best pizza and brew / mira mesa – san diego, ca

Best Pizza and Brew is a new restaurant that opened in Mira Mesa just a few weeks ago and it’s a nice change of pace from the many, many Asian restaurants that litter the neighborhood. The new pizza joint is a “spin-off” restaurant from the folks of Pizza Nova and offers baked items, salads, subs, pizzas and craft beers on tap.

I actually first saw that Best Pizza and Brew was open while I was on the way to Urgent Care a couple of weeks ago… they had a banner out front that said, “FINALLY OPEN!” and I remember thinking, “Was I waiting for this place to open?”

They have outdoor seating right next to the restaurant with benches and also a patio area. Since they had outdoor seating, I figured for my first visit Maya could tag along with me so I didn’t have to leave her by herself at home.

Here’s a look at the patio before it was completely finished – now there’s a little glass divider all the way around the patio.

[lasagna layered with meat, ricotta, mozzarella, aged provolone and goat cheese with marinara & parmesan – $8]

I opted to try the lasagna that day. Cheese and noodles sounded like such a good idea to me and I’m always up for trying new lasagna. This was served to me after a short wait. Maya entertained me by jumping all of the way up onto the table, drinking out of my water glass, and barking at one of the workers who kept coming outside to do something. Another one of the workers (maybe the owner?) stopped by to say hi to Maya several times, remarking how much she looked like Benjy. She didn’t bark at him. He apparently wasn’t a threat like the other guy.

So… this lasagna was just okay. I didn’t think it was served to me hot enough and the filling left something to be desired. I didn’t think there was nearly enough cheese and it was slightly bland. I really expect way more cheese when I eat lasagna and this just did not cut it in my eyes. I ate about half of it, packaged it up, and I had it for lunch the next day at work. It was just okay then, too.

[best white – rosemary garlic oil, spinach, ricotta, caramelized onions, roasted garlic with mozzarella and aged provolone cheese – 18 inch – $20]

The following week, I made my co-workers go here for our weekly Friday lunch. The usual suspects were in tow: Lauren, Matt and David along with David’s wife, Allison, and his mother-in-law, Joey, who joined us for the lunch festivities.

White pizza is really my thing these days. I tend to shy away from meats and lots of “stuff” on my pizza. All I want in life is good ricotta cheese, a little garlic, probably some mushrooms, and a nice crispy crust.

The Best White has some interesting ingredients on it… things I would never consider being on a white pizza. Like caramelized onions. And spinach. And whole cloves of roasted garlic.

Okay, the whole roasted cloves of garlic did not really bother me since I’m a garlic fiend, but I saw a few eyebrows get raised. And I saw caramelized onions being taken off. I kind of wanted to take off the spinach, but I left it on since I knew it was good for me.

For the record, cooked spinach is lame. Raw spinach totally awesome, though.

Overall I liked this pizza, though I would get less “stuff” on it. I really liked that the crust was very nicely done – crisp all the way through the middle with no burnt spots. The edges were also a little puffy with a nice chew and slightly crisp ending. The crust totally gets my approval. The toppings might need a little work.

[the works – tomato sauce topped with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, black olives, aged provolone &  mozzarella – 18 inch – $20]

What isn’t on this pizza?! I’m pretty sure they just tossed everything they had back there and threw it onto this pizza.

I carefully picked every single black olive off of my slice. This also got looks. Allison commented that she didn’t think that olives had much of a taste, to which I replied, “They do if you don’t like them.”

This was also the point in which I confessed that I didn’t like pepperoni. I never was one to conform. Plus… pepperoni is always so salty. I’ll pass, thank you.

I ended up sort of eating around all of the pepperoni on my slice instead of just straight taking it off. This pizza was much, much greasier than the white pizza, probably due to the sausage and pepperoni on it. Again, good crust, but the toppings were not for me.

David told me later that while he liked it at the time, his stomach didn’t feel so great later that afternoon. I totally blame the pepperoni.

The only other thing I have to say is that the service isn’t quite up to par yet. We waited a long time for our pizzas, though granted it was during the lunch rush. The white pizza was brought out first and the works pizza was brought out maybe ten minutes later. They still need to work out the kinks of running the place more efficiently as I saw other people around us having similar problems with wait times for their food.

I still think it’s a great spot though, something that was lacking in Mira Mesa – a chill, kick back place that offers outdoor seating and a place for some craft brews. I think it’ll fit right in.

Best Pizza & Brew
(at Black Mtn. Rd, next to Wings n’ Things)
9172 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, 92126