Rally Cap Brewing started out as founder Kevin Whalen’s dream. Now he’s onto his next adventure: pizza.

The local brewery, which launched off Seigen Lane in 2019, rolled out its first food menu on March 14—just in time for Pi Day. It features Neapolitan-style pizza, an assortment of calzones, Italian sub sandwiches and a small appetizer menu, including Italian nachos.

“A lot of times people come, they’re going to have a couple of beers, they want something to munch on. So I think (food) is really an important aspect of the experience,” Whalen says.

Originally, Rally Cap would host various food trucks on the weekends or for their trivia nights. About a year ago, Whalen says he started thinking about expanding Rally Cap’s dining options when he noticed patrons had come to expect food at the brewery.

“I’d get a lot of phone calls from people asking if we had a food truck that day or night. We can’t cover all the hours with food trucks—far from it,” Whalen says. “So, there were a lot of times we’d have no food.”

Adding a kitchen, he thought, would keep customers coming back and hopefully rally up some new ones.

“We think it’s a game changer for us, in all honesty,” Whalen says. “This opens up a whole new world to us.”

Pizza will be the star of the show at the new kitchen, courtesy of Rally Cap’s new dome-shaped pizza oven, which the team added to already existing brewery space. The dough is sourced from St. Bruno Bread Co. here in Baton Rouge. 

Whalen says the pizza will have thick, fluffy crust with a thinner center. There will be eight specialty pizzas and also the option for customers to create their own pie.

Whalen says that just like he learned to brew his own beer, he took time to teach himself everything about the new oven and how to prepare this specific type of pizza. He says he watched hours and hours of videos and read extensively before launching the new operation. He then trained his current staff on how to prepare the food, as well.

Now when a Rally Cap patron orders a beer at the bar, they can also place a food order. The new menu options will be served quick-service style since Whalen says the brewery doesn’t have the staff to run a sit-down operation.

Whalen says he is excited to see how this will positively impact his business—and he says he hopes people stick around longer than if they were just grabbing a beer.

Rally Cap Brewing is located at 11212 Pennywood Ave. It’s open Monday through Thursday from 3-9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from noon to 10 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m. Find more info here. 

This article originally appeared in 225 magazine’s 225 Daily newsletter.