BTS ARMY flocks to Vesta after V’s Stanford pizza praise

After BTS member V praised a “Stanford pizza” during the group’s May 16 concert, fans traced the mention to Redwood City’s Vesta and returned again—and again—until the restaurant was flooded with the BTS ARMY.

When BTS member V sat down at the K-pop group’s Stanford concert on May 16 and declared that “Stanford has the best pizza,” it would’ve sounded like a throwaway line.

But the words landed like a GPS ping—fast.

Five days earlier. on May 11. BTS had been spotted dining at Vesta in Redwood City. a 14-year-old wood-fired pizza restaurant on Broadway. The “Stanford pizza” reference didn’t stay mysterious for long. Owner Peter Barrone—who has talked about the visit and the dishes Vesa served—said V and other members returned to Vesta twice after announcing their love for what they described as the best pizza.

“V and j-hope came back,” Barrone recalled, and the timing of it mattered. The first time BTS came in to dine at Vesta. Barrone said the group was accompanied by their manager and security. They sat in a back room that patrons must walk through to access the patio. with two other two-tops also seated in the same space.

Because of the group size, Barrone said BTS ordered everything on the menu—salads, small plates, and pizzas—though he also singled out the two favorites they kept circling back to.

“Their favorite pizzas, though, are the pepperoni and the sausage and honey,” Barrone said. He described the pepperoni as having a Calabrian spiced honey added to it, and he said the sausage and honey pizza comes with honey and serranos, a combination that’s sweet and spicy.

Barrone said he didn’t post about the group’s visit on social media. He also didn’t tell people beyond friends and family, partly because he hoped BTS might return. They did.

On Monday, V and j-hope came back and sat again in the back room. This time, though, the restaurant’s mood changed. Vesta wasn’t just hosting a group—it was drawing a crowd.

“Vesta was flooded with the BTS Army,” Barrone said, explaining how fans showed up after hearing that the group had dined there. Some fans saw them, and he described the scene as a mix of excitement and composure: energy that stayed calm, focused on enjoying the food and the moment.

Barrone said the next morning he decided to buy tickets to the Stanford concert that night—for him, his wife, and their two kids.

“It was amazing,” he said. And he pointed to one detail that made the story feel complete: at the end of the show, V brought the pizza up again, repeating how much he loves the pizza at Vesta. Barrone said the effect was immediate—“we’re just so ecstatic.”

After returning from the concert, Barrone said he was inundated with texts from people telling him BTS was livestreaming while eating Vesta’s pizza and desserts. “It was so wild,” he said, “to sit there and watch that after we just watched them perform.”

Since May 16, Barrone said Vesta has been extra busy, with the BTS ARMY asking about the staff’s experience with the K-pop group, what they ate, and where they sat.

“Having BTS, the biggest band in the world, visit our family restaurant and offer such high praise is incredible,” Barrone said. “We are forever grateful for this experience.”

For readers trying to understand why this local pizza stop turned into a full-on fandom pilgrimage, the answer may be simple: the praise wasn’t abstract. It was tied to specific orders, specific flavors, and a restaurant location people could actually walk into.

Vesta is at 2022 Broadway, Redwood City. Its phone number is 650-362-5052, and it’s on Instagram at @vestarwc. The restaurant is open Monday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

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