A Pizza Spot to Good to Be True?

 Truly Pizza

24402 Del Prado Ave. 

Dana Point, CA 92629

I will give you a little behind-the-scenes peek at the food blogging/Instagram world. The more followers a person has, the greater the chance they are being paid to visit or promote the restaurant they are showcasing. This leads many top food influencers to over-inflate what they may think of a restaurant. The tell-tell sign of this is when they say something is the "best of my life" or "this is perfect."  I hear these phrases constantly while scrolling through Instagram, and these phrases lose their value after so many instances. 

My policy for my blog and social media posts is to always honestly convey what I think of a restaurant. Even though I have a very modest following on social media, I get invited to some restaurants for a free meal, but I only give them a rating once I return and pay for a meal. I want my brand to be more of a reference point for all of you instead of a commercial for whatever restaurant invites us in for dinner. That's why 946 of my 1088 posts on this blog do have a rating attached to them. 

I bring this up because, yes, we got invited to Truly Pizza in Dana Point for their media event before they opened. What follows will feel like I'm gushing about this restaurant, and I am. Since our initial visit, I have been pleading with anyone I encounter that they must try this place, and I've gotten three Truly Pizza gift cards for people. So, yes, I will shower affection on Truly Pizza, but it's not because we got a free meal. It's because it's excellent. 

Truly Pizza opened in June and was an instant hit. They had wait times of over 2 hours for walk-ins on weekends and peak meal times. Their reservations were booked solid, and they had to suspend online reservations briefly. They are back now, and as I'm writing this four months after their opening date, online reservations have become more accessible, which is great for pizza lovers in Dana Point and the surrounding area. 

It's not really surprising that people have flocked to this restaurant. The team behind this spot has an excellent pedigree. John Arena collaborated with longtime friend and hospitality industry veteran Donna Baldwin and her developer partner Steve Muller to co-found Truly Pizza. John is a third-generation pizza maker who brought New York-style pizza to the people of Las Vegas with great acclaim. Rounding out the team and helming the kitchen at Truly Pizza is Chris Decker, a renowned pizza champion and a new resident of Dana Point. 

They have created a menu that will not overwhelm you with too many choices, but most people will find something to satisfy their cravings. There are four starters and a quintet of salads to start your meal. Two sandwiches are available for the two people out there who are not fans of pizza. Speaking of pizza, there are two types to choose from at Truly. They have their round 12-inch American artesian, which they describe as crispy and airy. There's also a square pizza reminiscent of Detroit-style pizza but with a much lighter touch. Prices for pizzas range between $17 to $30 and can easily feed three people with no leftovers to be taken home. Let's look at the food that got me hot and bothered since I had it a few months ago. 

I know I promised food, but I wanted to give you a glimpse into the atmosphere that Truly Pizza has created. We were seated upstairs with a beautiful view of the surrounding Lantern District of Dana Point. The faux lemon lattice above us provided a garden feel to the setting. Downstairs, the dominant feature is the glass-enclosed kitchen, which gives an excellent view of the hardworking kitchen staff creating pizzas and other menu items. Now, I promise, here's a look at the food.  

We started things off at Truly with two salads and a starter. Katie selected the Salumi Chopped Salad ($22) to begin with. This salad uses little gem lettuce and Calabrian chili vinaigrette as a dressing. The dressing had a tinge of spice to it, which played well with the rest of the ingredients of this salad. The high-quality soppressata and sliced salami were plentiful and joined in the bowl with red onion, fresh mozzarella cubes, shaved fennel, beans, and olives. Katie called this a meal in itself and would not hesitate to get this salad again. I had the popular Dana Point Wedge ($18). This version of a wedge starts with iceberg lettuce portioned into six stacks of easy-to-manage lettuce and then is complemented with candied pecans, dates, shaved egg, chives, red onion, smoked bacon, cracked black pepper, Point Reyes blue cheese, and finished off with their unbelievably good herby ranch. Yes, the produce was fresh, and the inclusion of the pecans and dates made this their own, but their incredible ranch dressing really set this apart. It stole the show here and ruined me for the bottled stuff I use because I'm too lazy to make my own. This wedge is a must-get. 

We added the Garlic Pull Apart Bread ($12) as a last-minute addition to our order. It's baked in a cast iron skillet and is topped with garlic, butter, and a sprinkling of Romano cheese. I could have used more garlic on this, but I always favor plenty of extra garlic. The rolls were nicely done, with a crunchy outer shell and pillowy soft bread underneath. These were made even better when we asked for some ranch to dip them in. 

Pizza Time! I've never really been into supreme pizzas, preferring to go for pizzas with the most meats and leave the vegetables for someone else. Our server and Katie talked me into getting this beautifully presented Suprema Pizza ($30). This square pizza came with roasted mushrooms and peppers, cup and char pepperoni, sausage, garlic confit, and a spicy giardiniera resting on a whole milk mozzarella and a red sauce underneath it all. I'm not a crust guy at all. I almost always leave the crust alone, but the crust here at Truly Pizza is light and airy, and I found myself eating all of it. The toppings are of the highest quality and yield no grease whatsoever. I love the cup pepperoni, as it has a great crunch to it. I thought the giardiniera would overpower here, but it went well with the other toppings. Katie and I could have finished this pizza, but I wanted a few pieces for the next day to see how it would hold up. The next day, it was just as good, even heated up in the microwave. I have my eye on their Crispy Pepperoni or their La Foresta pizza, featuring sausage, mushroom, and ricotta, for my follow-up visits. 

A sweet treat to end your meal at Truly is a great idea, as I watched table after table trying their house-made Soft Serve Ice Cream ($8). They rotate their flavors, but they had the classic chocolate and vanilla when we were here. You can choose one topping, picking between olive oil and sea salt, sprinkles, grape nuts, chocolate sauce, Oreo crumbles, or pistachios. I had the vanilla chocolate swirl with olive oil and sea salt. The contrast between the sweet and salty was a nice balance. Katie got straight chocolate with grape nuts because it reminded her of her childhood. I liked the added texture that the grape nuts brought.  

Hopefully, this blog post will entice you to try Truly Pizza. People are really partial to the kinds of pizza they like, whether it's New York, Detroit, Chicago, or any other type of pizza that is popular at any given moment. I would characterize this pizza as Californian, with its fresh and high-quality toppings, light crust, and unique topping combinations. I definitely got the sense that they pay attention to every detail here and want to showcase their pizzas and other items' greatness. It shows in the pride that they emit when complimented about their restaurant. I will be back soon to do a proper review when we pay for our meal, but honestly, I can't imagine not being impressed with Truly Pizza on my next visit. 

For more information about Truly Pizza, head to their website by clicking here: https://www.trulypizza.com/