San Diego Reader

• Restaurant | Italian | Pizza | Chula Vista

La Bella Cafe & Games

• 373 Third Street, Chula Vista, CA 91910 | Directions
• 619-426-8830 | Website

Why La Bella Pizza Garden? Not because of the great beer selection. Not because it’s old (although it is Chula Vista’s oldest pizza joint, started in 1955). And not because they cook in fancy wood-fired pizza ovens with stone hearths. They don’t. They turn out pizzas in conveyor-belt ovens just like Domino’s.

But we keep coming back. Why? I think it’s because they’re cooking with the same recipe Papa Raso, the founder, brought with him from Italy.

My favorite is, well, “Papa’s Favorite,” mushroom, pepperoni, and sausage. So much flavor. Tons of ’shrooms. And can you beat $6.75 for an 8-inch?

Gordy Davis first put me onto this place. He has helped supply tomatoes to restaurants for maybe 30 years. “Best pizza? Follow the tomatoes. Papa Raso knew his tomatoes,” he says. “He knew how to bring out their flavor. He was good people.”

Papa Raso died recently, but his sons and grandkids are carrying on. And, man, Friday night, Papa’s place is hopping. The old section’s mostly adults chowing away. The new café behind is filled with electronic games and pool tables and has all the families. This must be the most crowded pizza joint in town. You just kinda want to be here.

— Ed Bedford