San Diego Reader

• Restaurant | Italian | Lemon Grove

Lido’s Italian Foods

• 7252 Broadway, Lemon Grove, CA 91945 | Directions
• 619-469-9901 | Website

Here’s the incredible thing. Just like La Bella down in Chula Vista, Lido’s, in Lemon Grove, opened in 1955.

“My dad bought it 33 years ago — 1978,” says Marco Simi, the chef-owner. “He came from Tuscany. He liked the New York style. Thin crust. More like the home country. We still do it that way.”

Lido’s is definitely old-school. The walls have fluted white columns with Italian scenes between.

My favorite pizza is the Works, with onions, pepperoni, mushrooms, sausage, bell peppers, and, yes, anchovies. So-o rich. And at $11.85 for the 12-inch, not a bad deal.

This is thin crust. Nice and crunchy on the bottom. But Yvette the waitress says they also do the thick crust. “My mom likes the extra-thick crust. That’s $1.75 more. But it’s worth it for the crunchiness.”

I got one once, for Carla. The all-meat one. She loved it. Except that thick crust wasn’t crunchy. It was doughy. The thin crust’s the way to go.

“The only difference with pizzas here and pizzas in the old country is there’s more of everything here,” says Marco. “But more doesn’t always mean better.”

“I hear you,” I say.

— Ed Bedford