Question for NYC/North Jersey transplants (San Diego, Anaheim: live, garden, area)

[MAK802]

Where do you get your pizza/bagels? Seems like this area has some of the worst pizza/bagles in the country. We want pizza like we had in NYC and bagels that are boiled first, then baked. Does that not exist in this part of the country? Seems like the worst places are the ones that call themselves NY Style. Nothing NY about them. For now, we'll continue making our pizza on our barbecue grill until we find a place we really like. Thanks for any tips!

[Sassberto]

Long Island here.

Pizza:
Bronx Pizza, Hillcrest

Bagels:
Gold Coast Bagels, Lake Murray area


True story:
My little brother goes into "NY Pizza" and says:
"I'd like a large cheese pie"
guy behind the counter says
"we don't serve dessert"

[RD5050]

Don't expect to find Water Ice (aka Italian Ice) in San Diego.

Only found one place which makes it just as good as the east coast (like Rita's), and it was in Anaheim, a few miles from Disneyland.

Never quite sure why Water Ice didn't catch on in California?

Also not sure why Rita's didn't expand westward?

Here you mostly find things like "shaved ice", "snow cones", etc.

[bloom]

Originally Posted by MAK802

Where do you get your pizza/bagels? Seems like this area has some of the worst pizza/bagles in the country. We want pizza like we had in NYC and bagels that are boiled first, then baked. Does that not exist in this part of the country? Seems like the worst places are the ones that call themselves NY Style. Nothing NY about them. For now, we'll continue making our pizza on our barbecue grill until we find a place we really like. Thanks for any tips!

Jersey here. Wrongo.

Bagels: Garden State Bagels (of course) in Carlsbad and other locations. City Bagel is good. (BTW, ever have Canadian/Montreal bagels = those are a special category - see Wikipedia)

Pizza: Bronx Pizza (Hillcrest); Fiores (Mission Hills). Heard good things about Rosarios (~Mission Beach). Ill say it again that on average pizza in SD beats on average Manhattan (with all its mediocre Rays). Kind of like good Mexican on east coast and lots of mediocre here in SD, though there are some very good Mex here.

[SomeThings]

I'll confirm the bronx pizza suggestion.

Have yet to find good bagels out here, but am glad to see the suggestions above...

[MAK802]

Thanks for the suggestions. We will definitely try Bronx pizza. We have Garden State bagels near us, and they are terrible. I got excited when I saw the name of the store, but that excitement quickly dissipated upon taking the first bite. Here's a picture of the pizza we make on our grill.

[Suzer]

I'm a native San Diegan who lived previously on the East Coast, and I've yet to find a decent bagel since I've returned to S.D. . Bagels are doughy, not dense and chewy like NY style.

[Suzer]

I've tried Bronx Pizza and Rosario's and I think Rosario's is the most authentic. My personal favorite.

[Sassberto]

Bagels are tougher than pizza here. There are several pizza options now... Luigis, Bronx, Flippin', Knock-out.

Gold Coast is the only decent bagel, trust me on this.

[bloom]

Also, New York Giant Pizza in Encinitas on D Street is 'pretty, pretty good', to quote Larry David.