San Diego’s Best Pizza: Surf Rider Pizza Co Review

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I have been coming to the original Surf Rider Pizza Co in Ocean Beach for close to a decade.  This beachfront place specializes in NY-style pizza of surprisingly high-quality.  Surf Rider has now opened more locations in San Diego. In Fun Diego Family’s quest for San Diego’s Best Pizza here is our Surf Rider Pizza Co review.

UPDATE 2022: The original Surf Rider in Ocean Beach has closed and has been replaced by Wild Things Pizza.  The La Mesa location is now operated by the Cohn Restaurant Group.

WEBSITE: https://surfrider.pizza 

We discovered Surf Rider Pizza Co because we had friends in Ocean Beach (OB) on Long Branch Ave, a block from Surf Rider.  Our initial expectations were low because this is right across the street from the beach, in between the main Ocean Beach and Dog Beach area.

However, it quickly became clear that Surf Rider Pizza Co was an early part of the growing trend towards more quality casual food spots in OB.

In 2017 and 2018, Surf Rider Pizza Co added new locations in Mission Beach, Crown Point/Pacific Beach and La Mesa in East County.

UPDATE 2020: The Mission Bay and Mission Beach locations have closed.  The La Mesa location has become our favorite.

During the 2020 COVID lockdown the La Mesa Surf Rider location became a go-to for pizza takeout.  This larger space has outdoor patio seating with plenty of places for kids to run around.

For $9 you can get 2 slices and a soda.  This is on the high-end of NY-style places but this is a beachfront place, so prices will be higher.  In the Ocean Beach location, they have ample indoor seating, plus a dog-friendly patio.

Individual 18-inch pizzas start at $17 with toppings at $2.50.  Specialty pies run from $20 to $24. This is a solid deal and full pies taste much better than pizza by the slice.  They also serve a huge stromboli.  Growing up in Philadelphia I learned to love stromboli. A good one is hard to find in San Diego.  Surf Rider makes one of the best.  At about $20 it is enough to fees 2 to 3 people (3 for us).

With the La Mesa location, Surf Rider Pizza has not only entered our top 20 of NY-style pizza in San Diego but it is one of our top pizzas for 2020.  Overall it is not quite in the same league as the top contenders like Bronx Pizza or Pizzeria Luigi but it is way above most San Diego pizza.

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Surf Rider Pizza Co also has a wide range of desserts such as cupcakes.  They also have an intriguing looking Philadelphia cheesesteak on the menu.  Fun Diego Family is also looking for the best Philly cheesesteak in San Diego so we will need to give this a try.

An Introduction to Philadelphia Cheesesteaks in San Diego

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To see our full guide to San Diego’s best pizza go here.

San Diego’s Best Pizza Overview

Hopefully, you have read my pizza philosophy piece.  If not go here.  That piece is my introduction to how I classify pizza into 4 major styles.  It is essential to understand how we are rating pizza places in our quest to find the best pizza in San Diego.  As I discuss in that article, San […]

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