The owner of BayHo's popular Isabella Artisan Pizzeria & Craft Beer Garden is in the process of opening Surf City Pizza + Gelato, an ocean-inspired Neapolitan pizzeria and gelateria that will have bikini-clad servers delivering hand-held pizzas and gelato sandwiches directly to the nearby beach.
Gary Zendell entered the local culinary world operating Sausage Bomb Sandwich from a hotdog cart in Pacific Beach before opening Isabella Artisan Pizzeria & Craft Beer Garden in BayHo in summer 2013. Zendell recently took over the unit that last housed a branch of Subway at 4263 Mission Boulevard across from the beach in PB for the opening of Surf City Pizza + Gelato, which will offer a beachy design with accents like floor to ceiling wallpaper made from a photo of the nearby beach. There will also be one central cocktail table repurposed from a longboard.
Surf City will offer a menu centered around signature and customizable pizzettes - 14"x6" football shaped pizzas designed to be handheld and served in a foil-lined pouch for easy consumption on the go. The menu will also have a variety of 14" Neapolitan pizzas, gelato, gelato sandwiches, and salads available by counter-service and through delivery directly to the beach, as well as to surrounding areas through third-party applications. Like the pizza at IsaBella, Surf City will use Neapolitan ingredients imported straight from Italy, including fresh mozzarella ovalinis in spring water, San Marzano tomatoes, and Caputo flour directly from Naples. There will also be a variety of soft drinks like a lime mint Arnold Palmer reminiscent of a virgin mojito. Once the nice weather returns, Surf City will employ servers who will scour the nearby beach in bikinis taking orders from a cell phone app and delivering food fresh to the sand.
Surf City will soft open as early as next weekend, operating only through online delivery apps for the first couple days. The eatery will grand open on Saturday, March 2, offering free pizzettes for the first 100 customers to visit at two intervals - 1pm & 10pm. While the pizzettes will be complimentary to the initial diners, management will be collecting donations to the KIVA Charity, a non-profit that allows people to lend money via the Internet to low-income entrepreneurs and students in over 80 countries.
Those looking to get a taste of what to expect at Surf City are urged to stop by Isabella, which has happy hour daily where patrons who purchase a pitcher of beer or bottle of wine get a complimentary cheese pizza. For more information on Surf City, visit pizzasurfcity.com, call 858.886.7566, and check out the menu below.
