Review: Napizza - San Diego, CA

In Rome, pizza is often made and sold "al taglio" - by the slice. A Roman style pizza is not a round pie cut into triangles, but an elongated oval/rectangle from which large slices are lopped off with a big knife, and then weighed to determine the price.

Old School slice (left) and La Lasagna slice (right)

I first experienced this kind of pizza at Forno Marco Rosciolo in Rome, and it set the standard for my expectations. That was in 2012, and I wondered why no one was making this kind of pizza in the USA. Fast forward to 2018, and it's much easier to find Roman style.

Napizza, San Diego

Philadelphia offers two authentic renditions in center city -  Alice (pronounced "Ah Lee Chay") is the first American branch of a major Italian chain, and Rione is a smaller BYOB that also offers remarkably genuine Roman pizza.

Some of the Al Taglio slices available

On visits to San Diego, I found solid Chicago deep-dish pizza at Berkeley, amazing New Haven style apizza at Basic, and ethereal modern twists on Neapolitan/American pies at Tribute Pizza. Beyond all those great choices, I found Napizza, a casual al taglio spot with four San Diego area locations for Roman style slices.

Bapo slice (left) and Truffle Porcini slice (right)

Much like the medium-thick and airy crusts on the slices at Alice and Rione, the dough at Napizza develops for 72 hours, giving these substantial slices a surprising lightness despite the crisp edges and chewy interior. Each slice is cut into two for serving, so with a dining partner I was able to sample four different slice varieties.

Bapo up close

The crust was identical on all four. It was uniformly crisp underneath, full of airy pockets, and chewy like good Italian bread in the middle. It was a bit more oily than other Roman slices, but mostly in a good way. The crust is the key component of every pizza no matter the style, and this crust is good enough to eat without any toppings.

Crispy undercarriage

We ordered four different slices:

• La Lasagna, topped with Bolognese sauce, fresh mozzarella, Parmigiano, and besciamella
• Bapo, featuring potato, bacon, fresh mozzarella, and fresh rosemary
• Old School, with house-made red sauce, fresh mozzarella, and pepperoni
• Truffle Porcini, made with porcini mushrooms, truffle pate, fresh mozzarella, and parsley

Old School slice

La Lasagna slice

Every slice was delectable in its own way, but my clear favorite was the Truffle Porcini for its rich combination of flavors. Truffles and the porcini mushrooms made this a umami explosion.  

Truffle Porcini slice

Likewise, fresh rosemary really pumped up the Bapo slice. Potatoes on pizza can become a wet and heavy mess if not executed properly, but this slice contained a judicious amount of diced/smashed potato. I'd like to have that slice topped with an egg as a perfect breakfast pizza.

Conventional gas ovens

The slices with red sauce had a more traditional pizza flavor, and could have passed for excellent slices of Sicilian style with a slightly thinner crust. We easily polished off all four slices; I could have eaten more. 

With Napizza, Berkeley, Basic, and Tribute Pizza, you can now add San Diego to the (growing) list of great pizza towns.