Melina Piroso Felix

Owner/operator of The Pizza Bandit

Denver, Colorado

Instagram: @thepizzabanditcolorado

Melina Piroso Felix started building The Pizza Bandit brand before selling her first pizza. Her son suggested the business name, and when Piroso Felix saw the web domain cost just $8 to claim, she was sold. Having spent at her uncle’s Florida-based pizzeria, the graphic designer began posting photos of homemade pizzas on Instagram and, in the run-up to her first pop-up event, purchased targeted ads. “The day that we officially opened up for business, we sold out from all these people following us,” she tells Pizza Today. This spring, The Pizza Bandit turned the page on a new chapter: opening a storefront at a multiple-concept food hall in Downtown Denver.

Pizza Today (PT): What has been the evolution of your pizza from hobby to pop-ups during COVID Until now?

Melina Piroso Felix (MPF): Every time we have a different location, we have to change our process. The ambient temperature is different, the humidity is different, the time in which we can leave dough out is different, the temperature of the walk-in is different, the water is different. It’s constantly evolving and changing. It’s a never-ending evolution.

We’ve definitely hit our stride in a lot of ways (at this location), and then in other ways, we’re still just kind of working things out.

After two weeks of working here, I noticed that everybody kept coming in and saying, “Can I have a pepperoni pizza with a side of ranch?” I’m very big on giving the people what they want, so I’m gonna give them the best pepperoni and ranch. The “Super Pepperoni Ranch” uses the good cup-and-char pepperoni, and the ranch is made from scratch. So, it’s a ranch base, and then it has mozzarella, Monterey Jack, white cheddar, mini pepperonis, medium cupping pepperonis, extra-large pepperonis, and then it gets drizzled with ranch and house-made hot honey.

We make all of our sauces. Nothing comes from the bottle. We have found that it really makes a difference as far as the customers are concerned. If I was just using bottled ranch and bottled honey, then someone else could make the same tasting pizza.

PT: Have you always made this style of pizza, or have you played around with different pizza styles?

MPF: I am a pizza lab. I love making different styles of pizza. I haven’t had that much time to experiment since starting this (location), but I wanted to come up with a pan pizza that we could make here. We ended up not doing it, just for logistical reasons, but when I experiment, I take a dough recipe and then I tweak it maybe 10 times. Then, I label all the different bins, and I watch how it proofs, how they rise, how they bake. I love experimenting.

I’ve made crust with powdered beet in it to make it pink. I’ve made charcoal crust. I pickle the red onions in hibiscus tea to make them pink. I don’t have that much time to experiment and be creative anymore, but I know that’s coming down the line as the business solidifies a little.

PT: What are some of your goals and plans for the future?

MPF: I want to have a brick and mortar location that’s all my own. It would mean the world to me. This means the world to me already, so that would just be a step further.

When I developed the brand and the name, my goal was to one day franchise and have Pizza Bandits everywhere. That’s why I put so much effort into the look and the concept of it, and then I wanted all the recipes to be something that translate wherever you are. Super Pepperoni Ranch makes sense in lots of different states. I didn’t want things to be so complicated and fancy that we can’t have other states enjoy it.

I did start writing a book about pizza. It’s not something I’ve been able to work on lately, but eventually, when I can pull away from this a little bit more. And then, we’re going to start selling our honey and our ranch and then maybe a couple of our other sauces.

PT: It sounds like you have a lot of big plans!

MPF: I’m cloning myself as we speak.

Read the July 2025 Issue of Pizza Today Magazine

Who are this year’s Rising Stars in the Pizza Industry? We profile six up-and-comers who are making their mark on pizza. Discover why the Grandma style pizza is spreading across the country. See why your pizza could benefit from whole-grain flour. Brush up on inventory management best practices. Learn how to take your products to the retail market. Go to the July Issue.