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

Buona Forchetta opens in South Park

New pizzeria occupies long-empty building and brings Neopolitan style gusto.

The building across Beech Street from Alchemy sat empty for years until Buona Forchetta moved in with a wood-burning pizza oven and a guarantee of certifiable Neopolitan pizza. Now, South Parkers can’t seem to get enough of the place and it’s been filling up with pizza-hungry patrons every night.

It’s clear that no expense was spared in Buona Forchetta’s construction, as the equipment is all of the finest sort. From the handbuilt pizza oven to the Ferrari Red meat slicer poised and ready to shave some speck, everything seems to be top notch. Even the white linen napkins had the feel of quality.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/feb/13/40037/

Pizza, salads, and a few starters compose the menu. Simplicity rules the day, in the best Italian style. A sardine salad ($9) included tender arugula leaves tossed with plenty of lemon and olive oil. Salty parmesan cheese and delightful white anchovies topped it off without ostentation. Pizzelle ($5) were little more than deep-fried rounds of pizza smothered in bright red marinara sauce.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/feb/13/40038/

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/feb/13/40039/

The pizza itself was certainly in the Neopolitan style. The “regina margherita” ($13) was blistered at the outer edges and so soft in the center that the only way to eat it was via fork and knife. Buffalo mozzarella was a nice touch, as the cheese’s flavor is superb, but the rest of the pizza lacked depth of character. If you’re going to produce a minimal pizza, all the elements must be without flaw. The crust was excellent, but the marinara lacked something: whether the robust flavor of roasted tomatoes or a ripe, garlicky bite, I can’t quite say. All I know is that it was too flat for my liking.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/feb/13/40040/

A calzone filled with prosciutto and ricotta ($11) had more going for it by virtue of the meat’s salty, umami characteristics. I’m not crazy about calzones per se, not unless they’re loaded to explosive levels, and even then I find the dough’s propensity to trap steam renders it inferior to the basic pizza.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/feb/13/40041/

Had I not been freshly committed to cutting back on my drinking, I would have indulged myself in Buona Forchetta’s short-but-sweet selection of (mostly) Italian and California wines in the $7-$10/glass region. As it is, I’ll have to stage a return to trip to see how the place develops. I think it has a lot of potential to be destination-worthy as the summer wears on and the patio becomes ever more enticing.

3001 Beech Street
Tu-Sun 5-10

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

Previous article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema
Next Article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema

The building across Beech Street from Alchemy sat empty for years until Buona Forchetta moved in with a wood-burning pizza oven and a guarantee of certifiable Neopolitan pizza. Now, South Parkers can’t seem to get enough of the place and it’s been filling up with pizza-hungry patrons every night.

It’s clear that no expense was spared in Buona Forchetta’s construction, as the equipment is all of the finest sort. From the handbuilt pizza oven to the Ferrari Red meat slicer poised and ready to shave some speck, everything seems to be top notch. Even the white linen napkins had the feel of quality.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/feb/13/40037/

Pizza, salads, and a few starters compose the menu. Simplicity rules the day, in the best Italian style. A sardine salad ($9) included tender arugula leaves tossed with plenty of lemon and olive oil. Salty parmesan cheese and delightful white anchovies topped it off without ostentation. Pizzelle ($5) were little more than deep-fried rounds of pizza smothered in bright red marinara sauce.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/feb/13/40038/

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/feb/13/40039/

The pizza itself was certainly in the Neopolitan style. The “regina margherita” ($13) was blistered at the outer edges and so soft in the center that the only way to eat it was via fork and knife. Buffalo mozzarella was a nice touch, as the cheese’s flavor is superb, but the rest of the pizza lacked depth of character. If you’re going to produce a minimal pizza, all the elements must be without flaw. The crust was excellent, but the marinara lacked something: whether the robust flavor of roasted tomatoes or a ripe, garlicky bite, I can’t quite say. All I know is that it was too flat for my liking.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/feb/13/40040/

A calzone filled with prosciutto and ricotta ($11) had more going for it by virtue of the meat’s salty, umami characteristics. I’m not crazy about calzones per se, not unless they’re loaded to explosive levels, and even then I find the dough’s propensity to trap steam renders it inferior to the basic pizza.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/feb/13/40041/

Had I not been freshly committed to cutting back on my drinking, I would have indulged myself in Buona Forchetta’s short-but-sweet selection of (mostly) Italian and California wines in the $7-$10/glass region. As it is, I’ll have to stage a return to trip to see how the place develops. I think it has a lot of potential to be destination-worthy as the summer wears on and the patio becomes ever more enticing.

3001 Beech Street
Tu-Sun 5-10

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