Pizza Nova

Pizza Nova
5050 N Harbor Drive
San Diego CA 92106
619.226.0268
View Google Map

In an effort to stay true to my word and my blog title, I intend to keep this post much shorter than the last.  It also helps that I got my food to go, so this review will be missing the “vibe” aspect.  Alright, let’s get down to business.

Employees

In my experience, the employees were very friendly, helpful, and attentive – what more can you really ask for?  We were greeted by the hostesses, assisted when we unintentionally complicated our order to a point apparently never reached before in the restaurant’s history, and though our order took longer than I’d anticipated, were assured our order would be ready soon.  Good enough for me.

Eats

One half pear and gorgonzola pizza, one half white pepperoni pizza, and a half chopped salad.  While the pear and gorgonzola was more like a cheese pizza with a salad thrown on top, both halves were delicious.  Really, the pizza is amazing – it helps that I enjoy my crust on the thin side, and Pizza Nova’s crust delivers.  The chopped salad wasn’t anything really to write home about, so I won’t – it wasn’t bad by any means though.  They also have these amazing, basily, garlicy, buttery bread nugget thingamajigs – it took immense self control to not take the entire bag to the face.

Expense

It’s not cheap – then again, it’s also not particularly expensive.  My guess is that you’d be hard pressed to find food of this quality for anything less than what I paid – my total for the pizza and half salad was a little over $20.00, and that provided generous portions for two people and some leftovers.  You can find cheaper pizza, no doubt, but you’ll likely also be sacrificing quality.  My advice: don’t sacrifice quality.

I got some feedback that I needed a better, more original rating system – while I disagree, ahem, maybe others feel the same way.  Establishments will now get between 1 and 5 Es – E1, E2, etc.  I’ll also start sorting places I review based on this system.

Quick & Dirty Assessment: E4.  When I have finally have a dining experience here, I’ll average this rating with that one, and then I’ll have a comprehensive rating for Pizza Nova.  In the meantime, enjoy.

Neighborhood

Neighborhood
777 G Street
San Diego CA 92101
619.446.0002
View Google Map

I’ve lived in the downtown area of San Diego for what will soon be two years, and while I won’t pretend to know every nook and cranny of downtown and the tenacious local businesses that exist there, I have been to quite a few.  I’ve passed by Neighborhood numerous times, and was always drawn to the somewhat modern look from the outside, and the scent of what I hoped was delicious food being served inside and on the patio (large windows that are, more often than not, wide open separate the two dining areas).  My opportunity to finally try the joint arrived last week with a few of my friends — a Tuesday night I believe.

I was back there on Thursday for lunch. If that doesn’t say enough, continue on with the review.

Click on any of the links below to jump to information relevant to that topic.

Establishment | Employees | Eats | Expense

Establishment

The restaurant itself, at the ground level of what appears to be a newly built condo building,  sits just a couple of blocks north of Petco Park, smack in the middle of the up and coming East Village area of downtown.  It is modern and contemporary from the outside, with a slight industrial look — the inside is no different.  There is some interesting artwork (notably, Jesus Christ eating a burger, albeit a damn good burger, I’m sure), and adorning almost an entire wall is a massive black and white mosaic of the San Diego skyline — very, very cool.

Employees

I’m not sure about you, but you’ll soon find that customer service is a major sticking point for me.  You can offer all-you-can-eat, melt-in-your-mouth filet mignon for $0.50, but if you’re not friendly and my beverage isn’t reasonably well attended to, we’re through.  The first time I dined here, the service was fine — we’ll leave it at that.  On Thursday, however, our group was met with one of the friendliest and most attentive wait staffs I’ve ever had the pleasure of being served by.  Water, napkins, and extra sauces were all in abundance, and that’s no easy feat considering we were a group of eight.  The take-home: maybe the hostess on Tuesday night was just in a terrible mood, but I wouldn’t let her surly demeanor deter you from trying this place  — everyone else was great.

Eats

Not the most extensive menu — most, or all, fits on one page — but the great thing is that it doesn’t need to be.  They have appetizers and entrees that range from corn dogs and a PB&J stacker to steak tartar and butter poached black mussels.  I’ve had both the cobb salad and turkey cobb sandwich (I’m trying to eat healthier foods, cut me some slack), and both were extremely filling and very good.  The turkey cobb sandwich was particularly surprising because it had this spicy cranberry habanero aioli — enough said.  I also had friends and coworkers gracious enough to let me try some of their choices, which included: sweet potato fries (get some), chorizo corn dogs (get even more of these), and the Neighborhood burger (I think this is my favorite).  I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this.  With regard to beverages, they have a number of beers on tap, some of which I tried and liked, but I’d rather cover that in a separate appendix of sorts to this review.

Expense

True, most burgers or sandwiches do not come with fries — you can order either regular fries or sweet potato fries for a price. But for the quality of the food that I’ve had, and judging by the comments of other friends, the $10.00 or so you pay for a burger is well worth it.  Appetizers generally stay comfortably under $10.00, and a meal and a drink, including tax and tip, can be had for around $20.00 per person.  If you can fit that into your budget, Neighborhood is definitely worth giving a shot.

Quick & Dirty Assessment: Two enthusiastic thumbs up — go now.

EM

Disclaimer: This post isn’t as quick or dirty as I’d like it to be — I haven’t yet perfected the craft.  That said, please leave a comment or two if you’d like, and let me know what you liked, and what you think could be improved.  Thanks.

Me, too.  (Many of them are written just like that sentence — my apologies.)

Behold, my Quick and Dirty.  I’m not going to BS you — I’m cutting right to the chase.  This is about San Diego wining and dining; good and bad; thumbs up and thumbs down.

I intend to share my thoughts and opinions with those of you kind enough to sift through my snob– pardon, to read my posts and take them for what they are: my personal thoughts and opinions.  With any luck, some of you will take my advice and have your own positive, personal experiences to share – maybe with me in the future.  After all, when it comes to food and drink, the more the merrier.

I hope this post finds you well, and that you’ll come back this weekend to read my first post, a review of: Neighborhood.

EM