Chicago pizza in San Diego? I don’t think so. Sure, you can get a pretty good one from Lefty’s, but I personally don’t think it is the same. I make my way out to Chicago frequently, and you simply can’t beat Lou Malnati’s, DiGornio’s, or Gino’s East. What’s the crucial difference you ask? The CRUST! For whatever reason, building the perfect Chicago deep dish butter crust is hard to do.
Anyhow, my wife who is a pizza fan in general, has started to see a lot of chatter about a new Chicago style pizza joint out of downtown San Diego called Berkeley Pizza (http://www.berkeleypizzaonline.com/). To be honest, I’ve been pretty reluctant to try it. But everywhere I look, their name keeps popping up. So finally this Saturday, we went to the Little Italy Farmer’s market in downtown San Diego. Guess who had a booth set up? Yep, you guessed it, Berkeley Pizza was handing out free samples of their basic pie.
I was impressed. In fact, I was impressed enough to even suggest a pie for our lunch today (Sunday). They are open from 11am -11pm on Sundays, and 4pm-midnight Monday to Saturday. What better food to keep us company while watching football all day long? So, my wife calls in and orders up a medium specialty pie that includes mushrooms, spinach, a blend of cheeses, basil, and some special spices. And of course we had to add sausage for $1.50 extra per topping. The total out the door was $25 even. (Next time I think I’ll try a simpler pie, because it’ll probably be just as good and $5.50 less).
Anyhow, it took about 1 hour to be ready and we made our trek from Mission Valley down to 6th and B. Keep in mind that Berkeley Pizza is an new upstart business, so they don’t have a phyical location yet. Instead, we parked alongside Mama Gucci’s where a gentleman comes out with our piping hot pizza. He tells us that the pizza has no added sugar, and the basil helps to remove some of the sourness of the tomatoes (we always like extra information about the preparation of the food we are about to enjoy).
As soon as we got home, we tore open the box. Inside we were greeted with a deliciously hot and perfectly crust worthy Chicago style pie just as if we were in Chicagoland! Wow. I didn’t think it could happen. The crust was perfect in texture, and taste. The toppings were just right – Not too much, and not too little. The balance of cheese, tomatoes, sausage, and basil were amazing!!! The crust had a wonderful crisp and a buttery finish to die for. =)
So, the next time you have a Chicago Deep Dish craving in San Diego, give Berkeley Pizza a try. You won’t be disappointed. Just don’t forget to run 5 miles after!
Berkeley Pizza
539 Island Ave,
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 937 0808
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