Big Oven Pizza San Diego delivers the real deal when looking for the perfect pizza close to home. See why this award-winning pizza joint is on our top list.
Big Oven Pizza San Diego delivers the real deal when looking for the perfect pizza close to home. See why this award-winning pizza joint is on our top list.
After two decades working in restaurants and chasing authentic flavors across kitchens from Philly to San Diego, I thought I’d tasted it all. Then I found a gem hiding in a Kearny Mesa parking lot that changed everything.
San Diego’s pizza scene is littered with imposters. Every corner boasts “authentic New York-style” joints that wouldn’t last five minutes on a Brooklyn block. After twenty years in this industry—from prepping dough at 4 AM to managing kitchen chaos during dinner rush—I can spot a pretender from across the dining room.
Big Oven Pizza, tucked away at 5025 Shawline Street in an unassuming Kearny Mesa strip, shouldn’t work. The location screams mediocrity. The social media hype felt manufactured. And honestly? After years of having real East Coast pizza on tap during my Philly days, I walked in with zero expectations.
Lucas, the manager and owner, was elbow-deep in the lunch rush when we arrived. Instead of the typical hostess shuffle, he did something unexpected—he brought us straight into the heart of his open-air kitchen.
That’s when I saw it: a legitimate brick oven roaring with flames, thin-crust pizzas dancing in and out like a choreographed ballet. The familiar sight of fire-kissed dough bubbling and charring at the edges. My skepticism started to crack.
This wasn’t some corporate concept with a faux-rustic aesthetic. This was the real thing.
We went big—the “Wise Guy,” an 18-inch New York-style loaded with pepperoni, Italian sausage, ricotta, and mushrooms. (We swapped the mushrooms for jalapeños because sometimes you need that extra kick to cut through the richness.)
Watching Lucas work was like watching a master craftsman. Hand-stretched dough that had been fermenting for days met a fresh ladle of no-frills crushed tomato sauce. Then came the cheese, followed by what can only be described as a borderline heart attack-inducing level of pepperoni (I wasn’t mad about it..).
The precision was beautiful. The technique was flawless. This is what twenty years in restaurants teaches you to recognize—when someone truly knows their craft.
Lucas swung the peel, sliding our creation into the inferno. Minutes later, he pulled out a bubbling masterpiece, cleanly sliced and boxed.
That first bite transported me instantly. I was back walking down South Street in Philly, surrounded by the pulse of a warm summer night that always ended with a slice from the joint across from my apartment or shooting the shit with the crew at Jim’s on South Second.
The toasted flour crust had that perfect balance—crispy outside, chewy inside—with the rich, salty kiss of warm olive oil. The acidic brightness of those crushed tomatoes cut through the meat’s richness like a knife. It was everything: perfect, nostalgic, and honest about what it was trying to be.
Big Oven Pizza earned its stripes as one of San Diego’s best food trucks before opening this brick-and-mortar location, and it shows. There’s an authenticity here that most restaurants spend fortunes trying to manufacture.
If you’ve ever lived on the East Coast, you know that your neighborhood hole-in-the-wall is where locals gather for the city’s best bites. Big Oven Pizza has become exactly that—our new local spot when we’re craving something real.
Sharing that pizza with my wife, watching her face light up with the same recognition I felt, made this more than just another review. It was a reminder of why we fell in love with food in the first place.
5025 Shawline Street
San Diego, CA 92111
Follow:Â @bigovenpizza
Pro tip: Detroit and Neapolitan styles are also on the menu. After twenty years in this business, trust me—they’re worth the return trip.
If you’ve ever worked in, managed, or owned a restaurant, you are, by all means, a glutton for pain. Our mission is to change this “foodie” social movement we’ve been blandly seasoned to over the past years. Frankly – I’m fucking sick of it. We want to share raw emotional reactions to the best food, brightest chefs, and hidden local gems this planet has to offer. WHY?? We actually give a shit.Â
foodfiredup tells stories that bring our readers into “the weeds” at your favorite destinations. If you want to join the community & suggest the next spot we should visit, let us know by contacting us on social media.
