Pizza Fit for a Prince (Street)?

Prince Street Pizza

1870 Harbor Blvd. #104

Costa Mesa, CA 92627

It's just an embarrassment of riches regarding the restaurant scene in Costa Mesa. Whenever I hear of a restaurant that would be right up my alley, it's likely opening up in Costa Mesa. Harper Barbecue, Ospi, Matty's Patty's, Verde, and more have made it onto my restaurant wishlist in the last few months. It's another newish spot that brought us to this restaurant-rich town this Sunday: Prince Street Pizza.  

It seemed like Prince Street was never going to open. They had papered-over windows that announced they were coming to town for what seemed like years, but they finally opened their doors in July of last year at the much-maligned Triangle Square at the end of the 55 Freeway. On their opening day, 500 people lined up waiting to try their pizza.  

I tried Prince Street Pizza in the Arts District area of LA almost two years ago. They started in New York City in 2012 and have expanded rapidly, with many Southern California locations and outposts in Toronto, Chicago, Miami, and Las Vegas. PSP is most known for its Sicilian-style pizzas, which are square and have an airy, almost breadlike crust. They also have thin-crusted Neapolitan pizza, a more conventional round form with which most people are more comfortable. 

We arrived at noon, found parking in the dimly lit parking structure that is one of Triangle Square's trademarks, and went to the Newport Boulevard side at street level to get to PSP. We met a small line of three people waiting to order, and a few more waiting for their pizzas. Like all Prince Street Pizza locations, their storefronts are small, with no seating, and only a tiny bar where you can stand and eat your pizza, if you are so inclined. We got ours to go. 

Ordering is done as you stand in line and pick your desired slices from behind the glass case. You do have the option of ordering a whole pizza, but PSP has always kind of felt like a pizza by the slice spot, which New York is famous for, and it also allows you to have some variety as to the kinds of pizza you can experience on a single visit. After selecting your pizza, it's taken to the oven for a final reheating and boxed up for you. We took ours home, and here's how it turned out for us. 

The Spicy Spring ($6.50) is probably Prince Street's most popular slice, and it's also my favorite. They use their slightly spicy fra diavolo sauce on this, then add pecorino romano and parmesan cheeses, and finally, a bunch of the little pepperoni cups that cover almost every centimeter of the slice. I love the tiny pepperoni's thickness and the fact that you can't take a bite without a good amount of pepperoni. The crust reminds me of Stoffer's French bread pizza that we used to have as kids when my parents left us with a babysitter. With the amount of pepperoni used on this, the cheese gets lost in the shuffle with this slice, but I like the balance of this one. 

 

We got a variety of slices to try, with Katie picking two and me picking the other two. Of these four, I enjoyed the Meat Lover's ($6.50) the most, not surprisingly. It comes with pepperoni, bacon bits, sausage, garlic, mozzarella, and a marinara base. People online claim that their marinara is too sweet, and it might be, but with the savoriness of the meats, it balances out. The silver medal goes to the Naughty Pie ($6.50), with a lot going on. Spicy vodka sauce, mozzarella, ricotta, pepperoni, and Zab's Hot Honey drizzle on top. I'm not usually a ricotta person, but with the slight spiciness of this and the pepperoni, I could handle it. I wish the honey had been used with a heavier hand, as the slice we got only had minimal honey. 

The Sunset Square ($6.25) takes third place with its fresh and shredded mozzarella, pecorino romano, garlic, and sweet marinara sauce. The marinara was front and center, and indeed, too sweet. The slice was not balanced, and I grew tired of it after a few bites. Bringing up the rear was the Four Cheese ($6.25). I'm sure you can guess what the four cheeses were. That's right, fresh and shredded mozzarella, pecorino romano, and ricotta. There was too much ricotta, and this really needed a textural element, as it was very soft and rather bland. Not my jam at all. I'll let Katie have all of this next time. 

Even though I was not a big fan of the last slice of pizza, I still enjoyed my visit to Prince Street Pizza. I'm not as in love with it as I was when I first visited back in 2023. At that time, I was unaware of Detroit-style pizza, a distant cousin of the Sicilian slices I had above, and the Michigan version is superior. I've also had some delicious pizza in the last two years, as excellent pizza places are popping up all over OC: B + C Pizza, Brooklyn City Pizza, Gibroni's, Truly Pizza, Lunitas, and Terra Mia, to name a few of my faves. PSP is still good, and I wish they were around when I used to frequent the bars in this area early in this century. I would have loved to come here for a slice after a night at Goat Hill Tavern. I'll be back to Prince Street Pizza, but for now, I need to do a lot of good eating in Costa Mesa.  

Out of five ice cream scoopers (because the Prince Street Subway stop in NYC is not only where you would go for pizza, but it's also the stop for the Museum of Ice Cream), five being best to zero being worst, Prince Street Pizza gets 3 ice cream scoopers. 

For more information about Prince Street Pizza, head to their website by clicking here:https://princestreetpizza.com/

A Slice of NYC in LA

 Prince Street Pizza

827 East 3rd Street

Los Angeles, CA 90013

Some of NYC's most famous restaurants and foods have ventured out west in the past few months. LA is now home to several locations of the ever-popular Shake Shack, Grimaldi's Pizza, Magnolia Bakery is hawking its baked goods and famous banana pudding to us left-coasters, and Levain Bakery, which sells the best cookie on the planet, just opened on the day I am writing this review. We were going to be in LA for a White Coat Ceremony, so we tried another Big Apple export, Prince Street Pizza. 

My Instagram feed has shown me plenty of slices of pizza recently. Most are from other parts of the country, but one has consistently been featured, and upon closer inspection, I found out that Prince Street Pizza had opened in LA. In fact, four locations are currently operating in LA: Venice, West Hollywood, West LA, and the one we were visiting in Downtown LA. That makes four places to get a slice in LA and only one in NYC. It's more than likely due to the urban sprawl of LA. 

Prince Street Pizza opened for business in 2012 in the Nolita section of Manhattan. They are most known for their Sicilian-style pizza slices, which are closely related to Detroit-style pizza, served as squares, but the Sicilian style has a lighter, more airy crust that is more bread-like. PSP also offers Neopolitan pizza, the polar opposite of their Sicilian. It has a very thin crust baked in a round pan and cut into triangular slices, which is what people expect when eating pizza. 

Both pizza styles are available by the slice, but most people opt for the Sicilian-style slices. We arrived at the Arts District just before 5pm on a Saturday. We found some parking about a block away and entered PSP. Ordering is done from behind the glass case housing the pizzas available. After selecting the slices you want, the pizza is whisked into the awaiting oven to be finished off while you pay at the register and then wait for your slices. The whole process took less than five minutes. We then found some seating at the communal tables in front of the restaurant and settled in to eat our bounty. 

Yes, we were more than likely going to be having food after the White Coat ceremony we were in LA for, but we had no idea when we would be back up this way, and we felt a duty to you to try as many types of PSP pizza as we could. We went with the Meat Lovers ($6.50), Spicy Spring ($6.50), Four Cheese ($6.25), and the Mercer Margherita ($6.25). 

The slices featured a crispy, spongy crust that melded nicely with the pizza toppings and cheese. Predictably, my favorite of this quartet was the Meat Lovers, which came with spicy pepperoni cups, sausage, marinara sauce, mozzarella, and romano cheeses, with a touch of garlic. Our slice also appeared to have a sprinkle of crumbled bacon, which is not listed as an option on their menu. The pepperoni cups crisped up nicely, providing a crunch, while the sauce and cheese were delightful. A killer slice that had me going back for more to take home. 

My second favorite was the spicy spring, with pepperoni, a fra diavolo sauce, and mozzarella. The sauce had a little kick, but it was not over-the-top spicy. The heat hung out on the back end of each bite but did not overwhelm me. The end crust was good, but with four slices to finish, I discarded it as I ate more. The four-cheese slice was good, but it should be renamed three cheese because they count fresh mozzarella and shredded mozzarella as two of the cheeses, which joins whipped ricotta and pecorino romano to make up this slice. This is an excellent option for people who prefer something other than meat on their pizza. The Margherita pizza was Katie's choice, and I found it okay, but it lacked the flavor punch of the other three. Katie liked it way more than I did, so maybe it's just that I'm not that into Margherita pizza. 

I am into Prince Street Pizza, though. Their pizza was less greasy and heavy than I was expecting. It still had a good flavor profile and satisfied us through the white coat ceremony we were going to next. It's easy to see why they are so popular, and I'd like to try their round pizza the next time we are up this way. The $6 price point was not awful, and the guys behind the counter were all pretty cool. It's another success story for an NYC restaurant moving to LA. 

Out of five duels (because also on Prince Street in NYC is the former site of the estate of Aaron Burr, who had a famous duel with Alexander Hamilton), five being best to zero being worst, Prince Street Pizza gets 3.5 duels. 

For more information about Prince Street Pizza, head to their website by clicking here: https://www.princestreetpizza.com/