Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Nameless but not tasteless

Alexander's special pie earns distinction even if the pepperoni doesn't deliver.

Couple of slices and a clementine soda. Alexander's Pizza.
Couple of slices and a clementine soda. Alexander's Pizza.
Place

Alexander's Pizza

849 Orange Avenue, Coronado

Driving down Orange Ave I Coronado, I spotted a banner proclaiming "Voted Best Pizza." Interesting, but anybody can buy a banner, I thought. Let's see what you've got, Alexander's Pizza.

Sponsored
Sponsored

I flipped a U-turn and parked in front of the shop, which is located on a less-glamorous stretch of the "island," just across from the Village Theatres. I was about to do the whole scour-the-car-for-loose-change-for-the-parking-meter rigmarole when I noticed the meter takes credit cards. I'm pretty sure that 25 cents for one hour of parking is the smallest charge I've ever made with a Mastercard. I hope I can handle the interest.

Legit or not, I have to admit the banner got my attention.

The pizza didn't cost much more — for a little over 8 bucks I got two large slices and a can of San Pellegrino. I had my pick of slices from the heated glass case, settling on pepperoni as the sort of litmus test, and a colorful looking specialty pie. I had my pick of San Pellegrino flavors as well and chose Clementina, the newest edition to the lineup. Not too different from the original orange, or the redder blood orange, but didn't I feel continental trying it?

The specialty pie exhibited a bit more of a difference. The guys behind the counter just called it "chicken, bacon, red onions, cheddar and cilantro with an olive oil base," conceding they should probably come up with a snappier name for what's turning out to be a popular special.

I couldn't pigeonhole these pies as being Chicago, New York or even Neapolitan style. The crust was too fluffy to be thin, too light to be deep dish. I tend to like crispier edges, but there was a satisfying chewiness. I started with the special, and after the first bite just kept going right on through it.

I'll credit the cheddar, olive oil and cilantro for winning me over, because we already knew I was going to like the bacon. I rather enjoyed this slice, which really only conceptually resembled pizza as I know it.

I moved on to the slice of pepperoni. Meh. Maybe it was too standard to suffer the comparison. The pepperoni slices tasted right, the crust was the same, but the sauce just didn't impress me all that much. For the record, it was the readers of Coronado Lifestyle Magazine who voted this Coronado's best pizza, and I won't bother to correct them. It's a nice little shop with a friendly staff and a real creative interest in making good pies.

As for the boring pepperoni, I get it. Making the industry standard must be the cooking equivalent of writing a rhyming couplet — everybody pretty much knows how it's going to finish up, so how inspired can you be to make it something special? Still, if Alexander's can figure out how to make pepperoni their own, they could earn themselves a bigger banner.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Top Websites To Buy Instagram Likes + Bonus Tip!

Next Article

2024 continues to impress with yellowfin much closer to San Diego than they should be

New rockfish regulations coming this week as opener approaches
Couple of slices and a clementine soda. Alexander's Pizza.
Couple of slices and a clementine soda. Alexander's Pizza.
Place

Alexander's Pizza

849 Orange Avenue, Coronado

Driving down Orange Ave I Coronado, I spotted a banner proclaiming "Voted Best Pizza." Interesting, but anybody can buy a banner, I thought. Let's see what you've got, Alexander's Pizza.

Sponsored
Sponsored

I flipped a U-turn and parked in front of the shop, which is located on a less-glamorous stretch of the "island," just across from the Village Theatres. I was about to do the whole scour-the-car-for-loose-change-for-the-parking-meter rigmarole when I noticed the meter takes credit cards. I'm pretty sure that 25 cents for one hour of parking is the smallest charge I've ever made with a Mastercard. I hope I can handle the interest.

Legit or not, I have to admit the banner got my attention.

The pizza didn't cost much more — for a little over 8 bucks I got two large slices and a can of San Pellegrino. I had my pick of slices from the heated glass case, settling on pepperoni as the sort of litmus test, and a colorful looking specialty pie. I had my pick of San Pellegrino flavors as well and chose Clementina, the newest edition to the lineup. Not too different from the original orange, or the redder blood orange, but didn't I feel continental trying it?

The specialty pie exhibited a bit more of a difference. The guys behind the counter just called it "chicken, bacon, red onions, cheddar and cilantro with an olive oil base," conceding they should probably come up with a snappier name for what's turning out to be a popular special.

I couldn't pigeonhole these pies as being Chicago, New York or even Neapolitan style. The crust was too fluffy to be thin, too light to be deep dish. I tend to like crispier edges, but there was a satisfying chewiness. I started with the special, and after the first bite just kept going right on through it.

I'll credit the cheddar, olive oil and cilantro for winning me over, because we already knew I was going to like the bacon. I rather enjoyed this slice, which really only conceptually resembled pizza as I know it.

I moved on to the slice of pepperoni. Meh. Maybe it was too standard to suffer the comparison. The pepperoni slices tasted right, the crust was the same, but the sauce just didn't impress me all that much. For the record, it was the readers of Coronado Lifestyle Magazine who voted this Coronado's best pizza, and I won't bother to correct them. It's a nice little shop with a friendly staff and a real creative interest in making good pies.

As for the boring pepperoni, I get it. Making the industry standard must be the cooking equivalent of writing a rhyming couplet — everybody pretty much knows how it's going to finish up, so how inspired can you be to make it something special? Still, if Alexander's can figure out how to make pepperoni their own, they could earn themselves a bigger banner.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Top Websites To Buy Instagram Likes + Bonus Tip!

Next Article

OSHA rules wall falls our fault

Who, U.S.?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.