By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Big-town gourmet pizza out of a small-town pizza trailer. That's what Josh Martin and his wife, Dawn, are doing in Great Bend with their Flatlander Stonefired Flatbread business, most often spotted outside Dry Lake Brewing in downtown Great Bend. When Josh started the business in September 2022, the aim was to provide something different for Great Bend diners.
"It's almost like you choose your dinner off of having to go somewhere instead of wanting to go somewhere," he said. "I kind of wanted to change that and give somebody something that's almost like a treat."
Martin grew up in Great Bend but spent the early years of his adult life running franchise restaurants in Topeka and Salina. Then he slept two nights a week in his car while working in the oil field. But he never gave up on the idea of making his own food.
"I was making more money sleeping in a car than I was working in a restaurant 120 hours a week, so I said I have to go," he said. "The dream was always there. I just always kind of back-burnered it and it finally came to fruition here 20 years later."
The Martins were able to procure the old Papa Murphy's pizza trailer and turn it into their own business. The original goal was to create Sbarro-style pizzas that are often found in malls.
"My son graduated high school that year, and we ended up going to a concert for his graduation in Kansas City," Martin said. "The next day, we went out around town and bought every flatbread pizza around Kansas City and decided that was what Great Bend needed."
Customers can order the usual at Flatlanders, but the Flatlander menu has eclectic selections. The Chicken Mediterranean features olive oil, feta cheese, tomato, roasted pepper, arugula, sea salt, and black pepper. The Beezza features Martin's house-made marinara, mozzarella cheese, cream cheese, pepperoni, tomatoes, jalapenos, and Mike's Hot Honey drizzle.
"Some of them I come up with on my own, but some of them are just repetitive customer feedback," said Martin. "That's the thing I don't think people realize is their input really does matter. Like the Beezza, for instance, I had several people coming up to me saying I had to put cream cheese on pizza, it's amazing. That's where there that started."
Martin buys as many fresh ingredients as possible but does use a food distributor for his flatbreads. The final products require a lot of experimentation.
"I've tried every pepperoni that food provider sells," Martin said. "I've tried every sausage, every cheese, high and low, and just perfected it over the last few years, making subtle changes every week just trying to make it better and better."
While Flatlanders is often parked outside Dry Lake Brewing, it is mobile and does allow him to travel to events around the area. One of his favorites so far has been the touch-a-truck event for Ellinwood Grade School.
"We actually get to sit there and make pizza in the middle of the street for the kids and show them some inspiration," said Martin. "That was one of the cooler highlights of the things we've done."
Martin may have had to wait a couple of decades to get his business going, but it may have been a blessing in disguise. Prior to May 2021, parking at Dry Lake, just a few blocks away from a home full of extra supplies, would not have been an option.
"We've built up quite a good reputation with a lot of the followers of Dry Lake here, so we've got a pretty good crowd," Martin said. "They've been more than grateful to open their doors to us and give us any advice or help along the way."