment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More than 3,500 people are now chasing just 15 weekly order slots, with the pies selling out in less than 30 seconds. The 15-inch pizzas have become a viral obsession among Gen Z and millennial foodies, helping Miller build a social media following of more than 114,000.<\/p>\n

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AJ Miller, originally from Connecticut, makes 15 pizzas a week as 3,500 people wait for a pie. Instagram\/@ajeatworld<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people do like what they can\u2019t get, so the exclusivity does play into it a bit,\u201d Miller told Axios<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Miller moved to San Diego in 2020 and quickly found himself missing the East Coast-style pizza he grew up with in Connecticut. Unable to find the kind of pie he wanted in Southern California, he decided to teach himself how to make it.<\/p>\n

After getting laid off from his marketing job this past summer, Miller decided to turn his hobby into a business.<\/p>\n

He began documenting his pizza experiments online, eventually attracting followers who wanted to taste the results themselves.<\/p>\n

Then, after getting laid off from his marketing job this past summer, Miller decided to turn his kitchen hobby into a business.<\/p>\n

What started as a text list of just 75 interested customers has since exploded into Echo Apizza<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The name is from his favorite stye of pizza, which is New Haven style \u201capizza,\u201d<\/a> which is made in a coal-fired oven and known for its paper-thin crust. It\u2019s similar to New York-style pizza, Miller said.<\/p>\n

Miller told Axios he is making a profit but not enough to live off.<\/p>\n

The Connecticut specialty is known for its thin, crisp crust, often cooked in coal-fired ovens at temperatures reaching 800 to 900 degrees. It\u2019s similar to New York-style pizza, Miller said.<\/p>\n

But without a commercial oven, he had to get creative.<\/p>\n

Miller operates AJ Millers Pizzas in San Diego, where he makes 15 pies a week for a waitlist of 3,500 people.<\/p>\n

He sets his standard home oven to its 550\u00b0F maximum, baking the pies directly on a heavy baking steel plate to \u00a0transfer as much heat as possible to the crust. He then finishes them under the broiler to achieve the signature blistered edges.<\/p>\n

The dough gets a three-day cold fermentation using sourdough, while toppings are sourced locally. Once they\u2019re ready, people can pick them up the following Friday.<\/p>\n

Miller sets his standard home oven to its 550\u00b0F maximum, baking the pies directly on a heavy baking steel plate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took a couple years to really perfect my craft,\u201d said Miller. \u201cI don\u2019t think anything\u2019s ever perfect, so I do think there\u2019s little tweaks that I make each time, and it could always be better.\u201d<\/p>\n

His pizzas reportedly sell for $25 to $30 each. Miller told Axios he is making a profit but not enough to live off. If he ramps up slowly, he added he may one day cook in a professional kitchen or even a restaurant.<\/p>\n

As for now, he is continuing to make his pizzas from home and posting them on social media, full of commenters who are singing his praise.<\/p>\n

\u201cFound a guy in San Diego who makes pizza out of his apartment oven and it literally changed my life,\u201d one user posted<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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