Yogi’s Pizzeria & Ice Cream Emporium

A Ventless Electric Oven Can Transform your Restaurant!

When Yogi Davis decided to open Yogi’s Pizzeria & Ice Cream Emporium in Nashville, he had plenty of experience and a great location, but he needed an oven that could not only bake a great product, but could also work in his existing space.  “I Googled pizza ovens and started going through all the different ovens that popped up,” Mr. Davis explained.  “I saw Peerless Ovens is in Sandusky, Ohio and so that means it’s American made.  It makes me feel good when I can (buy American), and I also like Sandusky because I like the park there (Cedar Point Amusement Park).  And, I was specifically looking for an electric stone pizza oven.”

With over 25 years in the restaurant business, Davis has plenty of experience with gas appliances, so switching to electric was not a decision he made lightly.   “My restaurants before, I ran 5 different restaurants – full-service restaurants with large kitchens, extensive menus – so I had tons of gas appliances,” he said, adding “I love gas.”  But the building he was moving into did not have an existing hood or ventilation system in place, which is why the Peerless Ventless Electric Ovens came into play.  He ended up purchasing the Peerless CE62PESC VL50 (50” Ventless Electric) with an Ansul fire suppression system and admits he was skeptical at first of making the switch.

Switching to a Ventless Electric Oven

“I was a little skeptical about the oven (keeping up with demand), it being electric as opposed to gas, but every night since we opened except one, we have sold out of dough,” Mr. Davis said.  “And the oven has absolutely no problem keeping up.”  He went to explain that not only had he not encountered any problems with the ovens, it is made him a believer in the power of an electric oven.  “It is absolutely phenomenal.  It has exceeded all expectations of what I thought it could do, how it can keep up,” he admitted, and added that “the recovery time – there’s been some really busy times at night, I can leave a door open while I’m popping pizzas in and out of it and it never drops more than 10 degrees doing that.”

After their recent grand opening the oven has seen constant use and Mr. Davis says that he would tell anyone with the power capabilities to consider going electric.  “I would do this over gas any day of the week,” he said.  “Besides the hassles of gas, the other thing this has allowed me to do is that this is our only piece of cooking equipment I have –  we cook EVERYTHING in it – pizza, chicken wings, breaded chicken, garlic bread – we just keep finding new things to do in it.”  He went to explain “I don’t have fryers or any gas-operated cooking equipment. The saved me $15,000 from not having to install a traditional ventilation system and grease trap, and I’m still up to code.”

Yogi Davis said his two favorite things are pizza and ice cream, which is why he opened his restaurant.  Now he has an oven that has simplified his kitchen, allowed him to expand his menu, and saved him thousands of dollars in venting and grease traps.  If you are a long-time gas oven user who has wondered about whether an electric oven could work for your business, Yogi has a message for you:  “The oven does absolutely everything I hoped it would do, and actually, in a world of over promise and under deliver with a lot of people, this actually exceeded my expectations of what it could do.”

Yogi’s Pizzeria & Ice Cream Emporium
4825 Trousdale Drive, Suite 236
Nashville, TN 37220