Bruno's Pizzeria — Restaurant in Santa Fe

I will preface to say I am a bit of a Midwest pizza snob. I am VERY critical and have enjoyed pizza coast to coast. I harshly judge pizza by the crust, sauce, cheese and ingredients. After the family getting disappointing pizza elsewhere (couple different times on this trip), I was longing for actually GOOD pizza. I saw Bruno’s online and how highly rated it was. I knew I absolutely had to try this place before leaving Santa Fe. The difficult thing was they do close at 3pm. Talked with the owners and I get it. They are up at 5am every day getting ready. If you can get here before 3pm, let me tell you, you are in for a culinary taste extravaganza. First, the crust. The crust here is probably THE BEST I HAVE EVER EATEN - absolutely. It is the perfect combination of foldable to eat and you WILL want to eat your crusts edges here. The edges are delicately flavored with GOOD olive oil. Perfectly chewy. Not too thick. Not too thin. Great body. Absolutely scrumptious to devour. Then, the sauce. A medley of light herbs and spices joined with quality tomatoes. Not a competition between sauce and ingredients. Rather a perfect compliment. I would have preferred just a touch more sauce on my pie, but not really a negative. It was just that good!! Maybe opt for an extra side of sauce for dipping? Next, the cheese. You can tell it’s fresh and quality. Not translucent or oily in any way. Really just the right amount to completely cover the pizza just leaving about a nominal 1” of crust on the edges. Finally, the ingredients. These are very fresh and very generous. An array of house combinations to choose from or you can build your own. The breadsticks were another amazing product. And you get BOTH sauce and Sicilian EVOO with these!! I couldn’t leave the parking lot without digging into these and I had to restrain myself from consuming all of them before getting home!! Then, just when you think it couldn’t possibly get any better, enter the Granita. The Granita is a lemonade-based slushie with tons of flavor options. Wish I could have tried all the flavors, but I will tell you the black berry one was absolutely fantastic! Lastly, this place even has cannoli. I got there at about 2:30pm so they were pretty much sold out except for traditional and chocolate dipped. It is EXCELLENT cannoli and you will not be disappointed. Perfectly crisp shell. And the sweetened ricotta is spot on and to die for. These cannoli beat out the best I tried in Boston even. But still second place to a little Italian hole in the wall place I found across the street from Notre Dame college . The sweet ricotta there was the owners Nonna recipe and had orange zest and mini chocolate chips which was a pleasant and sweet surprise. So, in conclusion, Bruno Pizza in Santa Fe is a MUST GO for any serious pizza lover!! So hard to find excellent pizza in the southwest, but this place has completely nailed it! The owners are working toward a brick and mortar store, but real estate in SF is pretty pricey. I hope they can realize their dream soon, because they have a great product...

Friday, September 22 11:30 am

Bruno’s is an 11am-3pm pizzeria with its Italian family roots in New York City. I am from New York and can tell you this is the real thing. For the most part the restaurant emphasis is on take-out. But we ate there on a gorgeous September day with perfect temperatures. You ring a doorbell to let them know you are there. We sat at a picnic table with a sun umbrella in a space between their food truck and tent covered service area. Don’t be put off by the location so close to busy Paseo de Peralta. The traffic noise is covered by the nearby high adobe wall and terrific blues music from a hidden speaker. We were easily able to converse. Service was friendly and we were immediately served our Granitas. Their Granitas, if you aren’t familiar, are made with fresh squeezed lemon juice, cane juice and frozen water with several flavor choices (16 oz for $5.50.) We got one prickly pear cactus and one hibiscus, perfect pizza accompaniments. All of Bruno’s New York style pies have their signature “House Made”, Hand Slung, IPA Infused Crust from a “Wood Fired” Brick Oven. There are many pizza choices from traditional (We ordered the 12 “ wood fired #3 Sausage with deeply flavored red sauce, mozzarella, Italian sausage, roasted red bell pepper and sauteed red onion, $15.95.) to more creative pies like Il Diavolo. Il Diavolo is designated “hot” with dressed Bruno’s style- upside down mozzarella, Diavolo sauce, Italian sausage,roasted garlic drizzled with flamin’ honey. Understandably these pizzas take a while to prepare but the crust and the pie are devastatingly good. Prices are very reasonable for the quality. We’re definitely coming back to try...

I’ve lived in NM for a majority of my life and granted I haven’t for some time, This is the best pizza I’ve ever had in this state; hands down. Heck, it’s even good in regards to pizza I’ve had in the rest of the world.

I had a good long discussion with the owner/family about their techniques and they were surprised by my knowledge level. They prefer a biga preferment for their dough which adds an amazing depth of flavor to their crust. Wood fired at 900° to give that little bit of char on the bottom. They do use a 65-70% (estimated by the texture feel) hydration so if you’re expecting a crispy slice that has zero flop, this isn’t it. Im not saying that as bad thing though.

Their sauce was on point, not to sweet or bland. It added excellent flavor to the overall pie.

The one fault I will give it is the cheese they used. It was full fat, which is good, but unfortunately using 100% full fat mozz generally makes for a pretty greasy slice. Though it could have been exacerbated by the pepps, it was still noticeable. BUT HEY, it’s pizza. Some of that is expected.

This is a solid pizza that shouldn’t be skipped. However their hours are somewhat bonkers and inconsistent. 11-3pm/4pm is kinda hard for people to make so you’ll have to take a special trip. Not something you can pick up on your way home...