Isola Pizza Bar Announces Opening in Little Italy

July 17, 2012

Isola Pizza Bar is Little Italy’s newest specialty pizza restaurant, featuring an oak wood-burning oven in a chic urban setting.  With a 2,500-square-foot Italian pizzeria highlighted by an open kitchen bar and elongated back patio, Isola is now open at 1526 India Street, offering 15 types of pizzas, authentic Italian appetizers and home-made desserts by Chef Massimo Tenino of Piemonte, Italy.

Specialties including the gamberetti (shrimp, asparagus, goat cheese, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella), ricotta (shiitake mushroom, fresh ricotta, mozzarella, basil) and 4 stagioni a modo mio (mozzarella, mushrooms, artichokes, speck proscuitto, olives, tomato) highlight the pizza menu, all created from Tenino’s family recipes.

“In San Diego, there is no place for this caliber of pizza with a great environment,” said Tenino, Isola Pizza Bar owner and chef. “I’ve lived in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego, and nothing reminds me of my hometown like San Diego. It offers the perfect balance of the bustle of L.A. and the rural relaxation of the countryside.”

All pizzas are made with double zero flour imported from Naples, Italy. The wood-burning oven, the only piece of cooking equipment in the restaurant, was also imported from Naples, Italy. Ingredients feature handmade California Mozzarella cheese, local mussels from Carlsbad, Calif. and many organic products.

Appetizers are highlighted by three variations of bruchetta and specialty appetizers including the fagioli al fiasco (cannelloni beans, fresh herbs, olive oil, garlic, red chile), assorted olives, burrata mozzarella, polipo (charred octopus, kalamata, fingerling potatoes, celery, lemon, salsa verde) and more. Isola Pizza Bar also offers salads, a selection of salamis, Italian desserts and gelatos made on site from an Italian-imported gelato machine.

The restaurant's extensive wine list features more than 40 wines from various regions of Italy, including seven wines from the Rinaldi Family Winery. Rinaldi wines come from Piemonte in Northern Italy and have been rated 94 points by Wine Spectator and rated one of the top-rated wines by Wine Enthusiast.

Isola Pizza Bar offers happy hour daily from 3:00-6:00 p.m. Appetizer specials include farinata (crispy garbanzo bean “French fries” with truffle aioli), olive assortite, formaggi, salami misto, bruchetta, margherita pizza and more. Beverage specials include $5 Italian wines and $4 microbrew beers.

Located at 1526 India Street in Little Italy, San Diego, Isola Pizza Bar is open Tuesday-Thursday from 11:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11:00 a.m.-12:00 a.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. (closed Mondays).

To view the full menu or for more information, visit Isolapizzabar.com.  Find Isola Pizza Bar on Facebook at facebook.com/IsolaPizza or on Twitter at twitter.com/isolapizza.