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Business & Tech

New Coney Island Pizza Offers a Real Taste of New York in Poway

This restaurant has suddenly got me into craving pizza!

A lot of people really love their pizza, and although I like it, I don’t love it. I’m moody when it comes to food and because of my slightly snobby palate, I hardly ever crave pizza.

Crazy, I know, so that’s why I was a little hesitant about visiting . I pass this shop almost every day, so I’ve always been curious about it. I was not disappointed. I may start craving pizza soon (and, no, those are not my pregnancy hormones speaking).

Tucked away in a strip mall near the intersection of Poway and Garden, New Coney Island Pizza is a great taste of the East Coast. I’ve been to New York once and the pizza is quite memorable. Thin, crispy slices filled with homemade ingredients. Nothing else I’ve had in California or other states compares, but this place comes very close.

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By the way, it has “New” attached to its name because it previously existed under the Coney Island name in the same strip mall until 2008, when ownership was taken over by Sweet Home Chicago Pizza. After the Chicago-style pizzeria decided to close late last year, the owner re-opened a larger shop with the same old menu at the beginning of this year and called it New Coney Island Pizza.

I cheated a little before heading there and read the Yelp reviews to see what I may be up against. Overall, I don’t put too much stock in Yelp reviews and tend to seek the general consensus. Most of the comments were very good with only a few naysayers.

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To summarize, those who knew New York—excuse me, New Yawk—pizza loved it, whereas those with no basis for comparison thought the crust was too thin and flavorless. The good comments peaked my interest, since I know New Yorkers are super territorial about their pizza. 

I had the pleasure of meeting D’Nato, the shop’s Brooklyn-born and bred pizza chef. He knows his stuff and immediately knew what to recommend. I liked him because he’s obviously passionate about what he does and was happy to review the selections of the day.

“We’ve got pizza, stromboli, calzones, rolls—what would you like?” he asked.

Rolls? That was new, but after looking in their deli case, I saw that it was pretty much a stromboli with the ends left open. In short, a slice of pizza rolled. 

My kids were my dining guests and after picking out their respective favorite slices, pepperoni and cheese (two slices plus a drink for $5), I decided on the sausage and pepper roll and the meatball roll ($4.75 each) to take home to my husband. 

My kids dug into their pizza before I could snap a photo, but it was a quintessential slice of New York. Nice thin crust, zesty sauce and a little grease that I was OK with, since overall the taste was really good and very authentic. Both kids gave it the thumbs up.

Of course, I had to try both rolls to complete my review (insert big grin here).  I really expected them to be meatier, so if there was a drawback, I’d say that would be it. The crust was the same as the pizza crust and both were cheesy but not over-the-top cheesy. Both rolls were tasty. Since I ate more than three hours ago and I’m still incredibly full, I get why there wasn’t more meat. It would’ve been too heavy. So don’t be fooled by the appearance; the rolls pack quite a punch.  

There were plenty of other options to try that looked amazing, like their spinach and ricotta pizza and the eggplant sandwich, among many others. Their selections change from day to day, so I’m anxious to see what I may find in the future. 

On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the most meat-friendly, I give this place a 6 since on this particular day they had almost as many vegetarian options as they had meat. I had to push it beyond 5 because they carry beers by , which is a bonus.

There aren’t many places where a family of four can grab a good lunch for a little over $16, so I will definitely be back to New Coney Island Pizza! 

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