What is street food? Street food is good food that's not fancy. It's a great meal you can order quickly, yet without feeling like you're supposed to leave fast. It's food the locals usually know about--food that you don't feel strange eating by yourself, but are always glad to reveal to a special friend. Street food costs less than $10 per person. You order it at the counter, or at least pay for it there.
Bronx Pizza: A Taste of the Big Apple in San Diego
by Amy CovingtonSan Diego is a perpetual beach town, with each neighborhood adding a patch on the suburban quilt. A search for urban pockets might produce disappointing results, but cityesque niches do exist in the sunny homeland of beaches and babes. One such spot is on a stretch of road called Washington Street, running through the heart of the Uptown district, otherwise known as Hillcrest. Sandwiched between La Posta taco shop and Weinerschnitzel, is Bronx Pizza, a lone building in front of the Wash-o-Mat.
Although the structure stands alone, Bronx Pizza is never deserted. About the size of my closet, Bronx Pizza does a brisk business, with lines often stretching down the sidewalk. Packed inside the tiny shop are a few big tables that you might share with a stranger if you want to sit while you eat. Lining the walls are black and white photos of old boxing champs and wise guys from mobster movies. Out back there's a small patio with canopied tables.
On the menu is not your traditional Domino's selection. Pizza toppings range from the ordinary (pepperoni) to the bizarre (clams) with a nice choice of cheeses (ricotta, parmesan, and whole milk mozzarella) and sauces (tomato sauce made from hand crushed tomatoes and pesto sauce), with homemade thin crust dough. And they don't skimp on servings--$1.75 for cheese, and $2.25 for a slice with toppings, will get you what the garden-variety shops call three slices.
Bronx Pizza encompasses the definition of Street Food, with some patrons plopping down right on the curb to eat their greasy delights. The staff is mostly New York natives, along with transplants from Italy, Philly, and San Francisco. They work hard in a confined space from 11 a.m.-10 p.m. during the week and until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. They don't serve beer but they'll let you bring your own if you buy it at the nearby liquor store (and if you're 21 of course).
A word to the wise: if you drive up, don't park at the Laundromat and walk over to get pizza or an angry little man will scream at you. Just find your way to 111 Washington and get in line for one helluva New-York-style pizza in sunny San Diego.
Bronx Pizza
111 Washington St
San Diego , California 92103
Phone Number: 619-291-3341
www.bronxpizza.com
