Massimos Pizza and Pasta — Restaurant in Costa Mesa

I’ve been through multiple states over the past few years, even out towards northeast PA, close to the homeland of the Brooklyn style pizza. The ONLY pizza that I’ve found that perfectly resembles Brooklyn’s finest is Massimo’s Pizza/Subs. You walk into the shop and feel like you stepped out of CA and in the heart of NYC. The owner prides himself on his NY heritage, and rightfully so.

You may not think that you could so easily screw up an item with just dough/mozza/marinara, but I’ve been proven wrong by 95% of the places I’ve been. This guy is definitely part of the 5% club.

The dough is damn near perfectly cooked, a little flop, but that’s the way they like it. The crust, though, is combatively one of the best parts of the dish. The marinara is an experience that has to be witnessed first-hand, with all of the flavors that are married together, absolutely top-notch. The mozza is perfectly done, great cheese pull, and absolutely does not let down.

I can’t comment on anything else, as I only had a couple slices of the cheese, but others that I’ve talked to said that the subs are even BETTER. 9/10, hands down....

We ordered bbq chicken wings, a meatball sub, and garlic bread:

BBQ chicken wings: 1 star - they were badly burnt - and not that grilled charred taste but that microwaved for 20 minutes instead of 20 seconds burnt taste. It was awful and once they had burned it like that, however it happened, they should have made a new batch instead of just adding barbecue sauce over it and having it be delivered anyway.

Meatball sub 2.5 - 3 stars: I like that they use all beef to make their meatballs and the cheese was light, but without paying for extra marinara, as others have stated, it would be too dry. It also needed more flavor.

Garlic bread 3 to 3.5 stars: This was the only “good” part of the meal. The bread was buttery and tasty. Not really too garlicky but it’s how I like it. The bread could have also been softer - it kinda tasted like it was left out for the day - but the meatball sub bread was similar.

Overall, this is a 2.5 star eatery and we wouldn’t order...

Ok, I love pizza. I do. I could eat it daily. We will be in Costa Mesa for 12 days and I had to have some. MASSIMOS.... ahhhh! MASSIMOS!!! How we found you, I dont know, but I'm dang glad we did! We swung in and had a pie with the kids. It was 32 bucks. All 4 of us left full! The place was perfect pizza shop-just a nice chill place to eat. Last night (I said I love pizza) we were starving and so we did a pick up order. 2 pizzas (one for the kid to take to the dorm) and it was just as good. The sauce is FLAVORFUL! The dough is perfect crusty but chewy but flavorful too! You dont skimp in the toppings and the people!! You guys are just so nice!!! We have a term back home - Iowa Nice! You guys are putting Iowa Nice to shame with how cool you are. Thank...