Gaetano's Pizza

 

A few years ago I started this blog as a means for my son and I to do something together as we both share a love of food and travel. He upon entering into those "teen" years quickly found other shining objects to occupy his time. I, on the other hand, Became enthralled with the entire concept of blogging and the sense of community  and camaraderie that is shared between those of us who have gone down this path of taking pictures and writing about food and travel.
I start this review in this fashion because we also started this blog with a quest. And that was to find the "best" pizza in San Diego. I know, the "best" of anything is always a heated debate and in stating anything is the 'best" is throwing open the door to the slings and arrows of those who think otherwise. And that's fine. we all have different opinions and tastes. No one is right or wrong.
So having said all of the above, I give you Gaetano's Pizza in Casa De Oro. My favorite pizza in San Diego and It would be my pick for best in San Diego as well. 
Gaetano's is an unpretentious pizza house that has been quietly serving up the best pies in town for over 20 years. Few reviews of this place are out there.
I have been to other pizza shops around town and although others make some really good pies. I don't get the concepts of some of them. And I think maybe it's time we pointed out the emperors new clothes.There is a place in the Hillcrest area that is notorious for its' "east coast" attitude similar to the "soup nazi" from Seinfeld. Even has a sign up that says "no cell phone usage while in line". and can be very short with customers as I've seen a few times when you wait in line for 20 minutes, the last thing you want is some "goomba" behind a counter rolling his eyes at you because you haven't decided want you want. Pfffft, Fagedaboutit. there is another not so far from this place in the North Park area of town that serves a deep dish pie and they have a similar attitude.
It will never make sense to me this style of business. I guess the novelty of phony "East coast" attitudes will never go out of style.
There are so many different styles of pies in town we forget that San Diego has it's own style of pie. I have had Chicago, New York and there is even a place in the Gas Lamp Area that has a Connecticut style of pie.I have eaten at Mystic Pizza in Connecticut and it's very close to a San Diego pie. There is a Place in Del Mar that serves a Boston style of pie.
Gaetano's Pizza to me is the quintessential San Diego style pie, Which is a mix between Filippi's downtown and Sanfilipo's in La Mesa.

Gaetano's pie crust is light and airy with pockets of air holes in it. And the rest  is just thick enough to hold the sauce and toppings without having to do that New York fold thing.(Although you can). It has a slight yeasty creamy feeling to it. with a nice crisp bottom and slight burned spots are a plus and not a minus.

 The sauce perfectly compliments the crust. It's thick and has a huge tomato burst of flavor with a slight red chili flake bite that just works so well. A hint of Mexican or Greek Oregano to it. It's just enough to cover the pie and doesn't run all over the place like a Chicago pie.. It is the glue that binds this thing together.
The toppings should be kept simple. I mean come on now. A pizza is a working mans food. An Italian bucket of Popeye's. Ya take it out and bring it home in a box that has a nice little Barbie patio table in the middle so the box doesn't collapse on it. You wouldn't order a Carne Asada burrito with pineapple and Canadian bacon now would ya? Ok, maybe you would. I mean someone had to come up with the vile "California Burrito".

The Peperoni is bright and spicy and the cheese is just enough of a blanket to cover the pie and not take it over. It is a perfectly balanced pie and my definition of  Pizza done in the San Diego style.
There are tons of styles of pies out there and I love all of them. But to me, Gaetano's is a simple place with a warm smile on a cold night that quietly goes about it's business of making the Best pizza in town.

Chow

Michael


Gaetano's Italian Ristorante
10025 Campo Road
Spring Valley, Ca. 91977
619-677-3555

Lefty's Chicago Pizza - North Park

We ventured over to Lefty's Chicago Pizza place today in our ongoing Quest to find the best pizza in San Diego. This place is located in an area in San Diego called North Park, Which has some of the best restaurants in town and all walking distance from the neighborhoods it surrounds. Very lucky North Park residents. Lefty's is no exception. This is such a great little find. A great Chicago style eatery that serves up some tasty stuff. No bigger than a standard size living room, it can be tough to stand in line and order, as this is as busy a place as Bronx Pizza. But this place goes way beyond your just a pizza serving restaurant. Lefty's serves up some of the finest and most beautiful looking old school Midwest style of food in San Diego. And cheap!

We walked in to find no one in line and we seemed to have caught the place in a not so busy time, a rarity on a Saturday. They have a very East Coasty type attitude here. But if you have ever been or have friends from the East Coast, you know that it can be taken for being rude. But in reality it's really not. They are a brash group. I for one think it humorous. Anyway, we stepped up and ordered a Chicago style thick crust with pepperoni ($18.00), as usual, just what the Quest specified. We did think, but just for a second, to order the thin crust instead. But nope, You can't go into Bronx Pizza and ask for a Chicago style pizza and you shouldn't go into a Chicago style pizza place and order thin crust. So thick it was. They told us it takes at least 35 minutes to cook it. No problem, we wanted to soak up the place anyways. They have beer on tap and one of the handles is for PBR! Ya gotta love that. They have pizza by the slice and have a gorgeous assembly of the offerings in a glass case.

We walked outside and sat at one of the open tables. Remember this is such a small kitschy little cozy dive. They have a small group of plastic tables and chairs for the customers. As we sat and talked, we began to notice the food that was being brought out to the other diners around us. Chicago style hot dogs and Polish dogs and something called "loaded fries" that we should feed to condemned men as they're last meal. because after eating it , it would be! It looked gorgeous though. Mounds of fries covered with sour cream and huge chunks of crispy fried bacon bits. The Chicago style hot dogs looked picture perfect. They had a nice wedge of pickle on them and two little yellow sport peppers. Just like a real Chicago dog. Big plates of pasta came out to the table next to us. Amazing looking food. And all very reasonably priced. Hot dog with fries ($4.50)
OK, There is a reason, as usual I had to go on about the other food on the menu. This place, just for the other offerings alone and the fact that it carries pizza. And as you know, the place that holds the number one spot currently on the list only serves pizza. Based on that. Lefty's would win hands down, no questions asked. But if we are just ranking on Pizza alone. Well then. Bronx wins hands down. The pizza here looks amazing and came out to our table literally piping hot and still sizzling.

It had a huge amount of Wisconsin Mozzarella on it and in traditional style. cheese on the bottom and sauce on top. The tomato sauce was chunky with large pieces of tomato and fresh Basil sprinkled all around. The pepperoni was put on in abundance and was everywhere you looked.
It just looked spectacular. The crust looked nice and think, with large amounts of corn meal evident. Which I think adds a nice texture and taste to the pie crust. Too hot to handle this pie was, So we nabbed a few pieces of pepperoni off of it. WOW! The best pepperoni in town. really nice and flavorful, had a nice spicy bite to it, and greasy as all get out. Just dripped everywhere. Every pizza house in town should get the name of this brand and trash the pepperoni they use now. I thought it quite amusing though looking around I noticed that the adjacent eatery next door was a Vegan restaurant. I just chuckled out loud as I watched the Vegans having to walk past and see Lefty's, that pit of voracious carnivores, eating every ground up farm animal on the planet on they're way for a slice of falafel pie.
This pie is a thing of beauty to look at. But beauty as usual is only skin deep. The crust had no taste other than corn meal and actually was quite mushy and chewy. It was more of a foundation that was utilitarian in it's quest to hold up to the mounds of cheese and sauce. The sauce had a nice fresh taste to it. Mild though, very mild. Too much so for my taste, nice tomato taste and chunky texture and I loved the addition of the fresh herbs in it.
To sum it up. Lefty's over all has become one of my favotite hole in the wall classic dive eateries. This place has it all. The food, the kitsch, The Vespa scooters parked out front. The pizza? Eh, it ain't so bad. Definatley not the best in town, but like the Chicago cubs, this pizza will always be in the race.

Lefty's Chicago Pizza

3448 30th St.

San Diego

Mondays - - - Closed
Tuesday - Saturday - - - 12 PM - 10 PM
Sunday - - - 12 PM - 9 PM

Chow

Michael

Pizza Hit List

Wow, Have we been on a hot dog tear lately. But now it's time to get back to our best pizza in San Diego quest. So I have decided to publish the remaining Pizza restaurants that we have chosen to review on our quest for the best pie. If you have any suggestions of places that you feel should be on our list, please let us know and we will add them on.

And here are the chosen few and in no particular order I might add.

Luigi's

Lefty's

Extreme Pizza

Sorentinos

Filippi's

Pizza Port

Sammy's Wood Fired Pizza

Manga Bene

Gus's #1

The Venetian

Hoboken

And there you have the remaining finalists. Again, any suggestions please let us know.

Chow

Michael

Bronx Pizza - San Diego CA

Let's get ready to rumble! After eating our way thru the B side players of the pizza world in San Diego we decided it was time to start the season off right with a trip to the Bronx. Bronx pizza that is in San Diego. Voted numerous times over and over again by everyone from here to the actual Bronx in New York City.

I have been to the Bronx in New York and have eaten pizza in New York, but never the Bronx here in San Diego. So I knew of New York pizza and agreed with everyone from New York that, yes. New York had the best pizza around. I didn't believe that, I did not want to believe that. Especially hearing all these years about how New York pizza is the best. blah blah blah. Well. It is. the quality and abundance of pizza houses in New York is astounding. and the majority are excellent. There is nothing like strolling along Manhattan on a late night and walking into a place and ordering up a slice or two.

Could this concept be duplicated here in Southern California? I had heard of the phony Bronx attitude they put on at Bronx pizza here in town. And I knew that attitude thing was really a myth, a stereotype. Actually New Yorkers are the nicest people. Granted they can be loud. and that can be mistaken for rude at times. Anyway. Taylor and I strolled into Bronx pizza after the lunch rush around 2PM on a Monday afternoon.

Walked up to the counter and ordered 2 slices of the pepperoni and a coke special. $6.00. No hassle, no problem, no phony attitude. Like New York pizza. the workers have a nice crust to them. a personality that we in Southern California lack anyway. we are a homogenized group.

They popped our two slices of pie in the oven and we filled our cup with soda. This place was still packed from lunch and more people coming in.

But soon our order was up. "Two slices, pepperoni!" That was us. By the way the counter filled with pizza's was just a beautiful site. Filled with every kind of pizza you can think of. And the white cheese is ricotta not feta by the way. Italian, not foofy SoCal. This is manly pizza the stuff that massive coronaries are made of.

We grabbed our slices and examined them like the apes from 2001 sniffing out a monolith. it looked like the real thing? But the ultimate question was. Was it good pizza. Remember we are not here looking for New York style or Chicago style. But the best.

It was thin and runny with oil dripping off of it. Our taste buds were watering like a Homer Simpson looking at a fresh box of Krispy Kreme's. The crust was a bit more crisp than I would have thought it to be. But nice and fresh tasting. Nice bite of flour. No corn meal. but very crisp and clean tasting. it folded very well into that NY style. In fact it was the only way you could eat it. The pepperoni had actual taste to it. slightly salty and peppery. and oh my, very greasy. the sign of pepperoni nirvana. Check out the grease coming off this slice.

I have to say that so far this pizza is the best we have had in San Diego. Despite the greasy pepperoni. Which we like. it was light and airy and it knew just what to do. These are large pieces of pie and you can still wolf down two of them no problem. A large whole pie to go starts at $12.50!

Bargain believe me.

So comin out swingin is the Bronx bomber making it's debut at number one on the Quest for the best pizza list. and going to be hard to beat.

Bronx Pizza

111 Washington Street

San Diego Ca

619-291-3341

Chow

Michael

Bottle Shop - El Cajon

Next stop before the majors is Bottle Shop Pizza in Fletcher Hills. Opened 21 years ago and still running strong. This is an institution in the East County of San Diego. It's just a take out place, but next door is Tony's Restaurant. the family's sit down eatery. We will review that at a later time.

This pizza could probably be ranked in at least the top 10 of San Diego if it just had a little more oomph to it. I mean the crust is done nicely and the sauce is just OK. Just no outstanding flavors involved here.

I always seem to start with a review of the Antipasto of the various places we are writing about even though it doesn't count in the Pizza Quest totals. They just seem to go together. I mean you can't order a pizza without a salad it would seem. They just go together.

The Antipasti salad the Bottle Shop is really run of the mill stuff. Similar to a big chains version of what it should be.
At least there is no Vinegar marinated veggies on it. The menu says it will feed 4. I think more like 2-3 people. Pre packaged salad dressings of all varieties. Classic poker night with the boys fair. Filled with cuts of mortadella, salami and provolone.

Good deals on Pizza can be had here. Right now they are having a 2 large pizza deal for $19.99. Not bad at this price.

Like I said the pizza with a little push could be ranked a lot higher and could possibly out rank a few old school top 10 lists out there.
The pizza is a classic looking San Diego version. Lot's of cheese on top with the pepperoni tucked underneath. Seems that the east coast guys like to put it on top. Either way it doesn't matter to me.

The crust was of very good quality and had yellow corn meal on the bottom. I really like the cornmeal addition to pizza. gives it a really good corn back taste. Most use the cornmeal as a granular lubricant spread out on the pizza paddle so the pizza won't stick to it.

As you can see by the photo. lots of cornmeal. good stuff. By the way, we at Foodopolis will be upgrading our photo department shortly. We are finding out that reviewing Italian establishments can be tricky photographically as most are still very dark places.

The crust was fairly think around 1/4 inch or more in places. Had a good fresh dough taste. also the right amount of salt. cooked all the way through. with a nice chewy texture that holds up to the sauce and loads of cheese. No burned pieces of cornmeal or dough on the bottom. nice clean pizza oven.

The pizza had way to much sauce on it and it tended to spill out and over when you bit into it. definitely need a plate under your chin for this pizza. If you order. try telling them to put half the sauce on yours.
The Bottle Shop has always been notoriously slow when ordered for delivery. we ordered at 3:15pm and we didn't get a knock on the door till 5:05pm. That alone can put a damper on a good football game party.

We of course ordered the pepperoni pizza on special. It came delivered hot. the mound of cheese on top had started to pull away from the crust and making it a bit hard to eat without a fork. And we know that unless you are eating pizza with the queen of England. Pizza is a hand held food.

You can't go wrong with using a fresh 100% mozzarella for pizza. Later we will take you to an old school pizza place that might win this competition that doesn't use mozzarella! stay tuned on that one.

I stated earlier that this place could be a contender if they had just a little more power to the mix. case in point. This was a pepperoni pizza we ordered. But it might as well have been a cheese pizza. The pepperoni had no taste at all and added nothing to the mounds of cheese and crust and overloaded sauce. waste. Hormel pepperoni all the way.

The sauce was mild and too much of it. over all it is still definitely a cut above the chain stuff.

Now in the second spot. We give you.



The Bottle Shop
2447 Fletcher Pkwy
(619) 469-8410

Chow

Michael

Sanfilippo's Pizza - La Mesa

I know that we are rolling through the double and triple A teams of the pizza world right now as we eat our way to the "A" list or major league of pizza in San Diego. It seems we started out at the farm teams to get our palette ready and to also give the places out there that have been institutions in their various cities another look.

After all places like Etna's and Sanfilippo's have both been open for 31 years! Have to be doing something right.

If San Diego had a pizza of their own or style of it's own, it would have to be the style of pizza that is served at Filippi's and Sanfilippo's. Both are thick with crust and thick with cheese. Lot's of cheese. These are the heavy weights of pizza.

Yet only Filippi's and not Sanfilippo's has ever been ranked a number one on some peoples list's.
Very similar style and texture between the two places.
And both restaurants serve the basic red sauce Italian fair, nothing outstanding.

Sanfilippo's in La Mesa serves up big hearty portions of food, but with no flare at all ...even though I have been eating at this place for a very long time now. The food it serves would be my idea of what an elementary school cafeteria in Italy might serve.

The Antipasto is made with that limp veggie overdosed on red vinegar concoction that I really don't know anyone who likes it?

Piled high and huge portioned. $11.55 on the menu and says it will feed 4. This antipasto will feed at least 8. Chunks of huge pieces of Mozzarella. And all the various salad dressings that you can ask for. Strictly off the shelf Smart and Final stuff here.

OK, on to the pizza. We ran into a glitch over this review. It seems that Anna and her husband Donato Sanfilippo, the owners were off that night. And when they are not in the place. the pizza seems to suffer. As it was with this night. I asked for a "do over" from the staff here at Foodopolis we could come back and try it again. I was quickly shot down on that one and for good reason. The crew had a great thought on this. "What if we go into a restaurant that we don't know. and the owners aren't there? how would we know?" And of course every place has to perform as consistently as possible. So.....no "do over"

We ordered the basic contest pizza. Pepperoni and cheese. They serve a 16 1/2 inch pie. Price $14.25. Not a bad price. The slices as all of the portions of food here are humongous. This is one of those pizzas that you can only eat one slice of, no matter how hungry you are. I would estimate that a slice of this heavy weight would weigh in at around 1/2 a pound or so.

The crust although well cooked had a clean bread taste to it very similar to homemade bread that you forgot to add the right amount of salt too. It is a sturdy crust and has to be to hold up to the weight of the cheese on these babies. No New York Folding here. Just no taste to it tonight.

The sauce was very good, tangy and not sweet. the way I like it. it had bits of tomato skin in it and every other bite you bit into one. Not a bad thing. I thought it was very well done. it tasted almost like a raw sauce and not cooked until it was on the pizza. interesting. You also had a nice faint bite of red chili flakes throughout as well.
Topped with slightly greasy and tasty slices of pepperoni this pizza would now hold onto the number one spot on the the Foodopolis Top 10 List. But for how long?

If only we could get a combo of Etna's Pizza toppings and Sanfilippo's crust on a good day, then we can talk.

Chow

Michael

Sanfilippo's Pizza
8141 La Mesa Blvd
619-464-2088

Etna review - Taylor

Personally I thought that the pizza was not very good. The only thing I thought was good was the sauce. also Henry was the best waiter I have ever had. The atmosphere was great.

Taylor

Etna Pizza & Ristorante - San Diego

Let the Quest begin. So here we are on our first entry into our Best Pizza Quest. We start at Etna's On El Cajon Blvd established 31 years ago by a family from Sicily. Now owned by the Taste of Italy Restaurant Group http://www.tasteofitalyinc.com/pages/contact_taste.html. this company owns 6 restaurants in San Diego. Four Taste of Italy's, Vesuvio's and Etna's. Although owned by the same company each establishment has it's own individual recipes and flavors.

Etna's has a few plus's on it's side. They are open til 3am and will deliver virtually anywhere in San Diego. No kidding. Although this place is in a dodgy part of town and parking is definitely at a premium it is worth checking out. Everything looks food magazine cover worthy as we watched the plates come out of the kitchen and brought over to tables seated around us. But we are here to cover the Pizza Quest and not the entire establishment. As I said before though it is note worthy to make mention of the other food items as they looked phenomenal I must say. Note the Antipasto Salad.

Just incredible. it's not covered with that salty over vinegar driven cauliflower concoction of limp veggies.no way. this one was covered in one of the best light vinaigrette's I have ever had on a salad. WONDERFUL.

And Although the wine list is very limited and a bit pricey for the area it still has merit with at least some fairly high end imports. Mainly Chiantis and such. Henry the main training waiter for the company waits at Etna's and whether you like the food or not. you cannot dislike this guy. he should be the first human cloned and then the Henry clones should be sent out to work in every restaurant in the country. Great Job Henry!!

We had ordered a bottle of wine which the place was out of stock on. Henry immediately gave us a higher priced wine on the list for the same price.
Here is Henry with Taylor. Great guy.

OK the reason why I had to go on and on about the place is that to me it is a shame that we are only on a hunt for the best pizza. because this place has lot more going for it. We will return to review the rest of the menu at a later date. Shame because the pizza is odd to say the least. let's start with the crust and move up the ladder from their.

The crust is light and flaky but with an overwhelmingly taste of Bisquick Pancake batter! Sweet but biscuit dough like. Not good. Although cooked all the way through. Just really couldn't get into the sweet dough thing.

The sauce on the other hand was sublime and tasty. tangy and not sweet with a hint of red pepper flakes. wonderful stuff. maybe the best pizza sauce I have ever had. The toppings were of course as per the contest rules. only pepperoni and cheese. Tons of cheese and greasy pepperoni. Like I said before. it is too bad that we are only doing pizza at this time. because this place could be a little gem of an out of the way eatery. Except for it's pizza. I see it falling rapidly from the list and eventually falling off the top 10 completely.

Agree? Disagree? lets wait for Sue and Taylor's review.



Chow

Michael