First Look at Soul Surfing Pizza
First Look at Soul Surfing Pizza
I went into Soul Surfing Pizza this past Saturday night with my wife. They are in the old Malibu Pizza location, and stuck with the same decor, although it does seem to be a new owner. They are still in soft open mode, although they are open to the public.
Two weeks prior I had taken a couple of pizzas out from there and what happy with the pizza, but was hoping they would be a little more organized by this week. It took over ten minutes before a waitress came to take our order. Generally wait times were long, which I will chalk up to the fact that they are still working out the kinks. At that point they did not yet have menus, so you had to try and remember the types of pizzas they have as the waitress rattled them off. It appears as if their specialty is using all sorts of fake meats on their pizzas and in their soups. The waitress mentioned that they finally got fries but their fryer was broken.
My wife and I both started with soups, she got the cream of potato with "bacon" and I got the Italian wedding "meatball" soup. My wife's soup came without the bacon, which was brought later but was cold, rubbery, and was way too salty. The potato soup itself was decent. The wedding soup on the other hand was thin and bland and had two tiny meatballs.
The star of this place is their pizza. We ordered 12" 1/2 five cheese, 1/2 Hawaiian barbeque chicken, which was delicious. The crust is wonderfully thin and crunchy, the sauces where flavorful, and the topping combinations are well thought out. I only have a few small complaints about the pizza. When I asked what the five cheeses were on the five cheese pizza I was told by the waitress it was secret, which I think was just a cover up for the fact that she did not know. They don't have anything smaller than 12" which is in my opinion a little large for one person, but perfect for two. Finally pizza by the slice would be nice, especially if they hope to attract families with children.
My early assessment of Soul Surfing Pizza is that it has potential once they get their act together. Once they have menus and work out their service issues, this could be a great new Saturday night spot. My suggestion is give them until after the New Year to work out the kinks, bring a friend, and skip the soup, because here it is all about the pizza. Look for a full review of this place sometime after it is no longer in a soft open mode.
