Oscar Acatecalt generously flours the dough that he prepped a day earlier, his fingertips gently tapping the mound. With ease, he presses a crust around the rim. He uses his knuckles to expand the dough evenly, before tossing it in the air to reach its desired size of 12 inches.
But it’s here that the traditional Neapolitan pizza takes a twist.
He might top the marinara sauce with mozzarella, pineapple and Al pastor meat — pork marinated with guajillo chilli, achiote and other spices (his family’s secret) — and garnish the pie with cilantro, onions and guacamole once it’s baked.
For Cinco de Mayo, he might add street-style sweet corn to the pizza, or top a pie with spicy grilled chicken, mango and habanero chili.
Other times, he might skip the marinara sauce for refried beans and top the pizza with Mexican chorizo — seasoned with paprika, garlic and chilli peppers. Mozzarella, onions and jalapeño complete the flavors.
Acatecalt, a 33-year-old owner of Coba Pizzeria, calls his creations pizza al estilo Mexicano — Mexican style. He opened the spot in Long Island City with his wife, Gisell Perez, and her father, Candido, in January of this year, with the intention of bringing the flavors he grew up eating in the state of Puebla, in Mexico, to the neighborhood he now calls home. The pizzeria operates as a ghost kitchen in a building shared with other small businesses. It does not have a storefront or indoor seating and relies on delivery and pickup. The business has also teamed up with local organizations for catering and plans to expand into street food festivals.
“I wanna show people that our culture is good for everything. Like right now I am making a fusion of Mexican food and Neapolitan style pizzas. I am putting it together to show people our recipes,” Acatecalt said. “I am trying to come up with something different as I show our culture through the food.”
“I wanna show people that our culture is good for everything.”
— Oscar Acatecalt, owner of Coba Pizzeria
Even the name of the business, he said, was meant to signify part of his culture. He explained that the word Cobá comes from the ancient pyramids in the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico.
Acatecalt was born in Queens but moved to Cholula in the state of Puebla, Mexico with his parents at the age of five, where his father had decided to open a business.
It was while working at his dad’s pizzeria, El As de las Pizzas (The Ace of Pizzas), that Acatecalt learned the trade. He remembers at age seven that his father did not have a dough maker, so they used a plastic container to make the dough by hand. “It was kind of hard. I used to see them pushing, kneading, and pounding it. It was hard at the start.”
When he was 11, Acatecalt began observing how the business operated. By 15, he began delivering pizzas after school.
While in high school, Acatecalt would travel to New York City to visit his uncle every summer. Although he enjoyed living in Mexico, the college opportunities in the city drew him back to the U.S.
‘I wanna serve people good and safe food’
Upon arriving in New York, 18-year-old Acatecalt worked for construction for three months and quickly realized that he wanted to work in food. He worked at Amy’s Bread in Union Square where he started making sandwiches and then eventually mixing the dough for baguettes, brioche, and sourdough.
From 2014 to 2020, he worked at various pizza places in Astoria and Bushwick, learning the tricks of the trade. He was let go during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Without a job, he spent much of his time at home with his wife. One day, he was watching T.V. when he came across a report of someone doing pop-up sales with small gas ovens.
“So I was like, ‘I wanna make my own pizza at home.’ […] And then from there we just start putting, mixing our Mexican food that we have at home on top of the pizza,” Acatecalt said.
He experimented with portions, seasonings and amounts to ensure that the toppings wouldn’t overpower the base of the pizza. “You have to know how to put it. … You have to find a way to work with the pizza.”
And eventually he ended up with La Tejana, the pizza with the refried bean base, chorizo and jalapenos.
“I was in love with it,” he remembers. “The chorizo is crispy, meaty and savory. Jalapenos gives you a little twist of the spicy. And the beans are like a different thing — it’s not a sauce, it’s like a paste,” he said.
Acatecalt shared the pizzas with his family and friends, and he said they started to give him ideas about making other types of pizza that also utilize Mexican cuisine staples. “I was like ‘Okay, I am gonna do Al Pastor for you guys.’ And then I started making Al Pastor, La Mexicana, and Enmolada, which is topped with mole poblano [sauce] from Puebla.”
Acatecalt started a pop-up on weekends in front of his house in Astoria, Queens, where he was selling on average 60 pizzas each day. He continued operating the pop-up for nearly a year and a half, while continuing to do deliveries for Amazon four days a week, and also delivering for a third-party restaurant.
Eventually he stopped selling pizzas from his backyard to work multiple jobs and save money to open his own place one day.
In late 2025, along with his wife and her father, they decided to invest into opening their own ghost kitchen. The process was long and difficult, said Acatecalt, who explained that his wife had to familiarize herself with all aspects of running a restaurant — from getting permits to passing food inspections.
Perez says that after the first hurdle, business has been steadily growing and that orders have been consistent for both pick up and delivery. “Being in a more stable location has definitely helped us reach more customers and build a regular flow,” she said.
Customers have been receptive to the flavors and have called it “unique”, she said. “Many come back specifically for those fusion flavors, especially our Al Pastor and Mexicana pies.” She added that the concept has drawn a diverse crowd — including non-Latinos — who are curious about the toppings and, once they tried it, have shared positive responses.
She attributes part of the success to their location. “Queens especially feels like the perfect place for a concept like ours because of how many cultures come together in one community,” Perez said. “The diversity here means people are open to trying different cultures and flavors, and they really appreciate creative food.”
“We started from zero and I can now say that we have a space where we can prepare everything and open every day,” Acatecalt said, adding that he is grateful to his wife and in-law for believing his concept. “I wanna serve people good and safe food.”
