Best Pizza in San Diego

Mike's Appiza in West Haven, CT-must try asap!

2015-01-19T15:47:00.001-08:00

I grew up in West Haven. Somehow I never tried Mike' appiza even thought Mike was a neighbor of ours. I will make it my first stop next time I get back to West Haven. In the meantime, I'm having a 60th birthday party at Urbn Pizza in North Park on Saturday afternoon on Feb. 14th. Come join us.

Stolen from a Yelp review by Joe C from Madison, CT:

Here is a link to the Yelp page http://www.yelp.com/biz/mikes-apizza-and-restaurant-west-haven

A lot of people talk about New Haven style pizza THIS and New Haven style pizza THAT. But ask them to describe New Haven style pizza and except for the usual "charred crust" response, you're likely not to get much else out of them. That's because New Haven style pizza is kinda complex and somewhat difficult to describe. Some traits of it are noticeable like the charred crust but other traits are very subtle. In many ways it's like New York style, but in some ways it's not.

Exhibit #1: take a look at my photo of the whole pie. THAT'S a New Haven style pizza. You cannot see the underside but it is slightly charred with little bits of burnt "who-knows-what". I like the burnt "who-knows-what". It adds a smokey flavor and is just the result of not continuously scraping the oven. On the top of the pizza you will see multiple bubbles and every bubble is blackened (some say burnt). Also, the mozzarella cheese is grated and not sliced.

Not evident in the photo is a good supply of tomato sauce. The amount is enough to make your hands messy and get your shirt and pants into trouble (if it all slides off your slice). Unlike its New York cousin, New Haven style pizza is typically more messy to eat. Sometimes it can be a big slop fest. But any good chef will tell you good food is almost never neat. That's something our NY friends don't understand and will often judge a slice by it's "neatness". Which as a long time New Havener boggles my mind. They'll also load up on lots of toppings, eventually turning their pizza into a big casserole. Take a look at all the toppings in my photo. Yup, there are none. That's because a good New Haven style pizza can stand by itself without toppings.

So how's Mike's apizza? It's very good. It's not the best pizza in the area, but it's very good and is probably one of the better pizzas in West Haven. I like it because it's slightly thicker than Zuppardi's. That reminds me, here's one more thing about New Haven style pizza; some people will say it is thicker or thinner than NY pizza. The truth is it can actually be both. New Haven style pizza can either be thick or thin depending on who is making it. Mike's apizza is more in line with the thicker styles of Grand Apizza and Ernies Pizza.

Crust, sauce and cheese were all good.

The interior of Mike's is a little hokey. I mean it's dark, there's an in-your-face fish tank, and there's odd looking diamond plate lining the walls. Plus, there's a total of three separate rooms which make its layout kinda confusing, especially if you have to pick up a pizza at the pick-up window.

So how's service? Eh. From my little communication with the pizza makers they don't seem to be the most hospitable people in the world. Unfortunately I think I've received more warm feelings from a wet rag.

Buona Forchetta: A Taste of Naples in South Park

2013-08-06T14:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the best places are the hardest to find. Buried deep in the recesses of South Park sits a great little Italian restaurant and pizzeria. Buona Forchetta. A friend of Kyle's recommended it and we thought we would check it out.

Keep in mind, my pizza quest stems from my hailing from near New Haven, CT-home of arguably the best pizza in the world. I suffered through a couple of decades of a pizza drought in San Diego, CA where people think Fillipi's is good pizza. It's not. It's average. It's doughy and its filling. Half way through the first slice and I'm done. It's not good enough to justify the calories. That's actually my barometer for good pizza. I'm not overweight but I could easily be. I'm very careful about what I eat. We avoid processed foods, eat natural, fresh local vegetables and limit our sugar. When I treat myself to pizza it had better be good. I know it's good if I say "screw it" and down more than two slices. I'm very good at quitting before I'm stuffed. I don't mind stuffing myself at Pepe's, Zuppardi's, Sally's or Modern in Connecticut. I still need to try Mike's in West Haven. In San Diego, so far, I'll pig out at Urbn, Bronx, Cafe Calabria, and now Buona Forchetta.

I need to try Pizzeria Bruno again. And there are many more. The drought is over. Landini's and Napizza in Little Italy do a good job.

I'm sure there is a story behind Buona Forchetta's authentic oven

My New Haven pizza background does not make me an expert. I just know that I love it and I need it. I've never been to Italy, so I have no expertise when it comes to authentic Neapolitan pizza. I have had pizza in other countries in Europe. It was very good. The point is I have a bias. The bias is:

But back to Buona Forchetta. I have to believe this is close to what you would find in Naples. The owner is from Italy, as are most of the staff. Our waiter certainly was. We arrived around 6:00pm or so. There was a line of people waiting to be seated and every table was taken. The patio was full. We would be eating outside on the patio because we had our dog, Roo, with us.

I recognized an old co-worker from my Merrill Lynch days. We caught up. He highly recommended we order the artichokes as an appetizer. I have to be honest. That didn't particularly excite me. We had a 45 minute wait. In the meantime we talked to people, window shopped at the neighboring stores and took Roo around the block.

Seinfeld, party of 4! Actually it was Steve party of 4, if you count Roo. We were seated, outside. It was a beautiful evening. The sun was just going down. Jets were flying overhead were just off of the flight path. We watched the 7:00 pm daily British Airways 747 come in. The restaurant is far enough away from the flight path that the noise wasn't an issue.

Our Italian waiter greeted us. Took our drink orders and returned with wine and a Peroni for me.

The last piece of the Artichoke appetizer. We fought over this one.

The patio was perfect. I'm afraid it was pretty loud inside.

There were three of us; me, Kyle and her mom, Mary. We ordered the artichoke appetizer and two pizzas, the Regina Margherita and the Alexa. The Margherita came with

Buffalo mozzarella, Tomatoes, basil and extra virgin olive oil.

Regina Magherita

The Alexa had rapini, scamorza, house made fennel sausage and EVOO. Rapini is a small, bitter broccoli. Scamorza is a smoky, cow's milk cheese similar to mozzarella.

Alexis

Before the pizza arrived we got the artichoke appetizer. I don't know what that did to it but it was amazing. There were four artichokes. Pretty much the heart and the stem. It was soaked in an incredible olive oil and garlic mixture. Order the artichoke appetizer.

Our Italian waiter delivered the pizzas. I asked for grated Parmesan. He looked at me like "really dude?". I was like, "is that not done?" It was fun and light, but he let me know that this sacred pie really should not be desecrated with the scourge of this filthy condiment. I might as well have asked for catsup. He followed up with letting me know the customer is always right and he would be happy to oblige me. I relented letting him know I would accept his recommendation. I don't think it mattered one way or the other. I always put Parmesan on my pizza. I didn't this time. I've never heard of this. I googled it but can't find anything that says this is " a thing".

I loved the Margherita. Easily comparable to the pizza we had at Cafe Calabria the week before. The crust was a little bit better here. Again,the pizzas were the smaller, individual size pies. Three of us has no problem finishing the two pizzas. People who have bigger appetites are going to need more.

The Alexis was delicious as well. For me it was better with out the rapini. I found it bitter and not a great topping. I took it off and are it separately. The sausage was exquisite.

An unsung hero was the Peroni. It was perfect with the setting sun and great authentic Neapolitan pizza. Of course when you forgo New Haven pizza you forfeit your right to Foxon Park Birch Beer.

I'm really enjoying this explosion of quality pizza in this town. I still look forward toy pilgrimages back to Pepe's et al, but it great to know I don't have to go far to find a great pizza. I just have to look and work a little harder.

Caffe Calabria in North Park-a Delightful Surprise

2013-07-28T20:59:00.001-07:00

How our groupon helped us find a great new pizza joint.

There are so many great eateries in San Diego, both new and established. We prefer quaint, unique one of a kind places. Pizza hasn't really been a priority lately. I took a trip back to Connecticut a few months back and made sure I got to some of the best pizzerias on the planet. This time it was Pepe's and, for the first time ever for me, Modern Pizza in New Haven. I need to try Mike's in West Haven next chance I get.

It hardly seemed worth the effort to look for a new spot here in San Diego. We definitely are no where near the "pizza belt". The odds of finding worthwhile pizza are not

My wife was on her way home from work tonight. After a long week of beautifying the lucky women of San Diego she deserved a nice dinner dinner and drink. We were looking for a fun happy hour and came up with Tom Hamm's Lighthouse on the harbor. We'd just been there for dinner a few weeks ago to celebrate our 26th anniversary. Our first date was there in 1986 at a friend's wedding. I know this because Kyle(my wife, she's a girl) tested me a week earlier and I failed. I won't forget that one ever again.

It turns out Tom Hamm's happy hour, which by the way features $1 oysters , ended at 6:00pm. We didn't have time to get there so the hunt was on.

"What do you feel like?"

"I don't know, what do you feel like?"

"Why do I always have to decide?"

"Ok, then how about sushi?"

"Naw, I'm not feeling sushi tonight"

"WTF?"

Kyle had a groupon for pizza at a place called Brooklyn Pizza. Never heard of it but why not?

So we headed over there. It was a small shop in a tiny strip mall at the corner of Texas and University. Next to the Olympic Diner. There was nothing exciting about the place from the outside. One quick look and we decided we would save the groupon for another time. Take out perhaps. I'll let you know if it's any good when we try it.

We were almost in North Park by now. Our favorite pizza in town is Urbn Pizza. The owner, Jon Mangini has done a nearly flawless job of bringing New Haven to San Diego. He has the two locations for Urbn, one in North Park and the other in Vista. In addition, he owns Basic Pizza, near Petco Park. Basic was just named Best Pizza in SD by SD Magazine. I've never tried it. Not yet anyway. Must go soon.

So we get to the heart of North Park. Man has that place changed, for the better, since we moved away a decade ago. The place was hopping.

Parking was a bear. We ended up parking in the library parking lot after a neighbor told us it would be ok. We walked a couple of blocks to University and came around the corner to Urbn. The place was crazy. It was jam packed. There is no recession in North park. We found out it would be an hour and a half to be seated, an hour just to order a pizza.

Plan C. We whipped out our phones and started looking

at nearby places on Yelp. Kyle found an Italian place called Il Postino. We walked a few more blocks. Poked our heads inside. It didn't excite us.

Next door to Il Postino sits Caffe Calabria. I've heard great things about this place, but only about their coffee. They were recently voted best the coffee house in town, again by SD Magazine. We peeked into the place. I had no idea they were a full-on restaurant and pizzeria. Just inside the front door was a guy rolling dough and working the pizza oven. It looked interesting and we were getting pretty hungry so we stayed.

The guy making the pizzas was right out of central casting. When I first started watching him I mentioned to Kyle I thought the dough was pre rolled. It looked way too perfect. Then we watched him proceed to make more. He pulled clumps of dough, rolled it, sprinkled it with flour, pounded it and shaped into flawless pies.

We ordered some red wine and a $5 insalata verde. Best five dollar salad I've ever tasted. Kyle ordered the pizza, a Quattro Stagioni. All the pizzas are made Neapolitan style.

Quattro Stagioni means Four seasons - organic san marzano tomato, prosciutto cotto, fior di latte, mushroom, artichoke, black olive, grana. The sauce was quite possibly some of the best I've ever tasted- rich, just the right touch of sweetness. The toppings were arranged into quadrants on the fairly small sized pizza. Every pizza served was more of a personal sized one. I'm not sure, but I don't think they serve larger sized pizza. .

We shared one and it was the perfect amount for two people who don't eat a lot. The table of four next to us each had their own pizza. We would have most certainly ended up taking half home for leftovers had we ordered one each. Between the salad, which we also shared and the small pizza we were perfectly satiated with just enough room to head down the street to Heaven Sent for a tasty dessert.

Between the sauce and the delicious fresh toppings of organic tomatoes, prosciutto, artichokes, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese this pizza was nearly perfect. The thin crust was tasty, but a bit soggy for my taste. I prefer it crispy and slightly burned. But it couldn't diminish the other flavors.

The atmosphere has very a European feel. We could have easy been sitting in a small bistro in Italy.

One of the first pizza places I tried when I started this hunt was Pizzeria Bruno on Park Avenue. I wasn't initially pressed, but I think it is worth a trip back to check it out again. The oven and the style of pizza was very close to what we had at Caffe Calabria.

Being from Connecticut has been a blessing and a curse. My standard for a worthwhile pizza us high. Very few places can stand up to the challenge. Caffe Calabria stands up to the test.

Urbn Revisited....Again!!

2011-09-05T13:19:00.000-07:00

Man is this good pie. I'm gearing up for a visit to the East Coast in a few weeks and I can hardly wait to get to New Haven(or West Haven) to treat myself to Pepe's, Sally's or Zuppardis. I may try to hit Modern this time, since I've heard a lot about it, but I've never been there.

We are hosting a Swedish hockey player for the San Diego Gulls Junior team(18-20 yr olds). He arrived last week and I've been introducing him to the USA and to San Diego. First stop was In N' Out Burgers. We hit Luche Libre on Washington St. for tacos....but the highlight for me was showing him what good pizza is...

My first and only choice was Urbn Pizza on University Ave. in North Park. Of course the Urbn in Vista is just as good if not better, but too far for me. If you've read anything I've written, you will know that Urbn is my favorite Pizza restaurant in town. I know it's good, because, in addition to recreating the New Haven Napoletano style of pizza, I can't stop myself from eating once I start. I can down a half of a large pizza in one sitting if I want to. Usually, I try to restrain myself and save 2 or 3 slices to take home for eating cold out of the fridge or reheated in the toaster oven. When I eat most other pizza's in San Diego, I can barely finish 1 slice...it's just not usually good enough to waste the calories. Most of the pizzerias I've reviewed in previous columns are good and warrant at least 2 slices, but Urbn takes the "pie".

So Ludwig, our guest Swedish hockey player, and I ordered a large cheese with sausage on 1/2, bacon on 1/2 and onions.....it was de-freaking-liscious. I loved it. Ludwig was impressed. It was everything I would expect and hope for...sloppy thin pizza with a tasty crunchy crust. Perfecto! Foxon Park Birch Beer ....mmmm!!! One caveat. $30 plus tip for a large pizza with 3 toppings and 2 drinks. Not cheap.

My mouth is watering thinking about scarfing down pizza in New Haven...tempted to head back to Urbn for more, but I'll hold off.

New York vs. Chicago

2011-07-05T21:26:00.000-07:00

We recently visited a couple of Pizza Joints in town that I've been hearing good things about. Our first stop was at Bongiornos Pizza in Poway. My friend, Howie from the Scripps Ranch Dog Park has been telling about this place for Months. I've been meaning to try it for a while now and since we were just preparing to move out of the Ranch, we jumped at the chance to check it out.

Bongiorno's is a funky little dive in a non-descript strip mall in just off of Poway Road. I would never have tried it without the recommendation. I wasn't disappointed. It's a fine example of a decent New York pie. Thin crust, crispy, good sauce and cheese....definitely worth it if you are in the area. Eat it there if you can. I don't know how well it would travel. They sell by the slice. Very good but I'm not sure how far I would travel to eat there. Great find for a local inland north county spot tho.

The restaurant is decorated with all kinds of New York City decor. Friendly staff. Try it if you are in the area.

We recently moved to Mission Hills area and are thrilled with the abundance of eateries in the area. Another friend, also from the dog park, recommended a place in Hillcrest called Lefty's Chicago Pizzeria. You may recognize the building. It is the location of the original Phil's Barbecue before he relocated to the Sports Arena area.

As a New Englander, I never thought much of Chicago Style, deep dish pizza. I figured it would be too filling and never had the desire to try it. I'm not sure, but I may have tried it in a mall or an airport one time, but either way I've never been a fan.

So we go in...there's a huge line. A long wait to be seated. The place was abuzz with eager diners. We gave our name and placed our order and hung out, enjoying the energy and ambiance. We ordered slices. I didn't want to risk buying an entire pie since I probably wouldn't care for it any way. They also have New York style, thin crusted pizza and a large pasta menu. We ordered 1 of each slice and a pasta dish to share.

I was amazed at how good the deep dish slice was. The New York slice was really good and easily comparable to most of the decent pizza we've found in our quest. I would order it again. But the Chicago style was a complete surprise. Even though it was deep dish, the crust was surprisingly tasty and not too filling. What delighted me the most was the chewy cheesy filling and tomato sauce topping..it was amazing. Notice the sauce is on top, covering the cheese. I'm looking forward to another trip soon. I'm still a New Haven pie junkie, but this was damned good pizza.

Landini's Pizzeria, In the heart of Little Italy

2011-05-22T15:04:00.000-07:00

Had a chance to sit and enjoy a slice of pie at Landini's Pizzeria in Little Italy earlier today. A fine example of New York style pizza. It was pretty good. I still prefer Bronx Pizza on Washington Street for my favorite NY Style pizza in town and of course, I'll always go for the New Haven Style of Urbn Pizza in North Park and Vista.

Of course there is the ambiance and buzz of Little Italy, so the atmosphere adds to the experience. That's something you don't get everywhere.

Has My Quest Ended

2011-05-17T11:14:00.000-07:00

Well, with Urbn Pizza in Vista and North Park and the recent news that my daughter will be attending Uconn(with Pepe's Pizza only 30 minutes away from the Storrs Campus) has my search for the ultimate New Haven pizza come to a happy ending?

For the past few months we've bounced back and forth between the 2 locations of Urbn in San Diego County; Vista and North Park. Mostly, because the pizza is so good and the closest thing to eating at Sally's, Pepe's or Zuppardi's that I can find in San Diego. Also, because I haven't heard of much else. We keep meaning to get to Naked Pizza in Hillcrest and Bongiorno's in Poway.

If you have any recommendations, please pass them on.

De(eh?)l Mar Pizza

2011-03-15T21:58:00.000-07:00

Well, we bought a groupon coupon for Del Mar Pizza, so we made the trek across hwy 56 to Del Mar to check it out. We've heard good things about it, so we decided to try it.

Nice hangout in the midst of the Del Mar action. Parking was tough until we decided to go around the back where we were able to squeeze into their own lot behind the restaurant.

Anyway, the pizza was so-so. A decent pizza joint for San Diego, but really nothing special. I wouldn't go out of my way, but if I was in Del Mar and hungry for pizza it would do.

It didn't come close to passing the Bronx Pizza or Urbn Test.....miles away from the ultimate New Haven style pizza I'm looking for in San Diego.

Close But No Cigar-Pizzeria Luigi

2011-01-30T22:53:00.000-08:00

We headed out to check out Pizzeria Luigi in Golden Hill on Friday night. Luigi's is a cool little spot right across the street from one of my favorite restaurants in San Diego, the Turf Supper Club. It's right on 25th and B St just up the hill from Downtown San Diego.

Proprietor, Luigi Agostini grew up in Italy, traveled the world, and ended up in San Diego where he learned the pizza business working at Bronx Pizza. In 2004 he opened the Golden Hill restaurant. He also has a location in North Park.

In 2008, the Food Network's "Diners Drives and Drive Ins" visited Luigi's and literally put them on the map. They've been a local hotspot since they opened, but after the episode aired they achieved cult status and people travel from all over to check it out.

We got there on an early Friday evening and the place was just starting to heat up with hungry customers. They brand themselves as "New York style pizza". I set my expectation meter on "Bronx Pizza". Bronx would be my benchmark. I love Bronx Pizza. I've never been disappointed and until I discovered Urbn Pizza, Bronx was my favorite San Diego Pizza place. Would Luigi's Pizza stand up to the Bronx test?

Luigi's offers slices, just like Bronx. Urbn and a few of the others we've visited only serve full pies. Luigi's has a deli case full of cold pizza's so you can see choose the kind of slice you want.

We ordered our standard fare; cheese pie with 1/2 sausage and 1/2 meatball with fresh tomatoes. It took a really long time for them to make it. After about 20-25 minutes we started getting impatient, but just then our pizza was delivered to our table.

It looked pretty good:

But, unfortunately, it didn't come close to Bronx Pizza. The flavor missed the mark for me and the crust was not crisp or crunchy the way we like. It was really disappointing because everything about this place was so cool and looked so promising.

I will come back and give them another chance. I wanted to like the pizza, but I could barely finish my second slice. In fact I didn't finish it. And then the next day when we popped the leftovers in the oven, it wasn't all that good then either.

When I eat a pizza in New Haven at Pepe's or Sally's, etc, I can't stop eating. Even at Urbn, I could down 3 or 4 slices. I don't like to fill up, but I will if it's worth the calories. Not worth it this time.

I'll report back when we try them again, but for now it was close but no cigar.

Pizzicato-Good Not Great

2010-12-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

Decided to look for a new pizza restaurant somewhere near Old Town tonight. Went to a wonderful production of "It's A Wonderful Life" presented as an original live radio broadcast. We were looking for pizza before the play. I went online and decided to check out Yelp for a new idea. I came across a place that sounded promising. What I found was Pizzicato on 5th Avenue and Laurel.

Mary had a little Pie.

Pizzicato is a chain of "gourmet pizza" shops that originated in Portland and has made it's way to San Diego. They have about 20 locations up and down the coast.

The Yelp reviews overstated the place. It was good but not great. Crust was "just ok". It was thin and crunchy, not bad. Sauce was a bit bland. The sausage was lackluster. Better than most in San Diego, but not great. Not cheap either. I wouldn't hesitate to stop in for a slice if was in the area and hungry. But With Bronx, Bruno, Urbn and Basic all in the same area it wouldn't be my first choice.

No Pizza!

2010-12-06T22:35:00.000-08:00

I've been unable to get out for pizza for the past two weeks. I had plans for this past weekend, but they fell through. On a positive note, I've dropped the 5 lbs I added since visiting New Haven in October and then starting on this quest.

Urbn Do-over

2010-11-22T07:57:00.000-08:00

Finally made it to Urbn in North Park last night. Ended my diet, having having had no Pizza since Bronx last Tursday. Well, that's if you don't count the leftovers on Wednesday and Thursday.

Urbn in North Park is striking in the difference to its sister store in Vista. First of all North Park is much more "upscale". There was more going on than just a pizzeria. There was an interesting mixture of young bar goers and family diners. The North Park location is large, 5000 square feet. You walk in and it is more of a bar scene than a pizza joint. There is a huge bar area with W Hotel style couches for lounging. There's one Big Ass fan on the ceiling. No kidding it's the size of a large airplane propeller and the actual name on it is Big Ass Fan.

So the place has a bar scene feel. It's dark, music is playing, though just short of blasting. Most of the patrons at this time, 6:30 pm on a Sunday night, were hanging out at the bar. We were seated near the back of the cavernous dining area by a friendly host.

I saw a few tables with customers enjoying their pizzas as we were seated. Strangely though the smell of pizza wafting through the air was missing.

Our waitress was vey nice. She brought us drinks and took our order, which is about the time things went a bit south in North Park. We ordered a large sausage, cheese and fresh tomato pie, as well s a small white pizza with clams. It took quite a while for our pizza to be served. I was starting to wonder what happened to our order when it finally arrived. Our waitress delivered our prizes and was off to tend to other tables. By now the restaurant was beginning to fill with new patrons.

I took a couple of pictures and they looked great. Check out the crust on the cheese pie. Looks yummy. I tried the clam pizza first. Uh oh...not hot, not even really warm. Nearly Cold. It tasted pretty good. I haven't had a clam pizza in years. I know this was the real thing. I spoke to Jon Mangini, the owner, last week and he mentioned that he has the clams imported from New England. It tasted great, but again it was verging on being cold. Then I tried the sausage, fresh tomato and cheese pizza. Slight warmer, but it had obviously been sitting in it's own juices for much too long and it was pretty soggy. Again, tasted very good, but all in all not nearly as satisfying as I'd hoped.

When the waitress came back she asked how everything was. Without making much eye contact we sheepishly said it tasted really good. As soon as she walked away we commiserated that we should have spoken up because otherwise, they would never know. A few minutes later the host came by to ask how it was and we told him that it tasted really good, but we were disappointed because it wasn't hot. He was genuine in his concern and asked what he could do to make it up. We asked for nothing saying it was ok.

Feeling better about our confession, we ate a few more slices before asking for a "to-go" box, figuring it might taste better coming hot out of the toaster oven than it did when it was delivered to our table.

We finished up our beer, wine and two Foxon Park birch beers. The waitress brought us our check.....and here was the best part of the evening. The check showed a deduction of $40.00 for the cost of the 2 pizzas. Of course it was great to not have to pay, but what was really gratifying was the way the manager handled this situation. Sometimes in this world of "business as usual", great customer service just kinda smacks you in the face. The pizza wasn't what we expected, but the way the manager took care of us had us leaving with a great feeling about the place and a desire to come back and give them another chance. Oh yeah, the guy we told about the pizza being cold turned out to be the manager, Nick.

So we will being conducting a do-over in the near future. In the meantime we've been getting additional recommendations so in the spirit of the hunt we will be happy to check them out. So far though, my favorite, and the closest thing in town to the authentic New Haven style pizza we are looking for remains Urbn in Vista.

Mid-Week Snack....

2010-11-17T15:00:00.000-08:00

Not quite half-way to the weekend, found myself near Mission Valley last night. My mother-in-law was treating me to a performance of the new musical opening at the Lyceum Theater, Storeytown. It's the story of the redlight district and and the birth of jazz in New Orleans in the early 1900s.

We decided to make a quick stop at Bronx Pizza on 3rd Avenue in Hillcrest for a bite before the play. Bronx, you may recall, has been our favorite Pizza spot in town for the last 10 years. Ever since we discovered it, it's been the only place in town I would go for good east coast pizza. That is until my recent quest for the best New Haven style pizza.

Bronx is a funky hole in the wall with an attitude. It's all business. Better know what you want when you step up to the counter to order. The restaurant is a no frills joint. The walls are lined with old boxing and NY Yankees photos. The case at the counter is filled with all kinds of pizzas. They do a huge "slice" business. People walk in off the street, and order a few slices right out of the counter. All the while they are pumping out fresh pies out of the brick ovens behind them.

Here's a little bit about the crew from their website:

Some of the lifetime accomplishments of the Bronx Pizza crew:

a handful of college degrees
a few felony convictions
several years of attendance in twelve-step programs
dozens of tattoos
too many burns to count

We ordered a cheese pie with sausage. Unlike the New Haven pizza pie where the sausage is crumbled and spread all over the pizza, at Bronx the sausage was sliced like pepperoni.

The pizza was delicious. Just as it always is. Since I've been searching for and tasting New Haven style pizzas recently, it was easy to tell the difference. Bronx Pizza is thin crusted with a wonderful crunchy dough and crust. But.....it's not quite as thin as what you would get in Connecticut, or at Urbn. And it is missing that slightly burnt quality that you would also find in a Pepe's or Sally's apizza.

The two of us were only able to finish half, so I brought it home and we heated it up and polished it off for lunch today. Again, it tasted great, but it didn't quite match up to the pizza from Urbn.

Every thing about Bronx Pizza is fun, funky and delicious. The only negatives are; parking can be an difficult and their beverage selection is minimal. They only serve fountain sodas. There is a liquor deli next door, so you can go there to have your other needs met. I'm not sure if you can bring a beer in to the restaurant.

We will be heading for Urbn again this weekend. Plans changed, so we are going early Saturday evening instead of Friday. I'll be dieting heavily until then.

News Flash:The Real Deal- Authentic New Haven Style Pizza Discovered in Vista, California

2010-11-14T19:38:00.000-08:00

Preview of next week's review. I was watching the San Diego Gulls 16under AAA hockey team play LA Hockey Club (Gulls ranked 24th nationally out of 150 teams, beat #7 ranked LAHC 5-3) in Escondido today. When the game was over, I realized I was pretty close to Vista, so I looked up the address of Urbn Pizza. I know we just visited Bruno's and pizza once a week is probably more than enough. We were planning to go to the Urban Restaurant in North Park next week but I was starving and the Vista location was only 10 minutes away. What the heck.

The picture is of the "chuck-a-puck" contest between the 2nd and 3rd period, in case you were wondering.

Thank you fellow San Diegan/West Haven High School mate and my sister's friend; Marcia Mickiewicz Dufour for pointing me to Urbn Pizza in Vista.

This will report is going to just be a preview since we are planning on going back to this location next Friday before the Gulls Jr. A game. I could tell as I walked in the door I was in for something special. There were only 2 or 3 tables occupied, but I could see from the partially eaten pizzas that they held promise. I ordered a large half mootz with sausage and fresh tomatoes on the other half. The menu had lots of scrumptious sounding choices including clams...mama mia!!!

I told the chef what I was doing, about my quest for a New Haven style pizza in San Diego. He mentioned, as did my friend Marsha, that the owner is from New Haven. He was not in today...he was down visiting one of the other restaurants.

I'll keep this short, but my experience of being in Urbn bordered on being sacred. There is something authentic and kinda cool about being in a real pizzeria where real pizza is being created. Kinda like being at a great old hockey rink, or a dance studio or maybe a church...it just felt like something original was going on there.

I ordered my pie...ate 2 slices right there and then drove home where over two hours later we put the pizza in the toaster oven. It is said that pizza isn't as good at home as it served fresh out of the oven at the restaurant. True. Which is why I wolfed down the 1st 2 slices right there. However, just a couple of minutes in the toaster oven and they were brought back to life. A bit soggier than the fresh slices, but still delicious, crunchy crust and all. They would have even been good cold out of the fridge, which will be the case for one of us to get the left over slice.

Also, Urbn serves a Connecticut traditon; Foxon Park Original sodas including White Birch Beer. That's it there..the clear one in the middle.

When it comes to pizza it comes down to just one thing and that is the crust....and the sauce....and the cheese.... Well, that's three things. But really it's one because it's the proper combination of these 3 elements that result in a good pie. Urbn gets it. I've found a pizza in San Diego, well Vista, that equals the experience of a pizza from New Haven.

We will be going back on Friday at about 6pm before the Gulls game if anyone wants to join us. I'm looking forward to eating the whole thing fresh out of that great oven, accompanied by a few friends. Love to see you there.

For Pepe's and Sally's Lovers

2010-11-14T09:50:00.001-08:00

Pepe's and Sally's in New Haven
http://yeschefnochef.blogspot.com/2008/06/new-haven-pizza-pepes-and-sallys.html

First Stop-Pizzeria Bruno

2010-11-12T22:27:00.001-08:00

http://pizzeriabrunosd.com/

Well, we decided on Pizzeria Bruno in Normal Heights for tonight's pizza quest. Lovely little establishment in Normal Heights on Park near El Cajon Blvd. The first thing I noticed after walking in the front door was the large man behind the counter wearing a Detroit Red Wings cap and the authentic brick oven directly behind him. He was working hard whipping up pizzas as the orders came in from the waiters. The Red Wings cap was not a good sign when one is looking for New Haven style apizza pie! But the fact that he was large was a testament to the prospects that the pizza must be pretty darned good.

We sat down and were greeted by our friendly waiter. We ordered a couple of glasses of Stella on tap. I walked over to the counter where the large man was making pizzas and asked if I could take a picture of his oven. All of a sudden he and I recognized each other. Turns out he is the owner, Pete Lutz. Pete and I used to play hockey in the San Diego senior league over a decade ago. He was a great goalie. He made some amazing saves that still amaze me when I recall them. For a big man, he could move quickly.

Pete told me that he opened the restaurant a year ago. He's married to a girl from Naples and the brick oven was bought in Naples and shipped over. The restaurant won the "Frugal Fork" award which is, I'm told, unheard of for a pizza restaurant.

We decided on 2 pizzas(for 3 of us). All the pizzas on the menu are one size, 12". My wife ordered the Campania which comes with tomato sauce, fennel sausage, mozzarella cheese, cremini mushrooms and roasted onions. I ordered a Margherita. It was the closest thing I could order to a Mootz/Muutz(Mozzeralla) or cheese pie. In addition to the basic cheese and sauce it had olive oil and basil.

The Campania was served first. It looked great, smelled great, tasted wonderful. Great sauce. Perfect amount of cheese. A little light on the sausage. But we could tell the moment it was served that as good as it looked and tasted, it was not what we were looking or hoping for. It fell short of our expectations when it came to the texture and feel of the crust. It was wet, even soggy. Not the crispy slightly burnt crust we would have liked. The crust was doughy and chewy. Most of all, it lacked "foldability". A bit disappointing. Don't get me wrong. It was one of the best pizzas I've ever had in San Diego and I would easily recommend this to friends. It's just that it fell short of the New Haven style Apizza we are searching for.

For now, I place Pizzeria Bruno at number 2 behind Bronx Pizza for my favorite San Diego Pizza.

Next week we will head for Urbn Pizza to see if they can meet the crust test.

Here's How They Do it in Naples

2010-11-11T20:28:00.001-08:00

http://www.passion-4-pizza.com/vera-pizza-napoletana.html

Vera Pizza---authentic Napoletana.

Our Quest-Finding the Best Pizza in San Diego

2010-11-11T14:48:00.000-08:00

Having just returned from a trip to New England, I was once again reminded that it is hard to find really good pizza in San Diego. I grew up outside of New Haven, Connecticut; the home of Pepe's, Sally's, Modern and others including Zuppardi's Apizzeria in my hometown of West Haven.

There is something unmistakably unique to New Haven pizza. There is the age old debate between New York and Chicago, thin crust and deep dish, etc...but anyone who's tasted pizza from this part of New England will tell you it's the best. Some will say it's better in Naples, birthplace of the pizza. I have no personal experience with pizza from Italy, so I'll just have to trust those who have told me how good it is. In the meantime, I've decided to go on a hunt in the San Diego area for anything that can approximate the taste of these:
Frank Pepe's Apizzaria
http://www.pepespizzeria.com/history.php

Sally's Apizzaria
http://temp.sallysapizzanet.officelive.com/default.aspx

Zupparidi'a Apizzaria

http://www.zuppardisapizza.com/

Modern Pizzeria
http://www.modernapizza.com/

I put out the question my facebook page and I've gotten some recommendations.

The best pizza I've found so far (in my 31 years living in San Diego), coming the closest to the east coast style flavor I crave, has been Bronx Pizza.
http://www.bronxpizza.com/
I will be including Bronx in our hunt. I've been referred to:
Pizza on Pearl in La Jolla
http://pizzaonpearl.com/
Urbn Pizza in Vista ( the owners are FROM New Haven!)
http://www.urbnpizza.com/index.html

I found Pizzeria Bruno Napoletano doing an online search. This will be our first stop on Friday night.
http://pizzeriabrunosd.com/