Smokin' Dough Lands at Kitty Cohen's: Sourdough Pies on the East Austin Patio

The dough for tonight's pizzas was mixed on Sunday. That is not a flourish, it is the constraint the whole operation runs on. Smokin' Dough is now resident at Kitty Cohen's, the 21+ patio pool bar on Webberville Rd, cooking sourdough thin crust out of the outdoor kitchen. Six pies on the board, $22 to $25, and a menu that leans on smoke rather than on sweetness.

The move matters because Kitty Cohen's has run that outdoor kitchen for culinary pop-ups since it opened, so the hard part was already solved. What the bar adds is everything around the pizza: a pool, a patio done up like 1970s Palm Springs, and a happy hour from 3pm to 7pm on weekdays that makes turning up early the obvious move.

One planning note before anything else. It is 21+, all night, every night.

What 72 Hours Actually Buys

The base is a slow-fermented sourdough thin crust with a 72-hour cold ferment. The dough is mixed 3 days before service and then left alone in the cold, which is where the flavour and the blistered, leopard-spotted edge come from.

It is also why the operation cannot scale on the night. Dough made on Sunday is what exists on Wednesday, so the ceiling is arithmetic rather than marketing. Get there early on a busy night.

Six pies, $22 to $25, and the dough was mixed 3 days before you ordered.

Smoke, Not Barbecue Sauce

The barbecue influence shows up in technique rather than in a squeeze bottle. Meats are slow-smoked, vegetables go through fire, sauces are made in house, and none of it arrives sweet.

It reads clearest on the Funky Shroom, caramelised well past the point most kitchens stop, and on the Pork Belly, which is smoked long before it meets a crust.

The Board

Six pies, rotating seasonally. Gluten-free dough is available on request.

• Spicy Marg, $22 — Blistered tomato, tomato sauce, chili oil, cheese.
• Funky Shroom, $22 — White sauce, sweet onion, mushroom, cheese, pesto.
• Big Red, $22 — Red sauce, pesto, parm.
• Pepperoni, $25 — Tomato, pepperoni, cheese, calabrian oil, ricotta, honey, chili.
• Pork Belly, $25 — White sauce, cheese, pork belly, calabrian chili, garlic chive oil.
• Drunk Smoked Bird, $25 — Vodka sauce, cheese, smoked chicken, saba. Listed as the special.

Order the Funky Shroom First

White sauce, sweet onion, mushroom and pesto, with no tomato in it anywhere, which is exactly what lets the mushroom taste like mushroom. It is $22 and it is the one to measure the rest against.

If there is a second, make it the Pepperoni at $25, which turns up with ricotta, honey and calabrian chili. The Drunk Smoked Bird, listed as the special, is the clearest read on what the smoke is actually for: vodka sauce, smoked chicken and saba.

Prices were as posted at the bar in September 2026 and the board rotates seasonally, so check the menu on the table before you plan around a specific pie. Follow @smokin_dough_pizza for what is running on a given night.