Foodoofus Double Issue #4: Just Hot Dogs to Paesano Part 1 of 2

“Dude don’t make it too simple…”

Sometimes simple is good and most often than not we over complicate things in life. When I started this publication, this was supposed to be a more in-depth version of my critiquing carried over from Yelp.com. Then, I wanted to establish my scale of critiquing. Afterwards, I wanted a production team, then a street team and over time… it just became too much and unnecessary. So I decided to scale it down a bit and allow matters to become a bit more manageable.

Which leads me to today’s edition, the simplicity of New York’s finest street culinary contributions: The Pizza and The Hot Dog. It was a good thing there were many options to choose from (unlike the hot dog variety but we’ll get to that in a second). After a few good weeks of searching, we (Chris and I) finally decided to check this place out:

The Entrance

*We stepped inside and immediately the giant poster of the Goodfellas came into full view. It was slightly dark, but with a wide open counter top and kitchen set up. There was a mini sports bar with a few LCDs posted all around for the patrons to enjoy. Everyone enjoying a nice sip of beer, complaining about their daily lives… this was a place for La Palma locals to hideaway for the afternoon. A nice mature lady named Irene approached us, took our order and brought us this masterpiece:

Pepperoni Pizza: Can’t get any better than this.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. It looks like an ordinary Pepperoni Pizza, that you can practically get anywhere. However looks are deceiving… compared to Sicilian (thicker square crust) or NY Style Thin Crust, this particular pie is more so on the Medium side. The crust is crispy not too dry, the air pocket provided between the top and bottom of the pie gives it a nice contrast between soft and hard textures. Pepperoni is cut in house, with the mozzarella being as cheesy and as fresh as it gets, and while the fresh tomatoes give it a nice zing and a final note on the palate.

Unfortunately, we were in a hurry due to the busy nature of our work, but we managed to get some thoughts from Mark (the owner of this long-term family business). He explained the constant moving between locations circa 1979-present time (between Cerritos, Buena Park and La Palma). Also, he chimed in about the current situation in this generation’s pizzerias by providing this bold statement,

“There aren’t any Authentic Italians making any Authentic Italian Pizza these days…”- Mark; Owner of Paesano’s Pizzas & Subs

Now, I can’t really comment on this… as someone who recently moved back to Southern California I’ve found it very hard to believe this is the case. But as I scroll through a majority of the Pizza places I’ve been to, a lot of them well… aren’t owned by Italians to begin with. Which could only mean one thing: authentic Italian Pizzerias (at least in this part of SoCal) are diminishing faster than the Mohicans (too soon?). Overall, who would have known a tasty Authentic Italian spot was in the neighborhood. Maybe this writing gig isn’t so bad after all.

*- (Out of the respect to the owner’s wishes we will not post additional shots of the establishment, until a later time)

Location
Paesano’s Pizzas & Subs
5440 Orangethorpe Avenue
La Palma, CA 90623
#: (714)-521-4748