Local pizza farms drawing people from far and wide

By ANDREW DEZIEL Guest Contributor

With a fun, friendly and relaxed atmosphere that can be perfect for a great family night out, date night, special celebration or many other occasions, a trio of Southern Minn Scene region pizza farms are drawing customers from far and wide in larger numbers this summer than ever before.

While the consistently warm and dry weather has become a challenge for area crop farmers, it’s made an ideal backdrop to enjoy conversation and the company of friends and family at Pleasant Grove Pizza Farm near Waseca, Red Barn Pizza Barn near Northfield and the Berne Wood-Fired Pizza & Concert Series held at Zwingli United Church of Christ south of Wanamingo.

Offering distinctively crispy and juicy wood fired pizza and regular live music, the three “pizza farms” are drawing local clientele but have been particularly successful at attracting visitors from the Twin Cities, as well as Rochester and Mankato, looking for a unique way to take a break from the stress of a busy work week and trade in hectic urban living for an evening at an idyllic rural setting.

Bill Bartz of Pleasant Grove Pizza Farm said that 2023 is just the latest chapter of what has been a highly successful post-COVID era. After steady growth following Pleasant Grove’s 2015 establishment, the business was ready to make a leap with a more consistent customer base - and benefited as health experts encouraged people to consider outdoor dining during the pandemic.

“We’ve really increased our popularity over the last 2-3 years,” Bartz said. “We started out as this weird thing no one came to, and then it became ‘you’ve got to check this out’- it really came in layers.”

Pleasant Grove is open four days a week, Thursday through Saturday, distinguishing it from Red Barn Pizza Farm and Berne Wood-Fired Pizza, which both serve only on Wednesdays. Last year, Pleasant Grove expanded its business with a mobile food truck, which regularly stops at Corks and Pints/10,000 Drops Craft Distillers in Faribault and Owatonna’s Mineral Springs Brewery.

Co-owner Emily Knudsen said that the food truck has been a great asset to the business. With wood ovens able to provide the same crisp and delicious pizza found at the farm, the truck is increasingly popular not only with local microbrewery customers but also with families, who are requesting the truck’s presence for graduation parties and other private parties in increased numbers.

Beer and wine are also a staple at Pleasant Grove’s pizza farm, now that the business has a license to sell liquor. Live music is also a regular offering - in fact, it can be tricky to schedule them all, with Bartz saying that 50 to 100 musicians reaching out to Pleasant Grover each year about providing live music.

While the pizza farms have benefited from consistently pleasant weather, they could be just getting into the heart of their season if the weather holds. While they’re already producing hundreds of pizzas a night, the heart of the season for pizza farms like Pleasant Grove has traditionally been July through October, as satisfied customers pay more visits and tell their friends.

Patrick Winter, of Red Barn Pizza Farm, has been in the business for 15 years, and said that each year his establishment seems to get more popular. They’re open only on Wednesdays and the third Sunday of each month from May to October as a pizza farm, but they also host weddings. Winter said that the weddings have become as special of a part of the family run business as the pizza nights.

“We love the weddings as much as the pizza,” Winter said. “It’s very rewarding every time we see a young couple get married - we’re a part of that.”

Since 2012, Winter has run the business with his wife and two now grown children. Though it might not be open nearly as often as a traditional restaurant, Winter said that running Red Barn has effectively been a full time job for him and his family, even if fun and rewarding, with the business’s steady growth both exciting and challenging.

Like Pleasant Grove and Berne Pizza, the style of Red Barn is much more casual than a traditional restaurant, with patrons welcome to bring their own beverages, side dishes, desserts, and seating as well if they wish, though Red Barn has plenty of tables and chairs of its own. With that freedom comes responsibility - patrons are expected to clean up after themselves and take home any trash, and pets are strictly not allowed.

Red Barn prides itself on being a working farm complete with chickens and horses that are popular with the kids. While Winter hasn’t made a point of advertising for musicians, Red Barn has been hosting them from time to time, providing no payment but exposure in front of a larger audience along with plenty of slices of its famous wood fired pizza.

Thanks to its relative proximity to the Twin Cities, Red Barn is particularly popular among the metro area dwellers, many of whom heard about the place through postings on social media. Christina Tucker-Skow, a teacher in the Inver Grove Heights Public School District, came with several of her colleagues for a night of great pizza in a relaxed atmosphere. After hearing about the place on social media, they visited and have returned several times.

For Sonja Hanson, of Lakeville, the Red Barn’s location and appeal to all ages has made an ideal meeting spot for family reunions. This is the second year that Hanson has met family at the pizza farm around the Fourth of July, connecting with family, not only from Southern Minnesota, but those visiting from Wisconsin and Pennsylvania as well.

Now in it’s 12th year, Berne’s Wood-Fired Pizza & Concert Series also seeks to hit the spot for southern Minnesotans and metro dwellers looking for tasty pizza, socialization and perhaps some catching up with friends or family in a relaxing, bucolic setting. Event co-coordinator

Pat Derby said that 500 pizzas a night are now churned out of Berne’s wood fired ovens - a labor of love for the small, rural congregation.

Derby said that putting together the event is a close to year round affair, with the church contacting bands by Christmastime. Of course, with how big the event has grown, event organizers don’t have much trouble finding bands interested in providing music.

Given its location, Berne’s concert and pizza series manages to pull attendees more from Rochester, Owatonna and other communities in Southern Minnesota than from the Twin Cities. By this point, many attendees are regulars who make sure to come at least a few times a year - but there’s still plenty of first timers, many invited by those who have had a great time before.

As a church rather than a small family owned business, Berne has devoted the proceeds from its pizza and concert series to a long list of local nonprofit agencies and organizations. Derby expressed great pride and gratitude for the congregation’s commitment and the community’s support for Zwingli UCC’s unique mission.

“Our congregation works endlessly on this,” Derby said. “We’re such a small church with a big heart.”

Andrew Deziel is a freelance writer. Reach the editor at editor@ apgsomn.com

Every family has their culinary weirdness. Mine is no different.

I have a sister who is afraid of cooked fruit and a brother who won’t consider eating anything that has been in close proximity to a green pepper. Mom has her demons as well. She spent a lifetime avoiding raisins as she was forced to eat them as a treatment for teenage acne. She can hardly look at them as an adult. Some people are horrified by black licorice which is used as a flavoring for medicine in other countries. I have been in an unsuccessful 12-step program to get off Good & Plenty since 1992.

Where do we pick up these odd habits? At what age did I know that the textures of seafood and fish were never gonna work for me? “If it’s from the sea (or pretty much any body of water), it’s not for me.” has been my tagline for as long as I can remember.

Growing up right on Lake Superior with a family of fish lovers meant weekly trips down to the fish market for fresh Lake Trout and Whitefish. Just the smell of the place makes me weak in the knees.

My sister, Beth, won’t eat red meat unless it’s in the form of pepperoni and comes on a pizza. She’s what we call an “occasional vegetarian.”

She also eats bacon but only at night ‘cuz breakfast for dinner is WAY better than morning breakfast. She eats much healthier than the rest of the family and seems to be the only one filled with guilt every time she eats French fries. She eats them so infrequently that she says things like, “You can’t believe how good these are?”

Why yes, actually I can, because I live on fast food and consider myself a connoisseur of the Pommes Frites.

I have a brother who devours jars of those bright red spiced apples you see in the grocery store and assumed no one ever purchased. They smell like Catholic church incense mixed with old lady guest bathroom. One of my best pals has survived for years primarily ingesting mini tacos and coffee. My Dad could only eat grilled cheese if it was made with peanut butter and always poured milk on his bowl of lime Jell-O. I have friends who can’t even have their foods touch on the plate.

Sorry, I’m rambling…where was I? Oh, weird food tendencies. Does no one else understand that the sprouts they put on sandwiches smell like feet and the texture of apricot juice is what I imagine it would be like to drink pool table felt? And, clearly, the wrapping for spring rolls is pretty much what I envision eating human flesh would be like. Paging the Donner party. Energy drinks are another problem as they’re so sweet they taste like hummingbird food. And don’t get me started on mushrooms. Those rubbery little devils squeak against your teeth. No good has ever come from eating grey food.

I think we all know where to place the blame for these food quirks…Mom & Dad. My memories of Catholic grade school always include my Mom serving me grapefruit juice just after I had brushed my teeth. That’s a terrifying taste sensation! I didn’t like to eat breakfast, so I got to have reheated leftovers from the night before. To this day, I still enjoy a hearty pork chop breakfast.

And has anyone forgotten the time my sister, Jennifer, was babysitting and I told her that I REALLY liked chocolate milk? To prove my point, I used an entire can of Hershey’s syrup to make a single glass. So, as any loving sibling would, she made me drink the entire thing. To this day, I can’t even walk down that aisle in the grocery store without dry heaving.

I grew up eating an array of colored Jell-O with pineapple and grated carrots tucked inside. Mom would garnish it with a big dollop of Miracle Whip (friend of the mayonnaise when you grow up in the Midwest) which I believe is what they make bathroom caulking out of. What about the day I discovered the exotic invention known as “baking” chocolate? I was sure this was something my Mom made up to keep me from eating the treasure trove I had recently discovered in the pantry. At this point, I should probably mention that vomiting was kind of a recurring theme during my childhood. How I have survived to adulthood is still unclear. 