I remember when I landed in Galway as a naive 18-year-old in 2013 facing into the big, wonderful world of college, one of my friends and I headed for the college bar which is just off one of the main college buildings where a 'meet-and-greet type event was taking place.
As we entered the vicinity, there was a green pop-up van just to the left of where we were standing. We thought they were giving out free food because there was such a queue but as we got closer, my friend said to me 'oh yeah, Dough Bros, their pizza is meant to be alright.'
It was more than alright, it was one of the best pizzas I had ever tasted.
Which, at the time to be fair, wasn't saying a lot. Coming from Mayo, it's not exactly the pizza capital of the world, Papa John's or Domino's was all we had to choose from.
But, almost five years on, that feeling about them has only gotten stronger.
They were a pop-up that used to just appear here, there and everywhere in Galway. But there was a certain buzz when they were around. They would be flat off their feet serving customers at different events. And this was occasion after occasion, something big was starting and we were lucky enough to witness it happening.
Pretty soon, the Greaney brothers, Eugene and Ronan, opened a small shop on Abbeygate Street, in between the nightclubs Electric and Halo.
Much like the van, there was always a queue outside. I'd say, at a push, you could fit maybe a maximum of 20 people inside but it was worth the wait and being squished together just to have a taste of that unique pizza.
Back in 2015, we said about the company:
"Run by the coolest kids in town, Dough Bros on Upper Abbeygate Street has stolen the heart of every pizza lover in the west.
"From their expertly prepared veg to their beaut locally sourced ingredients, this really is perfection on a pizza."
And it was perfection, until one day, we passed Abbeygate Street and we saw the Dough Bros sign being taken down.
We knew it wasn't from lack of profit, the place was booming. There wasn't a fear that the place was going to close down because you knew that they would probably resort back to the van but at the same time, you wanted to see this company grow and grow.
It's funny saying it but as I evolved through college, Dough Bros evolved with me. In first year, it was a small establishment that had great plans of spreading its wings and by the time I was 10 foot deep in my Masters in 2017, they had opened a whopper store at the Cathedral Buildings on Middle Street fit for the biggest and best pizza company in all of Ireland.
I've only ever been in the new place twice since the big move and that's only because I don't get to head to Galway as much as I'd like.
It could cater for one hundred odd people now but thankfully my biggest fear didn't come true. More people to deal with it but they still managed to hold on to their amazing pizza taste that got them to where they are.
There's something special about being able to see your pizza being made also which is a key feature of the new building and as usual, it was fast service with a smile and a pizza that was gobbled down equally as quickly.
I hadn't thought about writing something about Dough Bros before today because I felt there was nothing more that could be said that hasn't already been heard about them.
But then, I got tagged in a post on Instagram regarding the pizza company and their latest delivery.
It just goes to show how nationally loved they have become and being quite honest, I don't know how we haven't seen their signs above the doors of places in Dublin, Cork and Belfast to name but a few.
Someone had waited a couple of hours just so they could have a taste of one of Dough Bros' famous pizzas.
And that, just goes to show how incredibly tasty their pizzas are. If you're willing to wait up on four hours to get your hands on one that your mate is bringing up instead of taking the easy option of ordering one from your nearest pizzeria, that's business that no amount of money can buy.
The post was filled with comments like these:
"Can you please deliver to Yorkshire? Eagerly awaiting to try these pizzas""Would love to eat a delicious "Hail Caesar" Pizza here in Germany""Yer pizzas need to go international"
It's only a matter of time before they do go national and international, even though, I'd love if they stayed unique to just Galway forever.
They've even gone back to their roots, opening a pizza van in one of Galway's busiest pubs, O'Connell's.
So it's safe to say, no matter where they go, they'll always have their two feet firmly planted in the Town of the Tribe.
