With out a doubt this is one of my first stops when I go out to California. The staff is friendly, the food is good and the rolls are endless. Yum!
Now I know in this carb-a-phobic society that we have become, rolls are fast disappearing from tables across the nation. Never will this happen at Pizza Cookery. Take a ball of pizza dough with a little bit of cheesy garlic goodness in the middle, and you have one of the most sensational bread products around. They come in a small wicker basket, with garlic butter piled on the side, and all you have to do is ask to get more. In case you couldn’t tell the rolls are my favorite part of this place.
I have been going here for years. The same couple has owned it for ever and he is still there greeting guests most days, he finally started taking a few days to himself. In the entrance the walls are covered with years worth of local youth sports teams plaques, mainly AYSO, and the pictures are adorable. There is the classic autographed celb shots over the cash register and a window that lets you see into the kitchen. And of course, you can’t forget to mention the Ms PacMan game that sill works in all its glory. There’s a few other quarter gobblers up front as well. They do take out, and sit down and you will be just as happy with either.
Now its going to sound funny, but I hardly ever get pizza here, I have had it before over the years and it is good. I’ve also tried a few pastas, with the stuffed shells being one of my highest recommended. But my classic order is a house salad, with house Italian dressing, extra cheese,onions and peppercinis (a few years ago they started asking whether you wanted the onions and peppers) and just as many rolls as I can consume in good conscious. Now the salads are delightful, you get two bowls, one packed tight nestled in a larger bowl for being able to toss it in, not that I have ever understood but to each their own. There is romaine lettuce, red onion, tomato, garbanzo beans, and these super thick threads of mozzarella cheese, they must put the cheese through a meat grinder to get that shape, whatever they do it totally works. A small will easily serve two, even as a main lunch.
It’s good, it’s fresh, the service is friendly, you’ll wonder how you’ve driven by all this time.
