Hunt brothers talk launching their brand Via 313, rise of Detroit-style pizza

In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, talks to Brandon Hunt and Zane Hunt, brothers who launched Via 313 in Austin, Texas.

Zane said he and his brother were raised in the Detroit, and grew up eating square pizza, now known as Detroit-style pizza.

"You thinking about where we're at right now in 2024 with the hyper gentrification of pizza," he said. "Back then, there was just round and square pizza. Round pizza could have been a number of different things. Square pizza could have been a number of different things, whether its was a sheet-pan pizza from an Italian bakery or Grandma-style pizza, and then we had Detroit with the caramelized edges."

It took the brothers traveling to different parts of the country to realize that they were fortunate to have different styles of pizza in Detroit.

Zane moved to Austin in 2009 with his wife and kids and sought out pizza like he had at home "and we realized quickly it didn't exist," he said.

Zane and Brandon began examining what it would look like if they started their own pizza brand in Austin. They wanted to bring Detroit-style pizza to Austin, and used a recipe they were both comfortable with. It took almost two years to open their first location, a pizza trailer.

Brandon said what sets Via 313 is now focused on consistency and service. Though they won't compare their pizza to other Detroit-style brands, they instead focus on the customer and efficiency.

"Service was a thing that could separate us," Brandon said. "You really can't debate whether service is good or not or if we're the best at service. That's not debatable. That's really important to us."

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