Located in southern Guatemala is Pacaya, a “friendly” volcano that’s been active since 1961. Most of its eruptions resemble the kind of slow-paced — but still potentially dangerous — lava flows seen in places like Iceland and Hawaii. This has made the 8,200-foot volcano a popular tourist destination. The volcano is popular for more reasons than its eruptions — Pizza Pacaya uses the volcano to cook its pizzas. Founded by Marion David García, the restaurant has been escorting customers to the volcano for pizza since 2019. Wearing protective gear, military-style boots, and a backpack containing around 60 pounds of equipment and ingredients, García treks to the volcano to make pizzas for his customers. He said it took him five years to perfect the art of cooking pizza on volcano rocks. Baking pizza in volcanic stone is said to create a unique flavor, and takes only 10 minutes to cook on the 575-degree stone. García said there have only been two instances where the volcano erupted while he was serving pizzas, but no one was hurt in either instance. Customers at Pizza Pacaya must make a reservation in advance, and have to be accompanied by tour guides on the hike up Pacaya. García said he typically sees between 200 and 400 customers a week. Pizzas sell for $35 for a small, $45 for a medium, and $55 for a large.
