How Ya Dough’n: Rethinking What Pizza Can Be

How a pandemic hobby, a sourdough starter, and an obsession with quality ingredients turned into a growing pizza brand with a decidedly better-for-you philosophy.

Pizza and wellness aren't two words that typically appear in the same sentence. For Garett Goodman, owner of How Ya Dough’n, that’s an assumption he’d like to change.

With naturally fermented sourdough crust, carefully sourced ingredients, no seed oils, and a commitment to avoiding fillers and preservatives, How Ya Dough’n is carving out its own space in the pizza world, one where indulgence and ingredient-conscious eating don't necessarily have to be opposites.

And surprisingly, none of it started with a plan to open a restaurant.

From Pandemic Pastime to Passion Project

Before pizza became his business, Garett worked in logistics and technology. When COVID hit and the world suddenly moved indoors, he found himself trying to balance running a large business with keeping his family, including two children and another on the way, occupied at home.

A friend convinced him to buy a portable pizza oven. At first, Garett bought premade dough wherever he could find it and simply experimented. Then his friend suggested he make his own. The learning curve wasn't exactly graceful.

"There was flour on the walls and olive oil on the floor," Garett remembers. But trial and error eventually started producing some pretty impressive results. Then came another suggestion: start a sourdough starter. That changed everything. Garett began experimenting obsessively with fermentation times, flour varieties, and techniques, going "deep, deep, deep down the rabbit hole of all things pizza."

Soon, he was making more pizza than his family could eat, so he started giving it away to friends and neighbors. During the height of the pandemic, people would arrive at his backyard with cookie sheets, and Garett would pass pizzas over the fence. People loved them.

And eventually, his wife suggested they start selling the pizzas. There was just one requirement: they needed a great name. "A couple martinis later, my wife said, 'How about, How Ya Dough'n?'" Garett recalls. The name stuck.

The couple created an Instagram account, developed branding, and began selling a limited number of pizzas through scheduled pickup times. The first week they sold 25. Then 35. Then 50. Then 75.

Before long, pizzas were selling out almost as quickly as the menus were posted.

Garett realized this might be more than a hobby. He ultimately sold his equity in his logistics and technology business, and he and his wife used the money to open their first brick-and-mortar How Ya Dough’n location in Boca Raton, Florida. Five years later, the passion project has grown well beyond the backyard.

Bringing How Ya Dough’n to Las Vegas

Las Vegas wasn't necessarily part of the original plan. Through a business connection, Garett was introduced to the Boulevard development and invited to consider bringing How Ya Dough’n to the property. When he visited the location, its potential became immediately apparent. Looking around at neighbors including ARIA, The Cosmopolitan and MGM Grand, Garett saw an opportunity. "We rolled the dice and signed the lease," he says.

How Ya Dough’n opened its Las Vegas location in December and has been steadily building its following. The restaurant was also recognized by Eater Las Vegas as one of the city's hottest new restaurants. But while location and branding have helped introduce the restaurant to Vegas, the real story begins with the dough.

Why Sourdough?

Garett originally chose sourdough for one simple reason: it tasted better.

Before developing the restaurant's sourdough crust, he experimented with commercial yeast and fermentation periods of 24, 48, and 72 hours. When he compared those doughs with his sourdough version, he noticed an immediate difference. The sourdough was lighter, airier, and more flavorful. So he kept experimenting.

Twenty-four hours became 48. Then 72. Eventually, Garett discovered that the sweet spot for How Ya Dough’n's crust was between approximately four and seven days of fermentation. That extended process is considerably less convenient than traditional pizza production. It requires planning, refrigeration, and a significant amount of storage space, especially as the company grows. But Garett isn't interested in taking the easy route. "We want to have that really light, airy, easy-to-eat, super-digestible-for-your-stomach pizza," he explains.

For Garett, some of the most rewarding customers are those who tell him they had stopped eating pizza because they simply didn't feel good afterward. "I can't begin to tell you the number of times people have shared those experiences”, he says. Some customers who had avoided pizza for years have returned to tell him they were able to enjoy it again. "To me, that's a major accomplishment for us."

While individual digestive responses vary and sourdough pizza is still pizza, the experience reinforced something Garett had already begun to realize: How Ya Dough’n had an opportunity to occupy a different space within the category.

Better-for-You Pizza

That realization is now becoming central to the company's identity. "We missed the mark for four and a half, five years on really branding the business as a wellness-style, better-for-you pizza," Garett says. Today, that's changing.

How Ya Dough’n doesn't use seed oils, and Garett says the company avoids fillers and preservatives while sourcing ingredients from producers around the country.

Rather than relying solely on broadline restaurant distributors, the company has worked directly with manufacturers and producers, purchasing ingredients in significant quantities and centralizing production to maintain consistency between locations. Dough, cheese, dressings, and sauces are produced through centralized operations, helping the company control not only consistency but also what goes into its food. "We don't buy any pre-packaged [products]. We make it all ourselves," Garett explains. "I know every piece of every bite of food that you eat."

For him, that distinction matters.

He points to customers stopping in after yoga, before a run, or following a game of pickleball- people who enjoy pizza but don't necessarily want the heavy feeling they associate with it. "I feel very confident that anybody who's focused on health and wellness, or just in general wants to eat good-quality food, can go into any one of our restaurants and pick anything from the menu and not feel bad about eating it."

Garett is also careful not to position pizza as a health food. Instead, he sees How Ya Dough’n as creating a better option within a category people already love. "We are in the category of pizza," he says, "but we're carving out a segment of that niche for the better-for-you."

Keeping Pizza Simple

As How Ya Dough’n prepares for its next stage of growth, including exploring franchising, Garett doesn't envision turning the restaurant into an enormous Italian menu. The philosophy is almost the opposite. Do fewer things, and do them exceptionally well.

Future additions could include simple items such as soft-serve ice cream, meatballs, or sandwiches that utilize ingredients already found in the restaurant. But Garett has no desire to compete with traditional Italian restaurants offering pages of pasta and entrées. "I really hone in and focus on these very few things that we do really, really, really well," he says, "and execute those to the best of our abilities, time in and time out."

That simplicity is reflected in Garett's own favorite pizza. Called the "O," it's a cheeseless pie topped simply with sauce, oregano, and freshly shaved garlic. For Garett, removing the cheese allows the two most important elements, the dough and sauce, to stand on their own. "The dough is 90% of the pizza," he says.

As for the most underrated topping? Anchovies. And pineapple? "Absolutely not." There is, however, a How Ya Dough’n caveat. Garett's approach is to take something familiar and move it just slightly in an unexpected direction. He may not put pineapple chunks on a Hawaiian pizza, but he has experimented with emulsifying pineapple into cream and incorporating it into a more creative pie. It's that small "sidestep to the left or to the right," he says, that can transform something familiar into a How Ya Dough’n pizza.

Pizza With a Purpose

Ask Garett who he would most like to share a pizza with, living or deceased, and his answer doesn't involve a celebrity chef, famous entrepreneur, or historical figure. "My wife," he says. "She's my best friend."

Long before they owned a pizza restaurant, the couple would drive 35 or 40 minutes several times a week to a favorite restaurant just to eat good food and spend time together. That connection to food, family, and experience remains at the center of the company they created together.

Today, Garett says he's fortunate to work "for the business, not in the business." He visits the restaurants regularly, but strong teams handle the day-to-day operations, a responsibility he doesn't take lightly. "I care as much about the people that work in the restaurants as I do for the restaurants themselves," he says.

What began with a portable pizza oven, a sourdough starter, and pizzas passed over a backyard fence has evolved into something Garett clearly sees as much bigger. "This is a real passion project for me," he says. "I'm thankful for people to finally see the company for what it is and to recognize it for what it is, which is that better-for-you pizza."

And perhaps that's How Ya Dough’n's place within wellness, not trying to turn pizza into something it isn't, but proving that one of life's favorite indulgences can be made with greater intention.

How Ya Dough'n is located 3747 S. Las Vegas Blvd, #310, Las Vegas NV 89109 (third floor of the BLVD center, directly across the street from the Aria Resort).