Pizzeria Mozza

This place was an absolute blunder. The one in LOS was great when I went to it.
This place was way over-​the-​top as far as having a stick straight up their ass. You’re a fucking pizza place, relax… front dough, roll sauce, open cans of olives, repeat. I couldn’t believe the attitude the 3 – 4 times I tried to make this place work.
I’m not happy to see a Batali & partner spot leave SD, but if any one city can get rid of the likes of The Palm or Mozza… it’s good old SAND-​DOG.

I know that this place is closing in a couple of days, so this review should have been written sooner, but I had no idea they weren’t doing well. Every time I went they were packed! The food is amazing and I never had a problem with the service. I’m writing this review now because I want to let people know they can still go to Mozza in LA or Newport if they like it as much as I do (which is A LOT). Or, if you’ve been wanting to try it but didn’t get a chance, I recommend trying it if you happen to be near one of their locations in the future. It is so so good! Yes, it’s more expensive than regular pizza, but for the quality the price is right. I’m sad to see you go, Mozza, and I hope to check out one of your other locations because I’m really going to miss your delicious pizza.
PS I just ate here tonight and it was as good as always!

Pizzeria Mozza has announced it is closing at the end of November after only 1 year of serving overpriced, underwhelming pizza… gee, what a surprise (read my original, earlier review that I called from day 1)…now that’s what you call addition by subtraction… if you cannot pull the wool over the eyes of the morons in this town that poses as a city, then you really do deserve to fail.

My wife and I came here twice in a week while we were in San Diego for her conference. Once we came for lunch, and another time we came just for dessert. We enjoy places that have an open kitchen and places that have outdoor seating. This place has both!
We tried the brussel sprouts, butternut squash bruschetta, and their version of a meat lover’s pizza. We also had their gelato (which is better than the gelato next door at gelato paradiso). Both the food and service are excellent!

Had a super fun time at the Venissimo Mozza dinner, starting with a cheese tasting in Venissimo and culminating in a wonderful 3 course meal, 2 course dessert in the private dining room at Mozza. All courses paired with wine, of course.
To start, everyone was presented with an individual cheese board along with a glass of Prosecco. Our teacher, Rob, was clearly passionate and knowledgeable about cheese.
After our cheese tasting, we meandered over to Mozza where Chef John presented each dish and wine steward Nicolas presented each wine and described how it was selected. Finally, pastry chef Juli presented the two desserts. All dishes featured cheeses from the tasting.
It was a feast for the senses — just look at the mouth watering photos. Great food and wine, happy guests, and a 10% discount on cheese purchases from Venissimo. Can’t wait for the next special Venissimo/​Mozza event!

Food is good. Service is awful. We were the first ones here and now about 15 tables were served and we are still waiting!
I know I am beating a long dead horse when I tell you the service here is awful. AWFUL! We got there right when it opened for my birthday lunch. There was no one at the restaurant. And then people started coming in. No one took our order but orders were being taken all around us.
It took us almost 2.5 hours start to finish to order and eat and leave. But the food almost makes up for the bad service. Almost. But the cauliflower? I HIGHLY recommend it. And their fresh burata? To Die For!
So you take the good and you take the bad and there you have — Pizzeria Mozza!

Pizzeria Mozza is located at the newly renovated jail – turned shopping center. It really is a nice area located at the heart of downtown and right next to Seaport Village. Its a great addition to the area.
For the most part, I think that the drinks and the food were overpriced for the portions served.
For starters, we tried the calamari, fried squash blossoms and roasted cauliflower. The calamari was not like your typical fried calamari. It was just grilled and served with marinated peppers. I wasn’t expecting this and this was kind of a miss for our table. We still ate it though. can’t let it go to waste! The squash blossoms were good but the portion was tiny. You get 4 small squash blossoms. They were tiny and we were disappointed so we had to order more appetizers! Then, we got roasted cauliflower which was the best portion. It comes in a mint yogurt sauce which was a delicious accompaniment. I would highly recommend getting this appetizer and bypass the rest.
For the entrée, 4 girls shared the Laura Chanel goat cheese, leeks, scallions & bacon pizza and tagliatelle with mushrooms, walnuts and spinach. The pizza was probably big enough to serve 1 person. I was thinking it’d be bigger, like most of the dishes. When you think Italian, you think nice big portions right? Womp womp womp. It was still nicely flavored but I wish there was more. The pasta was my favorite of the night. I wish there was more of that too. The mushrooms, walnuts and spinach are all tossed together with the tagliatelle and a butter sauce. Soo good.
So, all in all, this place is pricey if you were to dine there with just 2 people. Good thing I came in a group where we could all share dishes. It gets really busy on a weekend night too so if you’re thinking of coming, take a look at the menu and make a reservation first.

Located at The Headquarters, PIzzeria Mozza serves a variety of dishes from appetizers like Fried Flower Squash Blossoms, Roasted Calamari (not your typical breaded and fried), and Roast Cauliflower which was my favorite out of the three as it is served with yummy yogurt.
For the entrée, we had a pasta dish and thing crust pizza with mushrooms, fennel, and leeks? All of the names were in Italian and I’m not going to try and spell them out :) Servers were very knowledgable of the menu and will help you find what you’re looking for.
The outdoor patio makes for a nice dinner under the stars and lights. Prices weren’t as bad as we thought it was! Best to share so you can try more things off the menu. Cocktails weren’t that bad either.

This place was great! Close by our hotel and our last night we decided to randomly try it out and I’m glad we did! Server was friendly and knew what he was talking about and very helpful to the out of towners. The mozzy balls were sooooo good with the sauce they make and the pizza was perfect to split.
My only hold up at all was the fact we didn’t get water and I had to ask a couple times for a sample of beer and when I gave my opinion of it being ok and me being from Portland land of beers I got just the slightest bit of attitude but nothing that takes away from the overall amazingness of this place. Also he was so generous and gave us some honeymoon drinks and some tips on where to go… He was a good guy that believes in his town so I can’t be mad :) I recommend it for its wine, spirits and beer selection and of course the beautiful and delicious food… plus the ambience is quiet delightful. And the people push the food and drinks only because I feel it’s worth it.

Gosh, I wanted to like this place because the location is awesome, but… unfortunately, I’ll probably never eat here again. This place is overpriced for the amounts and quality of food you actually get.
Reasons I didn’t like this place include…
1. The never brought my son a kids plastic cup of water when they said they would.
2. Ordered the meatball appetizers and it was $ 12. You only get 3 and they are NOT big.
3. The pizzas only come in one size and they aren’t big at all… But you would sure think they would be with how much it costs.
4. The bread that you would normally get for free in any other restaurant… You have to pay $ 4 for. Lame.
The only reason it isn’t getting one star is because the food wasn’t half bad. It was just too expensive for the portions.

Unilocal vs Zagat… I should have listened to Unilocal.I’d been wanting to visit Mozza for a while now, since reading quite a few positive comments about it on Zagat and was surprised to notice its average Unilocal rating at only 3 stars. I should have known; Unilocal was right, I had an impressively mediocre experience.
Our immediate impression was that the décor was overwhelmingly corporate and somewhat dated. It seem sanitary and lacked any sense of soul. It was also quite noisy with muzak playing inside competing with a live Mexican band outside. The clash of styles was extremely distracting and somewhat maddening.
Our meal started with a squash blossom appetizer that was stuffed with ricotta and lightly sauteed, served in a sweet dressing. The flower was delicate, the cheese silky, and the dressing bright; everything you would want in an appetizer. The cocktail and wine menus were adequate and competitively priced.
My wife and I both ordered pizzas from a menu the waiter described as «northern italian inspired» but with selections like speck, pineapple, & onion or egg, bacon, and potato it seemed like the status quo to me. Unfortunately we had a long (~45min) wait for our entrees, though the wait staff was quite attentive in the interim. Once the pies arrived I felt the crust, hand stretched in the open kitchen and baked in a wood oven, was the clear start of the entrée. Mozza serves a thin crust like so many trendy pizza shops, but theirs stood out for me as especially light and airy. On the other hand my wife found the ratio of topping to be lacking, which left the crust overwhelming.
After dinner I ordered a peach, blueberry, & almond tart served on vanilla crème anglaise. Like our pizzas, it was very good but ultimately unmemorable.
All in all one drink, two pies, and one dessert set us back $ 70. I know it isn’t Dominoes but it wasn’t necessarily a bargain either. We might be back to Mozza if the occasion presents itself, but we probably won’t seek it out.

Had a nice lunch at Mozza with a coworker while in town for a conference. I think the Silverton-​Batali-​Bastianich triumvirate would be proud of the product this location is turning out.
Food:
Started with a plate of speck; a lightly-​smoked prosciutto which was salty-​ribbon-​good. Wrap it around grissini already at the table and it’s a good way to get it all going. Then we moved on to grilled carrots served with fried ceci beans, greek yogurt, cumin, and olive oil. Pure veggie goodness. And of course we had to have a pizza, so we split a small margherita — though I would have loved to be more adventurous, we agreed that a good margherita is hard to beat. This one did not disappoint. Chewy cornicione, charred bottom crust, with a tangy sauce and just enough cheese to satisfy. A top-​shelf Neapolitan-​style pie, and on the basis of this one, I would visit any Mozza location.
Service:
Very attentive and friendly. Our server was great with recommendations and her advice regarding portion size was spot on.
Vibe:
San Diego cool. We ate lunch at an outside table, so we enjoyed the SoCal sunshine along with our lunch. I didn’t actually go into the dining room, but when you have ample outdoor seating, I’m quite happy. And of course it’s casual, so flip-​flops are more than acceptable.
Family-​friendly:
Yup. For a family-​friendly time, just add pizza. But there are lots of other items that the kiddos might enjoy if they are game…
Summary:
I’m a fan of chain restaurants when they do things right. Though I’ve only been to Mozza one time at one location, I have high hopes. My lunch was great, and I won’t hesitate to try another location.

Overpriced * Cool patio * Good sized menu * Gourmet pizzas * Great service
If you love thin crust, gourmet pizzas with ingredients you may need to Google to figure out what they are — this place is for you!
Each pizza is an individual 10″ pizza ranging from $ 11 — $ 18. Ever pizza has an array of authentic and interesting ingredients. They also offer antipasti and insalate (some are individual size and some are made to share) along with carne options and desserts.
My in-​laws were in town and we were tooling around Sea Port Village when we saw this place and though we’d give it a try. We all found a pizza that piqued our interest and were all excited to try something new. The pizza’s are thin crust with a little bit bigger crust. The 10″ appeared just right for each of us, unfortunately we were are all still wanting more after finishing. From the thin crust, to no sauce on my pizza (fennel sausage, panna, scallions & red onions) to very minimal meat and cheese, it was really a fancy piece of bread.
We were also disappointed with the cost of our bill — over $ 100 for four individual pizzas, two lemonades and an iced tea. We didn’t even have an appetizer or dessert!
The service was wonderful. Our waitress Lynnaea (spelling?) was so kind and really attentive.
Not sure they’re great for kids as their menu is a variety of very unique flavors and choices.
We probably won’t be back, but it was fun to try something new.

As a fan of the original Mozza in LA, I found this to be an honorable extension. Nancy Silverton’s famous crust is well structured and tasty as would be expected. The toppings are all top-​notch. Of course, Nancy’s chopped salad is what you wish every salad would taste like.
The appetizers were the only fair part. I don’t know if it’s at all Mozzas or just this one, but the arancini have shrunk. I remember them from the Mozza in LA, as I always get them there. But these were so small, there really wasn’t much of the delicious risotto or Bolognese filling. Mostly I just tasted the fried shell. Also, the meatballs were good but nothing to write home about.
For dessert, the budino was amazing as always and the cherry something dessert was really, really good! It was like a deconstructed cherry pie à la mode in a cup with fresh cherries, not the stuff from a can.
I’m not opposed to pricey meals, but for a pizzeria, this is definitely on the high side. I would go a lot more if the prices were slightly less. Our wine, which was good, was marked up three times over retail. This isn’t unique among restaurants, but again, it is on the high side.
It would be nice if Mozza would let its patrons discover how amazing it is without announcing their own amazingness on the menu through their prices. It won’t stop me from returning though. :-)

A lot of the good and bad things that people are saying about this place are true. I am not sure this place deserves 4 stars but there were enough really good things here to give a tenuous 4.
The good:
* The meat lover’s pizza was just amazing. Not in a New York is better than Chicago kinda way but the taste was simply delish and didn’t need to be compared to anything else. Yes all the toppings slid off when you grab a slice but once you got a bite of this thing trust me you weren’t going to just leave those toppings, sauce, cheese, whatever, sit there for long. Seriously good meat pizza here.
*The sangria here is better than any other in San Diego and maybe the best I have outside of my own. To be sure I had two.
*Nice outdoor patio.
The not so good AKA as why they almost go three stars:
* Service was VERY slow and this was after the lunch rush around 2:30 in the afternoon. They had more bussers than servers for some reason.
* The menus here are off, one had items the other didn’t have. When asked we were simply told one was old. Our pizza was called «Meat Lovers» by the chap who dropped it off and on the check but the menu didn’t have a name for it so you basically had to read the ingredients. Our waitress called it «All Meat». Confusing to say the least.
* While not their fault, this place is loaded with flies, the whole complex has them everywhere. The mall management should look into this.

This is one of those reviews, that if I were to take out one bad portion of my experience, the service, this would easily be at least a four star review, but given I adhere to the law of averages, I must stay true a settle for three stars.
I sat at what they call the pizza bar, because I just like to watch my food being made. I ordered the bacon, finocchiona, fennel sausage, pancetta, tomato and mozzarella pizza for $ 18. Like I said, I got to watch them make it, from the ladling of the sauce (
), to the topping of the meats and Mozzarella (
), and then into the oven it went (
).
When it came out of the oven, a wood fire oven where they use hard almond wood, it a sight for sore eyes with its rich meats glistening in their own juices (
). The pizza was quite good, not the best I have ever had, but a fine meal indeed. It did however had a few issues. For example, given the pizza came with a number of fatty meats, not that I am complaining, the oils from the meats ran to the center of the pizza and left the crust softer than I would of liked. On the other hand, the rest of the golden crust was great. It had a great crunchy appeal with just the right amount of air bubbles to add that nice chew (
). It was thin too, so I was able to appreciate the toppings more (
).
The toppings were great, and what really stood out were the house made fennel sausage. They had a nice mild flavor and were well seasoned. (
) I really enjoyed the finocchiona salami and the pancetta with their fatty rich flavor with just the right amount of saltiness (
). It was a smörgåsbord of tasty meats to say the least. Great stuff, but for $ 18, I was not filled.
The gents behind the pizza bar were great. They shared their knowledge of the pizza trade and provided good conversation. However, my server was another story. It was not at all busy when I came, and it took a while, longer than average, to actually put in my order, and I am being generous. I actually joked with the gents making the pizza, if we could pretend it was a Sushi Bar, and I could just give them my order. Even after my meal, it again to longer than normal to get my check. I had to make it clear, that I needed my check. At any rate. I normally do not get upset with simple things like this, but I have to admit, it was kinda annoying and it put a damper on my whole experience. Again, it was not busy…

Love the décor of the restaurant. A lot of the menu is in Italian so if you aren’t too familiar with Italian terms you might have a hard time choosing lol. I then asked the waitress what some of her favorites are which helped me narrow it down. The menu is simple not too much to it just wish it had some pasta options.
I ordered the mozzarella balls which were good but oily but the sauce had very good flavor with black olives and capers. I ordered the chopped salad which had a bit of a strong taste of oregano that dominated. The salami and cheese was delicious. Great sized salad big enough to share. I also ordered the salami pizza. The dough on the pizza was thin but crisped just right. It wasn’t dry or anything and once again the salami on it was delicious. I would of tried something more adventurous but, I was sharing with my daughter so I tried a more classic style pizza. I would go back to try a different type of pizza but the chopped salad I wasn’t crazy about.
The waiters all around super nice. My waitress in particular didn’t come over much. Didn’t check in but I had other waiters walking by checking in. Didn’t offer to refill drinks or offer the dessert menu at the end. I asked another waiter for my check and it took a bit to get it over. The couple next to me did also have some complaints about the service and let management know. The worse part was they were tourists. Not a good impression to make with our tourists. All in all it was decent but nothing spectacular.

I loved my experience at the Pizzeria Mozza and I am so looking forward to try more of those thin crusted pizzas. We order 2 pizzas to share: mixed mushrooms pizza with added sausage and was superb, plus the ‘exotic’ brussel sprouts with pancetta and liked it a lot as well.
Every ingredient was super fresh, the sizes of the pizzas are normal to small (considering the brutal sizes out there) and the whole experience was awesome. The waiter was very nice to us, introducing me to the gaeta olives (and I thought coming from the country with more olive trees per square meter I would know all varieties in the world, but no!).
Gaeta olives are from Italy (my latest addition are the gloriously green castelvetrano). To me, that appetizer (warm olives in a bath of olive oil, with roasted garlic, and soft melting in your mouth cheese, plus orange peel) was to die for. I am used to devour olives but never warm and never bathed in oil. They give the me idea to do this at home, getting different types of olives, mixing them up with the other ingredients and makes an awesome appetizer (or almost a dish for some of us:).
I also like trying to guess the invention year of some common (today) items, such a battery or glasses. A list of Italian inventions and inventors written in the paper-​tablecloth entertained us a lot while sipping some Italian beer and waiting for our just fresh from the oven pizzas. It was a great night and will come back to try more pizzas and gelatto.

My sister really wanted me to try this place, there’s a location next to her old Hollywood Apartment and she swears by it. I made the effort to try it when we found out that they opened a location in San Diego.
Well…i was oversold, and under satisfied! First of all, their pizzas are overpriced. The crust (where the sauce is) …is extremely thin, the crust on the edge, extremely thick. When i’d take a bite, the cheese would just pull all the toppings off. These were 10 inch pizzas, i’m not sure if they’re meant to share or not, but i felt like we had no choice but to share because it was so expensive.
We also ordered the meatballs as an appetizer. Those were decent… but the bread on top was what tasted best. The actual meatball kind of had a spice kick to it. By bf did not like it.
The complimentary breadsticks almost went unnoticed. I saw another table eating their breadsticks, before i realized it wasn’t napkin rolled up with utensils on our table. They are the long and crispy breadsticks. I’m usually a fan of the soft, dippable ones.
The service was also pretty blah. The hostess was not friendly, the guy who actually seated us was quiet, the waitress had to say the bad news that they were out of FOUR OF THEIR APPETIZERS. we initially ordered the bone marrow, and then she said, «we are actually out of the carrots, bone marrow, brussel sprouts and chicken wings.»…If half your menu is gone, why the hell wouldn’t you say anything in the intro?

I’d been wanting to try an authentic Mozza pizza ever since I first read about the original joint on Melrose Ave in LA. After years of failed attempts to dine there because of how impossible it is to score a reservation (or even snag a seat at the bar without waiting 4 hours), I eventually just gave up trying.
Enter the Headquarters, the brand-spankin’-new mall and entertainment complex next to Seaport Village in downtown SD. I was thrilled to find out that Mozza was one of the flapship businesses. As soon as I had some free time, I grabbed one of my favorite people and drove over at ~5pm on a Friday evening. (Pro tip: Don’t pay to park in the Headquarters lot. Street parking is cheap and abundant on Pacific Highway and Kettner Blvd.)
The host told us that every table in the dining room was reserved for the entire night — no surprise there. Thankfully, we arrived early enough to snag seats at the pizza bar overlooking the open kitchen and two massive wood-​burning ovens (both running at a cozy 530°F).
To start: wine of course! I had a glass of the Friulano (similar to a dry Riesling), while my guest had the Sangiovese. The «glasses» were actually ¹⁄₃ bottles served in cute glass carafes. Both wines were excellent.
For the appetizer, we shared the Brussels sprouts with prosciutto breadcrumbs. San Diego sets the bar high when it comes to gourmet Brussels sprouts, and, unfortunately, the sprouts at Mozza don’t really compare. The portion was minuscule, and the sprouts were cold and limp. I really enjoyed the lemon dressing and breadcrumbs, though.
The real superstars of the meal were the pizzas. We shared two:
(i) fennel sausage pizza with panna, scallions, and red onion
(ii) squash blossom pizza with tomato and burrata
Both of these pizzas knocked it out of the park. The funnel sausage pizza was savory and spicy and absolutely delicious. The squash blossom pizza was lighter and sweeter, and tasted especially good when the burrata sneaked into each bite. The crust was crispy and airy in both pizzas, and tasted like a baguette soaked in olive oil. If you’re sick and tired of burnt, rock-​hard pizza crusts, give Mozza’s pizzas a try.
After scarfing down the pizzas, we were enjoying ourselves so much that we had to have dessert, so we had the signature item — salted butterscotch budino with caramel and rosemary/​pine nut cookies. Just like with the appetizer, butterscotch budino is a dish with lots of competition these days, and Mozza’s was just so-​so. The caramel was definitely there, but overwhelmingly sweet. I couldn’t find the salt flavor.
Service was surprisingly good for a restaurant that had been open for less than a week. Our server was super friendly. All of the food was brought out quickly, but we were never rushed.
All said, there’s a good chance I’ll be dreaming about those pizzas tonight, and that alone is enough to keep me coming back to Mozza.