San Diego’s Best Cheesesteaks: Calozzi’s Cheesesteaks
Fun Diego Family is on a search for the best Philadelphia Cheesesteak in the San Diego area. Pacific Beach has become a hotspot with two prime cheesesteak vendors along Garnet, Steak N Fries, and Calozzi’s Cheesesteaks. This is our review of Calozzi’s Cheesesteaks.
UPDATE: in 2022 Calozzi’s closed its restaurant and announced plans to move to a food truck model.
WEBSITE: http://calozzis.net/
Calozzi’s Cheesesteaks actually got its start in Seattle. According to this article in San Diego City Beat, Al Calozzi operated a cart. He gained fame when Men’s Journal named his cheesesteak one of the 10 best that are not made in Philadelphia.
Calozzi opened his San Diego location in 2018. The Seattle location is still open, but every time we go to Pacific Beach we see Al personally cooking up the steaks. This is pretty much a one-man operation and the menu is bare bones. There are just several versions of cheesesteaks, chips and canned sodas. The tiny store front is easy to miss on Garnet and this place is best for takeout.
The beef is flown in from Philadelphia but the rolls are actually bought fresh each day from a local San Diego bakery. In my mind that is a major plus for Calozzi’s Cheesesteaks. Many cheesesteak places outside Philadelphia advertise Amoroso rolls from Philadelphia. However, in Philly Amoroso is looked down upon as a mass market bakery. Anyone can buy those rolls online.
See our guide to Cheesesteaks for more info
However, it is the meat that makes Calozzi’s Cheesesteaks standout. A basic cheesesteak seems expensive at $10.75 but it is packed with thinly sliced rib-eye meat. This is way more meat than you will get anywhere else.
The basic cheesesteak comes with the choice of Cheez Whiz, American, Provolone or Mozzarella. You can also pick with or without onions. I have tried it both ways and now actually prefer without onions. The meat and cheese don’t need onions in the way.
There is a small condiment area with cherry peppers and ketchup. There are just a few bar seats and not much in the way of decoration. Calozzi’s Cheesesteaks is all about the cheesesteak. Besides chips and drinks the only other items on the menu are variations on the basic cheesesteak.
For $11 you can get a “Roni” cheesesteak with pepperoni, a Donnie with mushrooms, a pepper steak or a pizza steak. I have yet to try these because the basic one does the trick.
The question now is whether Calozzi’s Cheesesteaks is the definite best in San Diego. Right across the street is Steak N Fries, another strong contender. Honestly, I will need to judge these side by side to make a decision. The goal is to get a group of people and buy cheesesteaks from both places, head to the beach and have a cheesesteak picnic.
Originally we were also going to add longtime favorite Alex’s Brown Bag to our contest. However, Alex’s Brown Bag has moved from Pacific Beach to Ocean Beach. That is probably a smart decision given the competition on Garnet Avenue.
UPDATE: DECEMBER 2020 THE STATUS OF ALEX’s BROWN BAG IS UNCERTAIN
Stay tuned for the results!
