The Shop: Pizza + Cocktails — Restaurant in San Diego

It's been a very long time since I've had deep dish and I heard about this place from a friend, so I figured I'd try it on my birthday. I ordered a "where's the meat" pizza and had a "lady in satin" while I waited. I'm not a fan of coconut rum, but my friend recommended it since he had just had one. I was in the mood for a tart drink and few things are more tart than lilikoi. I was surprised to find that the coconut rum actually enhanced the flavor. It was delightful. I'm a lightweight, so take this with a grain of salt, but it was a lot stronger than it tasted and I was having a pretty good time by the time the pizza came out.

I get why people don't care for 80s music but they had a great selection the whole evening. David Bowie, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, U2, and a few power ballads sprinkled in really took the ambiance to a different level. I hate loud music and high reverberating ceilings so I sat outside and it was the right choice. I prefer to not have to yell across the table at someone that's two arm's lengths away from me. I went in to use the restroom, which was clean, and the indoor restaurant is like most other modern restaurants. Smooth concrete floors, high ceilings, and wooden tables and chairs/stools. You know the type.

It took a while but the pizza was great. I was worried that we weren't going to finish it until I took the first bite. It was delicious. A fantastic pizza. It had been so long that I had forgotten that the crust is usually cornmeal, so it was a surprise on the first bite and a critical component of the positive experience. Needless to say, we finished the whole pizza. The sauce was light and fresh, the toppings were quite good, and my only complaint might be that the sausage and pepperoni kind of got lost. I could taste the bacon, but it seemed a bit lacking in the spiciness I was expecting from the other ingredients. It didn't, by any means, detract from how good the pizza was, but it did have those ingredients listed so I have to expect it. I'm just being a little bit nitpicky but if that's the only bad thing I have to say about the entire experience, I...

Last week, I had the opportunity to try out The Shop during their soft opening. Pizza enthusiasts throughout San Diego are in for a treat with this new addition to the local restaurant scene.

The leaders behind The Shop are alumni of San Francisco's Little Star Pizza, arguably the best purveyor of deep dish pizzas in the Bay Area (trading places with Zachary's depending on the year). A former Fog City resident myself (and former patron of both Little Star and Zachary's), I was looking forward to seeing if I could recognize any of those familiar flavors and preparations mixed into The Shop's creations.

I ordered "the veg," regular size, deep dish, with vegan cheese for takeaway. Overall, I was very pleased with the result. The crust was outstanding: a relatively thin and flavorful focaccia; crisp, but not hard. The toppings in my pie were all veggies and they were clearly of high quality and prepared well: the full roasted cloves of garlic, plentiful kalamata olives, and bright red bell peppers rose from the background. Unlike many vegan pizzas that tend to add too much of the Daiya and make up for a lack of flavor by heaping on extra salt, the "cheese" on this pie was understated. Instead, the tomato sauce was the star of the show, featuring fresh richly flavored tomatoes and a simmered preparation that probably was many hours (days?) in the making. I could definitely recognize hints of my old favorite pies from SF, though taken in a new direction.

While I'm looking forward to enjoying my next "pie" on their welcoming patio (and I'm definitely planning to return soon!), the to-go option traveled well and came back to life with 60 seconds in...

We were driving down from Pala and were on the hunt for a lunch spot as we all were starving and came across The Shop. It had been a while since any of us had deep-dish pizza, so we decided to give this place a try.

PARKING - Shares a large parking lot with tons of other businesses and grocery shops so you don't have to worry about lack of space!

SERVICE/ENVIRONMENT - They have outdoor and indoor seating available, and they let us choose where we wanted to sit. Pretty spacious and it looks like they combined a few tables for a larger group, so if you have more than 6 people it looks doable! The staff was friendly and attentive, but the pizza felt like it took longer than usual. Due to the long wait time, I think we all anticipated it to be filled to the brim with cheese and fillings.

FOOD - North County Deep Dish Pizza (Large - $33.00): Large comes with 8 slices, which sounds like a lot for a deep-dish pizza, but it filled us up pretty well. I personally don't eat too much and also being lactose-intolerant, dairy fills me up quickly... but I was able to eat two slices. I think we were all a bit disappointed in the lack of filling. I only got 2 chunks of meatballs between my two slices, and most of my bites were filled with tomato sauce and not much cheese even. The crust was a bit dry as well, and although most of the filling was tomato sauce, the crust definitely needed more help.

OVERALL - I think I have my go-to spot for deep-dish pizza in San Diego, and The Shop isn't it. Fairly good price for the amount you get, although it didn't hit the spot flavor-wise...