San Diego’s Best Pizza: Tony’s Giant Pizzeria & Grill Review
When I moved to San Diego in 1991, I was amazed at the places that offered giant 28” NY-style pizza. However, once I started tasting these pies I realized it was a case of quantity over quality. One exception is Tony’s Giant Pizzeria & Grill in Clairemont. This is our Tony’s Giant Pizzeria & Grill Review.
WEBSITE: http://www.tonysgiantpizzeria.com/
Fun Diego Family is on a quest to identify the best pizza in San Diego. Because all pizza is not created equal we have created 4 categories. Tony’s Giant Pizzeria is actually fairly hard to classify as it straddles the line between NY-style thin crust pizza and our fourth category of Good Old American Pizza Parlor style. Check out our pizza classification here.
NY-style thin crust pizza is my personal favorite. In the end, I decided Tony’s Giant Pizzeria deserved a place in this category. In addition, Fun Diego Family is looking for the best cheesesteaks in San Diego. Surprisingly, Tony’s may also earn a place on this list.
Tony’s Giant Pizzeria is on Diane St, right off of Clairemont Mesa Blvd. We have been coming here for years since it was run under a different name (Fat Tony’s I think). I am not sure of the history, but I think at one time this place also operated under the name the Philly Grill.
The big hook at Tony’s Giant Pizzeria is the giant 28” pizza. To put that in perspective, this is about 2.5 times larger than an 18” inch pizza or 3 times as large as a 16” pizza. The list price for this pizza is $23 with toppings $3 each.
The list price alone would make Tony’s Giant Pizzeria the best deal in town. However, there are almost always specials and coupons that will lower the price.
Pizza is also available by the slice. A single slice with a soda goes for about $3. These are jumbo slices, so one slice is equal to about 2 slices from other places. They do not make a whole bunch of pizzas, so toppings are added when you order the slice.
Instead of getting the large 28” inch pizzas (which barely fit in a sedan) I like to go for the 20”. At $17 plus $2 for toppings these are a great deal. As mentioned, you can usually find coupons to lower that price. On our most recent visit, 3 of us split a 16” inch pepperoni pizza priced at $12.99.
To NY-style purists, Tony’s Giant Pizzeria & Grill will probably push the limits of what they deem acceptable. However, I grew up in Philadelphia and Tony’s reminds me of the places I used to visit for lunch during high school.
Consistency can be an issue at Tony’s, as I have noticed sometimes it is better than others. This is a challenge of many places, and is why we are visiting each place multiple times. Tony’s Giant Pizzeria & Grill is a hole-in-the-wall, in the true style of the best East Coast pizza parlors. They have tables and beer on draft, but this place is perfect for takeout.
Tony’s Giant Pizzeria & Grill also has a Philadelphia cheesesteak. I have only tried this once and was very impressed. My wife is the tester of Cheez Whiz steaks and she did think what they use at Tony’s is not actual Cheez Whiz (she liked it and it is not a knock in my personal opinion).
We are doing a best San Diego cheesesteak list so I am going to revisit Tony’s some more to see if it qualifies for that list. Many pizza places do a poor job with cheesesteaks. Tony may prove to be one of the exceptions.
For more information on our search for the top cheesesteaks in San Diego go here.
So, in Fun Diego Family’s quest for the best pizza in San Diego, Tony’s Giant Pizzeria & Grill makes the top 20 for my favorite category, NY-style thin crust. For a full overview of the top places go here.
UPDATE FEBRUARY 2019
Tony’s made our San Diego’s Best NY-Style Pizza list (aka thin crust)
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