Prince Street Pizza — Restaurant in Costa Mesa

I've been excited to try this place for a long time. Today, it finally happened. If you've seen any of my other OC pizza reviews, you know I've been on the hunt for the best pie in the county, this place absolutely had to be tried.

We'll start up top with the positives, the service and atmosphere. The employees were friendly. The inside was small, but clean and had personality, including many fun celebrity photos on the wall. Good vibes.

The pizza, unfortunately, did not match the hype. My group and I ordered a full Spicy Spring pie (square), as well as individual slices of the Original Prince and Oakey Smokey (round). I will say I very much enjoy their sauce. The two slices were good, fine, okay. They did the job. Again, good sauce, but otherwise nothing special. I got the Oakey Smokey because it has smoked mozz, which I tried at another spot, but Prince's was not nearly as good. The crust was...adequate. The square pie was essentially a pepperoni pie, and they are incredibly generous with the pep...almost too much, making the pizza nearly slippery because it was so oily. It was better than their round pie, but again the best I can say is that it was good, very solid. The sauce again was very good, and the outer part of the crust was quite nice. However, because of the overwhelming amount of pepperoni and oil, it made the base of the crust a bit soggy, and even a small part on the top of the crust not fully cooked. The flavor was overall good, I'm not mad at all I had it, I just can't see specifically making a trip to come back for it. Perhaps it was too hyped and I've had significantly better pizza elsewhere, but I admittedly left fairly disappointed. I had high expectations.

I must also mention the price. The slices in general ranged from $6-7, and the full pie we got (8 square slices) was $41. The flavor to price ratio was not there at all, insanely expensive for a slightly above average pizza. Another main reason I won't return intentionally. I kind of feel bad because it's a nice spot and nice employees, but it's just not anywhere near good enough to justify the price.

Lastly, I know this is a renowned NY joint. I've not been to NY yet, but I have friends there and in general there is a very superior attitude out there towards their pizza. I've been told you can't find good pizza west of New Jersey. That you can throw a rock anywhere in NY and hit a pizza place that's better than the best in California. If Prince tastes like the original in NY (I doubt it does), and is representative of NY pizza, then northeasterners are full of it. If so, the superiority complex is unearned. We've got some tremendous pizza out here. Maybe it can't compare with the ELITE of NY, but don't be fooled into thinking just any NY corner joint is better than what we have.

Overall, good place. If you happen to cross paths with the place on a night out or something, it's worth a shot, just be prepared to pay. It just doesn't match the reputation or hype and is very expensive, along with being in a location that at times can be inconvenient. For the food itself, 7/10, a bit above average, but nothing to write home about. Service 8.5/10, interior vibes 8/10. I'm so sad it wasn't better, I really thought this would be a top, top spot here in Orange County...but I just can't...

We were rcommended this place for a quick bite to eat while we were in the area by someone who worked close by.

My first impression of the place was that it had a fun vibe. Great music playing and cool pics of "celebrities" stopping by the restaurants on the walls.

Menu has some delicious and unique sounding pizza options.

Peering through the glass, the pizzas didn't look like anything amazing, but I've had pizza that looked mid yet blew me away w flavor so I was not about to judge by looks alone.

We ordered 2 slices and 2 drinks. The cashier was helpful at explaining what's popular with their customers and how they're super popular for their thicker crust pizzas.

The place got pretty busy within a few minutes of us getting there, which was around 4:30. When we arrived though, we were the only ones there.

We waited and waited, and waited and waited. Finally after seeing a few people who came in after us pick up their full sized pizzas, and half an hour later, we asked how much longer it would take for them to prep our 2 pieces of pizzas (that appeared to already be made and sitting in the glass).

They looked confused as to why we were still waiting. This restaurant is small, no seats, standing room only. We were standing and waiting the entire time about 15 feet away from the counter, in full view of the gal that took our order.

Bathrooms were out of order.

A few minutes later our slices were finally ready and they gave us some extra pieces for the long wait. When we opened the boxes I was still visually unimpressed. The amount of grease on these slices was very unappealing. The cheese was close to non-existent. Ok fine...let's see how it tastes.

Nothing. We sat there in our car eating and looking at each other like what is going on? The thicker crust had a sweet flavor and nice crunch, but it was nothing to rave about. The sauce had zero flavor. Spicy vodka sauce where? Bland. Oily. Not worth the money or the wait.

I genuinely feel that this is the type of restaurant that is full of self proclamation, and adding the celebrity pics on the walls it fools people into thinking "if celebrities like it, it must be good".

Maybe it was the location, but doesn't matter. The bland hyped up super greasy pizza, the 30 minute wait for 2 slices that were already made, and the high prices with zero attention to their guests, it's...

Today I visited for the first time after bookmarking this spot several months ago. It unfortunately didn’t meet the expectations set by my high anticipation:

This location is mostly designed for takeout. There is zero indoor seating. There are two shallow shelves that act as countertops (one chest height for an adult, one lower one near the front door marked with an accessible placard). I unfortunately couldn’t enjoy my hot pizza right out of the oven because the couple ahead of me dominated the chest height counter, and the lower counter faced the hot window looking out to the street. With it being 90 degrees outside, I was ultimately forced to take the pizza home (30 minute commute) and enjoy only a few warm bites and a mostly melted soda.

The experience above cost $14 for two slices and a drink. I could have had a better experience at Costco for $3 - regretful once I tasted the pizza. While the argument could be made regarding quality or combination of ingredients to make the pizza, it doesn’t matter so much when the pizza gets cold and is beyond reheating (as the slices are pulled from a glass counter and reheated before handing over to you).

The only positive aspect of my experience was interacting with the staff. I was greeted and served kindly, and they chatted with me as I waited. Despite the rather aggressive hand-painted pizza box sign above the kitchen that says they “do not serve ranch, blue cheese, ketchup, mayo,” the staff thankfully do not have the same rough vibe.

Moreover, their “Not Ranch” was not only somewhat hypocritical, but also not…tasty. Perhaps they might consider taking down the sign and just offering regular ranch instead.

Save money and disappointment and go somewhere else...