Magma pizzeria — Restaurant in Moorpark

It's not often you find wood fired pizza. And less comon to find wood fired pizza made really well. This isn't your typical conveyor belt pizza, it's hand tossed, and individually fired in an insanely hot oven by one guy whose job it is to make sure it's perfectly cooked. 1-2 minutes is all it takes to cook. While it sounds fast, if they're busy you can expect to wait a little while because he can only cook a few at a time. And While this pizza isn't the best I've never had, it does satisfy a lot of conditions as to what I believe makes a really good pizza. I orderd a simple margarita, and a spicy Lucifer with pepperonis added which i got and ate togo.

The pizza:

Wood fired oven brings a nice aroma and richness to the pizza and an unbelievable crispy char to both the top and bottom of the pizza if done correctly. I find most places are afraid to char the pizza but doing so brings a nice richness to the crust that honestly isn't bitter as much as it's simply warm and rich. They do this very well. Char was achieved. 9/10

The Dough. Good pizza is defined by the dough. And this is where many pizzas fail. The dough needs to match the toppings, the cooking method, and the style of pizza. This being a Neapolitan pizza, it should be light, airy, extremely thin, slightly chewy, with a nice little crunch on both the crust and the bottom of the pizza. They did very well. The salt level in the crust is perfect. It was crisped up nicely and held it's crisp for a few minutes while fresh. It was nice and thin and never got soggy from the toppings. Since I'm trying to be critical here, Neapolitan pizza uses somewhat of a sourdough crust where the bread is leaven through fermentation. Not only does this make the crust crisper it also provides a nice sour flavor to the bread like sourdough and also aids in digestibility. I thought this crust was lacking in fermentation. I find the saltines comes out far more pronounced over the sourdough. I think a little more fermentation would boost the crisp more and at that lovely sourdough flavor. Little more fermentation. 7/10

The Sauce they are using is on the fresh and mild side. It's Not too salty, spicy, packed with oregano and other herbs. They keep it fresh and simple. The umami flavor of the tomatoes does come through but I personally think the tomato flavor could be a little more pronounced. Fresh and simple. 7/10

Toppings: the topic of toppings gets weird as it encompasses the individual toppings as well as the combination of said toppings. I had the margarita and the Lucifer. Margarita was as expected.i always order a margarita to check the flavor of the toppings, sauce, and dough. Mozzarella was nice and fresh perfect salt level. Sauce and dough mentioned above. The Lucifer was good. Spicy full of flavor i thought it added a lot of nice flavor that picked up where the sauce left off. The spicy salami was very good. And chili flakes brought it to a heat level that I like. I added pepperoni. Which came crispy! I really appreciate when pizza places get enough heat into the pepperoni that it makes them curl up and get crispy. It brings a nice salty bacon like flavor which I love. That was a pleasant surprise. Toppings. Fresh toppings and good combinations. I'll need to try some of their other combinations next time. 9/10

Overall, very good pizza. I'm pretty critical when it comes to my pizza review. So this one was a pleasant experience. Overall 8/10 pizza.

Google review 5 star for visibility...

November 2024 12", 6 slices, endless smiles. Here's why:

Yes! I will be back. If you're in the mood for a real, authentic, credit card thin crust, Naples style pizza, then this place is for you.

The owner was behind the counter cooking away, which is a testament to the dedication, passion and love he puts into this establishment. With his thick Italian accent, straight out of sicily, he definitely exudes confidence and what he's prepping, cooking, and serving up.

Tonight's Special was "A Ride on a Vespa" pizza: basil pesto, cherry tomatoes, burrata and Bresaola. The dough and the crust are amazing, cooked crispy yet chewy in a open flame fired oven. I can tell this is the type of dough that was probably made yesterday, and left to ferment and Rise overnight through a Sourdough type process. It's fresh, the ingredients are fresh. My guess would be something so simple like just flour, water and a pinch of salt.

The toppings are fresh as well. You can taste the tanginess in the Cherry tomato, you can feel the soft and suppleness of the burrata, and you can definitely get that great mouth feel and chew out of the crust.

It's a 12-inch pizza, cut up into six slices, very similar to a personal Pizza you would get in a Naples roadside cafe.

Also had a chance to try the Caesar salad. Not overly salty at all, even with the $3 extra anchovies on top. It's a good blend of cold romaine, tossed with just the right amount of dressing. Croutons for days, and crunchy, and you're also getting slices of parmigiano on top.

The 10-dollar cannoli is huge! That's what she said. It's not overly sweet, even the bittersweet chocolate on one side, and the powdered sugar on top. You can definitely taste the freshness and feel the smooth/granular creaminess that ricotta should have. The shell of the cannoli definitely felt like it was made in house, or if made off-site, definitely fresh made that same morning.

The service was great! Our waitress definitely checked in on us quite a number of times.

Parking is a breeze! It's in a massive shopping center where Kohl's is.

My compliments to the chef and the staff here. There are a couple of other guys behind the counter that were tending to the pizzas, getting orders processed from the oven straight to the pizza to-go boxes. It's definitely a well-run establishment, well-oiled machine.

Which reminds me, I love the fact that the pizza was not oily at all. To summarize, perfect amount of salt, great texture, great mouthfeel.

So if Naples style pizza is your thing, definitely give this place a try sometime. Tell them I sent you, and please mention...

Although we had to wait about 40 minutes to be seated, and there wasn't an organized waiting list to seat those waiting on a first-come basis, I had a feeling the wait and disorganization we experienced early on would be washed away by the quality of the food Magma serves. I was right.

After we were finally seated, we ordered an Italian lager called Menabrea, which was smooth and delicious! They serve many varieties of wine and other IPAs, too. For the food, we ordered the house supergreen salad, the queen margherita pizza and the garden of Eden pizza. The salad was so fresh, and the quality of the olive oil, lemon juice and green mix was exquisite. I noticed the flavors pop right away.

The Neapolitan pizzas were also to die for, mainly due to the freshness of the ingredients and the crust. I have never tasted mozzarella cheese like they served on their pizzas. I asked the owner about it afterwards, and he said the mozzarella cheese is their single biggest expense because they fly it in from Italy 3 times per week. We couldn't stop eating--the food was that good!

The wait and early chaos left a bad taste in my wife's mouth, but after the first bite of salad, she had forgotten it all.

To end the meal, we wanted to try the tiramisu, but they were sold out, so they recommended a cannoli instead. Wow! It wasn't made in the restaurant, but the quality of the chocolate shavings, the ricotta and the cannoli crust made us believe that it was.

You must try Magma Pizzeria! You won't be disappointed, but arrive before 6:30 on Friday and...