And wow, is it really Fall? Well, this is San Diego after all. Behold, the beautiful view of San Diego Bay as you head down Hawthorne...
I had an online coupon from Community Magazine that I'd filed away and almost forgotten about. That is, until I read two recent posts by two of my friends, Kirbie and Mary (links at end of this post). The name of the place sounded familiar and I excitedly told my husband, "We have to go here! Please!"!
If you go early enough like we did (a bit after 11 am), the streets are fairly empty. Parking can be had on a few of the side streets. We ended up parking at the end of Fir and Grape (near the dog park and some architectural firm's building that had a giant eyeball in the front. WTH!).
We already looked on their website and decided which pieces we wanted to try. The coupon was buy one item (pizza slice, panini, or salad) and get one free with purchase of the two dreaded drinks (in our case, sodas). We would also end up ordering two extra slices. It evened out to about $7 per person.
The slices are all laid out for you to view and drool over. You can buy half or whole pies if you are so inclined. But no, we wanted slices.
Now this one, the Daily Special, caught our eye! I'm not a big fan of eggs over easy, but it was still enticing because of the porky and fatty bacon strips.
Napizza has their dough flown in from Italy and they let it rise for 72 hours (most places don't even do it that long) which results in an amazingly light and fluffy crust.
The one slice that Bert picked, based on their online menu was called, "The Locks" which had smoked salmon, cream cheese, and capers. Yes, that's how they spelled it in their online menu. I did not spell "lox" incorrectly. However, we noticed it was not featured in their display nor was it on their actual menu. Bert was a bit bummed out, but we picked another slice in its stead.
I'm so glad we went early because by the time we left, the line was out the door!
The first part of our order consisted of these two slices, the Lasagna ($5.75/this was 2nd fiddle to the now defunct "Locks" slice. This was chosen by TC. Slices are rectangular and cut diagonally. This made it easy to divvy up the pieces amongst us.
The other slice was the Truffle Porcini (also $5.75/but with the coupon, it was FREE). The only thing about this slice I did not like was the overpowering taste of the truffle oil. It smelled too much like, and I hate to say it, "dirt". I don't consider myself "unsophisticated" but I just did not like the smell and taste of the truffle oil. However, since I really like mushrooms, I wanted to try this and I knew what I was getting into after reading the menu description.
As mentioned earlier, their dough is light and fluffy. After taking a bite, the slice was a bit compressed, then began rising slowly again. It was a cool sight to see. Lots of little air pockets in the dough. It stayed crisp until the very end. No sogginess at all.
We didn't think two slices would do it, so I went in line to get two more slices. I caved and got the Daily Special. I was intrigued by that hypnotic yellow yolk. And the bacon too. Ha ha. To make yourself feel less guilty about eating two cholesterol laden foods, there is a bit of spinach on this slice as well!
The other slice ended up being the Bapo - bacon, thinly sliced red potato and zucchini velvet sauce (their words not mine), and garnished with rosemary (which I picked off).
Of the four slices we sampled that morning, my favorite was the Daily Special which is surprising since I normally don't like runny yolk (but it ended up getting more solidified when the slice was reheated). In second place was the Bapo. Bert's faves echoed mine while TC's favorite was the one she picked, the Lasagna slice, which I tried only two bites but wasn't impressed by it's flavors. I must have bitten in the meatless side of the pizza because TC really liked hers and ended up having my portion of it. She gladly gave up her mushroom slice for us to share in exchange.
Our variety of slices (1/2 size)...
I'm glad that we stopped by. The pizza was really delicious and the crust unlike any I've ever had. I still like Sicilian Thing's thick crust much better though. It's a bit on the pricey side so I'm glad that we used the coupon.
As we headed back up Fir Street, I noticed the banner...
This had San Diego native son, Frank Zappa! Throughout Little Italy, there are banners depicting notable Italian Americans from all over the U.S., but it was nice seeing someone local on here. On the main street, India, you can spot Joe Pesci ("Am I funny? Do I make you laugh? You think I'm a clown?), Frank Sinatra (of course), Al Pacino ("Say hello to my little friend!"), and Robert de Niro ("You talkin' to me?").
Along Fir Street are cute little shops in cottages such as art galleries and clothing and jewelry boutiques. This one, Adore Cupcakes, was nestled in the back of a shop. Too bad it was closed. I would have liked to see what they offered.
I was happy to see this, the "bargain" table from Rosa Mariposa, a boutique jewelry store that also has a booth at the San Diego Fair. By bargain, I mean all the earrings and bracelets were $1 and the necklaces were $5. I've bought several sets of earrings and necklaces for friends there (ranging in price from $3 - $7) in the past. The pieces are exotic and hail mainly from Indonesia. I picked up a few things for some friends and gosh, I hope they're not reading this because they'll now know what they are getting for Christmas!
And before I forget, here's that eyeball I was talking about earlier. If you ask me, they should have put in some red capillaries to make it more "realistic"!
Who else went to Napizza?
Both Kirbie and Mary were just here. Their posts inspired me to visit and to also use up my coupon!
Napizza
1702 India St.
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 696-0802
www.na-pizza.com
To cap off our lunch, we headed uptown to a new coffee place for coffee (duh) and dessert!
4 comments:
Reading your post just made me hungry for pizza. I swear I could just eat the crust alone. My favorite was the chicken/pesto slice - but that daily special looked really good!
I've read about Adore Cupcakes for a long time since I follow them on Facebook but haven't had a chance to visit. They used to be in a little trailer in South Park in the lot of that one grocery store.
Hi Mary - I'll have to try those other slices another time, like the chicken pesto and the amatricano (or however it's spelled.
I was bummed that Adore was closed. Their door was open when we first walked down the street. When we were done with lunch and returning to our car, it was shut. :(
Aw, that's too bad they closed. Next time we go down for Napizza I hope they're open so we can try it. Hmm, maybe we'll go this weekend with the kids!
Yeah, I'll wait for your post to read your take on their goods. :)
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