BRONX PIZZA

Bronx Pizza

111 Washington St.

619 291 3341

This is the first installment in my quest to find San Diego's best example of a east coast style pizza.   First let's talk about the pie.  East coast (or New York style) pies share some basic traits.  They have a thin crust but not as thin as the cracker crust style pizzas you find in and around Rome.  The basic version also involves a red tomato based sauce and is topped with mozzarella cheese.  Then  add your favorite toppings as desired.  Other variables that can affect the final outcome include the type of oven used, freshness of ingredients and even the water used to make the dough.   

Next we need to define what our San Diego pizza parlors are up against.  Having visited the east coast many, many times, I picked my two favorite East Coast parlors.  IMHO I think the gold standard is Grimaldi's in Brooklyn,NY.  Grimaldi's Website  I believe the secret to their mind blowing, life altering pies lies in their coal burning brick oven which produces 850 degree temperatures and a smokey, light, crispy crust.  For the other "best of the best" parlor in my comparison I chose Regina's in Boston's North End.  Their gas fired brick oven puts out pies so good they can make you weep (as well as wait in line forever).  Regina's Website  Crust, sauce, fresh mozzarella, top notch toppings, these two joints have the goods, so the bar is set.

To taste test our San Diego pizzerias I will keep it simple.  Two large, fresh out of the oven pies.  Pie One:  Cheese pie.  Simple can be great.  This basic pizza will let me focus on the crust, sauce and freshness of the mozzarella.  Pie Two:  Meat Pie.  Basic Cheese pizza with sausage, meatball and pepperoni.  Here we will determine the freshness and flavor of the toppings as well as see how the flavors blend together.  I will also determine if the meat made the pie overly greasy or soggy.

So the quest began last night with a trip to Hillcrest to try out what many San Diegans call our best New York style pizza.  As a matter of fact,  Bronx Pizza won "Best Pizza" in San Diego Magazine's Readers Poll in August 2005.  The decor is pretty basic, nothing remotely fancy here.  The walls are decorated with pictures of prize fighters and that theme carries over to their signature logo of a slice of pie boxer.  8:30pm on a Wednesday and the joint is packed.  Usually a good sign.  As I survey the kitchen I see another good sign,  a brick oven.  If you have ever wondered "why does my Domino's pizza taste like crap", one of many reasons is that their ovens are all about speed, not taste and texture, ergo Domino's signature cardboardy crust.  I also find out the crew at Bronx uses bottled water to make the crust.  Sounds good.  Homemade sauce is made from a 30 year old recipe.  Cool.  All right time to get serious and order the pies.  "Smitty" is taking orders with a surly east coast attitude, I like it.  Time to chill at a table and wait.  After about 25 minutes it's showtime,  my name is called and I grab my pies, two 18 inchers, wow.

Pie One

Cheese Pie

Nice, it's piping hot. The first thing that hits me, I love the sauce.  Really great, just the right amount too.  Lots of tasty melted fresh whole milk mozzarella, cheesy but not overloaded.  Love it.  Alright, lets talk about the crust.  Let me preface this by saying I have had alot of really crappy New York style pizza in this town and all had lousy crusts.  Bronx Pizza's crust is good.  It is the proper thickness, crispy and tasty.  Is it as good as the crust at Grimaldi's or Regina's?   No.  It just doesn't have that level of lightness and flavor.

Pie Two

Bonx's Porko

Piping hot as well.  This pie has a nice balance of toppings verses crust, sauce and cheese.  As I feast it hits me, this is really good pizza.  I try the sausage, meatballs, and pepperoni separately.  All taste fresh and have great flavor.  To be honest, I am not a huge pepperoni fan but I like this pepperoni, not too greasy.  That goes for the whole pie as well, not to greasy.  The crust is identical to the cheese pie.  Good stuff.

So there it is, the first installation of my search for San Diego's Best East Coast style thin crust pizza.  Overall I see why Bronx Pizza is a favorite of so many San Diegans.  It is definitely authentic New York style pizza and I think they could hold their own in Manhattan.  How do they compare to my chosen Gold Standard Pizzerias; Grimaldi's and Regina's?  Bronx is just not at that level, but let's face it, the vast majority of pizzerias in New York City and Boston are not at that level either.  For the purposes of my San Diego quest,  Bronx has set the bar high indeed.  They will be a tough contender to knock out.  Bronx Pizza Website

Jack

P.S.  I recommend you order whole pies like I did.  Pizza by the slice is baked, stored in a glass case and then reheated when ordered.  The slices lose something in the process.

P.P.S.  If you know of a contender I should try please give me the info in the form of a comment.

Thanks

Comments

[Beth - Zen Foodism]

Congrats on joining the SD blogging world and... Welcome! Can't wait to see what you recommend and what you have to say about our local food scene. Have fun with it!

[Cathy]

Bronx is the best we can get out here. You ahve it right. Welcome to the blog world. Delete the perv comments, please..it only encourages them.

[Sara]

Definitely check out Bongiorno's in Solana Beach. A great North County option!

[Joan]

You might also want to give A Brooklyn Pizzeria in Mission Gorge a try. They're *almost* as good as Bronx, and half as busy!

[Jack Kress]

Hi Beth,
Thanks, I have been enjoying your site.

[Jack Kress]

Hi Cathy,
Got rid of the wierdo's comments.

[Jack Kress]

Hi Sara,
I will try them when I am up that way.

[Jack Kress]

Hi Sara,
I will try them when I am up that way.

[Jack Kress]

Hi Joan,
Thanks for the tip, I will give them a try.

[nnd]

Luigis pizza in golden hill is really great. The owner used to work at bronx i heard.

[Jack]

Thanks for the tip nnd, I will give Luigis a try.