This week’s adventure was a little impromptu, which I think is often yields the best of times. I had a few extra hours, so, what better way to spend them than to hit the road?
As some of you may know, I’m not a native Californian. I transplanted here only 8 short months ago from the east coast; Connecticut, specifically. Since then I’ve been making myself at home here in Orange County, enjoying the sun, sand, and surf (well, maybe not the surf, it scares me) and of course taking in the beer scene. So far, I love my new west coast lifestyle. I’ve got a job that I love, some great friends, and you can’t beat the weather. Every time I get homesick I think about digging my car out of 3 feet of snow and I’m cured.
There are things that I miss, however. Probably the two things at the top of my list (other than friends and family of course – those are the real top 2) are Dunkin Donuts and Pizza. Odd choices to some of you I’m sure, but those two things were a part of my life since I was a kid, and living without them has taken some getting used to!
If you’re going to try to tell me that there is pizza on the west coast, just stop right there. I’m not talking about just any pizza, I’m talking about paper thin, crispy, charred around the edges, no rhyme or reason to the shape or slice pattern, northeast pizza. I mean come on – look at it!
From the famous Pepe's in New Haven, CT
Since moving here, I’ve tried pizza from probably a dozen different places, including some that came highly recommended to me. Now I’m not saying they were bad, but none were what I was looking for. Californians certainly know how to keep things interesting! Non-traditional ingredients and plethora of topping and sauce choices abound! It’s great to have so many options, but I’m still searching for a New York style pie.
What does this have to do with beer, you ask? Well, I think the answer is obvious. Beer and pizza are a natural fit! Like Peanut Butter & Jelly, like Heidi & Spencer, (I kid) it’s meant to be.
So, having all this great beer in Southern California and no pizza to go with it is tough to swallow. Which (finally) brings me to my Adventure in Beerland. I left the OC yesterday and headed south. I thought maybe I’d stop at Stone Brewing Co. or one of the other countless breweries in San Diego county. Instead, I followed the wind and wound up in Mission Beach.
Mission Beach is a cute little beach community with phenomenal ocean views and a whole old time carnival boardwalk thing going on.
Mission Beach. A drawing, not the real thing just so we're clear.
There’s a roller coaster and cotton candy stands and carnival games like those weird cat looking things that you can knock over with baseballs.
Is a cat? is it a clown? I can never tell.
We decided we would try to hit some scenic beachfront areas on our way south and since we were getting hungry (as usual) we decided to try to find a place called Luigi’s.
Do you ever watch The Food Network? Well I’m a HUGE FN geek, and one night while watching Guy Fieri eat his way through America on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, he caught my attention by profiling Luigi’s in San Diego. It’s apparently run by a native Italian, and they say that it’s authentic New York style pizza right in SoCal. I was still skeptical, so I thought we should give it a shot.
A combination of factors, however, including mounting hunger and my malfunctioning GPS (a fickle little machine that I’ve named Celia) led us to give up on our search. As fate would have it, though, while sitting at a stop light resigning ourselves to the fact that we may go pizza-less, I turn to my right and what do I see? Luigi’s Pizza!!!
Now, we’re a good half hour from the one we original set out to find, but the sign at this particular Luigi’s reads:
“Luigi’s at the Beach
30″ Pizza by the Slice
28 Beers on Tap
16 of them locally brewed”
SOLD! We pull up a seat at the bar and order a MAMMOTH slice of pizza. They specialize in a pie that’s 30″ in diameter. The thing is a behemoth, so we opt to split one slice. Let me tell you, it was more than enough for two people!
30 inches!!!
They have a contest where if you and another person can eat the giant pizza in under an hour, you get. . .well, I don’t know what, I didn’t ask. You definitely get a t-shirt and your picture in a slide show on the TV at the bar. You probably get heartburn, indigestion, and acid reflux all for free as well!
We ordered a few beers from their extensive craft selection. Almost all of their taps were San Diego County breweries including (but not limited to) Stone, Green Flash, Coronado Brewing, Ballast Point, Karl Strauss, Alesmith, Oceanside Aleworks, Port Brewing and more. Now this is my kind of pizza joint!
We ordered a Ballast Point Sextant Oatmeal Stout and a Green Flash West Coast IPA to go with our pizza. The beers were great, and the pizza? Well, let’s just say it was one of the better slices I’ve had since living here on the left coast.
All in all, it was a pretty successful spontaneous adventure. I’d definitely recommend checking out Luigi’s at the Beach if you’re ever in Mission Beach, San Diego. If you’ve got a group of people (or maybe just two) go for the giant pie and enjoy the superior craft beer selection. Then head on over to the boardwalk and see how many of those cats (clowns?) you can nail . . .
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