Brand New Pizza Port in Ocean Beach!

Place:
Pizza Port in Ocean Beach
1956 Bacon Street
Ocean Beach 92107

Agents:
Nick, Gabe, Nadar and Joe

Overall: 9 out of 10

Pizza: 8.5 out of 10

Atmosphere: 9 out of 10

Who would of thought about placing a Pizza Port in Ocean Beach: Brilliant! And apparently if the crowds are any indication, the locals also think it's brilliant. The same great pies and brew found in the Solana and Carlsbad ports are now available in OB. Each port carries its own style, but the people and the staff in OB by far are the coolest cats.

We started off with a large Monterey, hold the mushrooms, but add some sausage instead. The rest of our Monterey was traditional and decked with pepperoni, onions and loads of artichoke hearts. This pie was packed with toppings, which made it difficult to taste even the slightest hint of bread. Of course, the focus on toppings is typical of California style pizza.

Next up was a large pie split with one side the Lahaina, and the other the Laguna. The Pizza Lahaina is their original Hawaiian-style pizza. No pizza can be in this category without pineapple, but they also topped it with Canadian bacon, bell peppers and onions. I'm not a huge fan of the Hawaiian pizza, but this pie was done well. The cheese was oozy, the toppings were fresh and the bread wasn't soggy from excess grease or sauce.

The Pizza Laguna was cheesy vegetarian pie loaded with with black olives, which dominated the scene. Lurking in the background were a few other key players: mushrooms, onions and artichoke hearts, but much less artichoke than the Monterey. This was the only pizza that had functional issues. The crust was soggy and made it difficult to hold and to enjoy. To their credit, the sogginess was not from excess grease in the pizza, a cardinal pizza sin. No, the most likely culprit is an overly watery sauce.

The newly formed staff were some of the friendliest people I've ever dealt with on a pizza excursion. The guy on the mic shouting out orders was more hits than misses on the quips he threw out, and the couple serving up the pitchers were all smiles. And like Port Carlsbad, they had their brew tanks on show, which really sets the pizza port vibe. One helpful piece of advice: If you plan on ordering beer AND pizza, get them both at the beer register. They only allow pizza purchases at the pizza register, but the beer line you can buy brew and pie.

Chicago style pizza and beer: BJ's in Escondido

Place: BJ's Restuarant and Brewhouse
Westview Mall, Escondido
(760) 466-0700

Time: 5pm (happy hour!)

Agents: Brittany, Geo, Felix and Joe

Overall: 9 out of 10

Pizza: 9 out of 10

Atmosphere: 9 out of 10

Between the deep-dish Chicago-style mini-pizzas we each devoured and BJ's own crafted brews, there wasn't much left to be desired. BJ's is without a doubt Chicago-style pizza done on a professional's budget, but at the same time the quality of the pizza and beer are not completely out of range of the bill.

We planned to kill two birds with one stone by checking out the pizza during happy hour and also reviewing the beer. In this review I don't into the beer but focused on the pizza. See Brittany's review of BJ's happy hour for a review of the booze. As it turns out, the happy hour discounts not only applied to the beer, but also offered all the mini-pizzas at half off. So we decided to take advantage of this bargain.

Felix decided to go with the Mediterranean, which was a mini deep-dish delight topped with grilled chicken, basil, pesto, roasted garlic, roasted garlic, olives, sun-dried tomatoes and chopped pickles. Simply put: it was Mediterranean, and it was good.

The southwestern was a slightly spicy selection chosen by Brittany. This baby pie consisted of chipotle sauce with spicy blackened chicken, green chilies, cheddar cheese, diced tomatoes and cilantro. Its merit was in its spiciness; its vice was in its somewhat dryness, particularly stemming from the chicken.

The only vegetarian pie on the table was the spinach and artichoke pizza ordered by Joe. Here we had a creamy mix of spinach, artichoke hearts, cream cheese and mozzarella all topped with basil and Parmesan. The crust was noticeably moist and tender. Considering all the pizzas each deep-dish crust was prepared with care and the results revealed it.

Unfortunately, the pizza Geo ate is a mystery, but being someone who went to BJ's the night before he highly recommended the Pizookie desert, which is basically a freshly baked cookie topped with scoops of ice cream. Anonymous critics, who also adored the Pizookie, also wished for me to mention it in the review.

The Atmosphere could be said to be a California Pizza Kitchen done up in dark chic style. Both establishments bring pizza to a luxurious status, despite its humble origins as a peasant food. But the restaurant is a pleasurable sight nonetheless. Brittany suggested that BJ's would be a decent potential candidate for daters. Marble tabletops, black booth seats and black polished wood separated booths and tables. The bar had two immense walls packed with liquor that reached up about fifteen feet high. In between the walls there was a big screen TV, playing the USA vs. Czech soccer game, flanked by two smaller TVs, one playing highlight reels of the Stanley cup playoffs, and the other basketball.

The musics was a mixture hard to pin down. Shortly after we walked in BJ's was playing The Black Keys, a band with a bluesy vibe. Later, there was an unnoticeable transition to some otherwise decent electronic music with which I was unfamiliar. Overall the music seemed to appeal to people in their twenties.

We each ended up having a couple drinks and a mini-pizza a piece, plus a side of chips and salsa that ran us about 20 bucks a piece. Note: that these were happy hour prices. The bill would have been much more unfriendly if we had come during typical hours.