The Best Pizza Joint In America Is In California (According To Yelp)
There are many things in California that you won't find anywhere else on the planet. Where shall we begin? There's the Golden Gate Bridge — for many, seeing the majestic Art Deco span is one of the highlights of a trip to San Francisco (per Visit California). There's Hollywood, a hotbed of the entertainment industry yesterday and today and a place where dreams come true. There's Disneyland in Anaheim, the grandfather of all theme parks and "the happiest place on earth.” There are the vineyards and wineries of Napa wine country, which those of legal drinking age might be tempted to call the happiest vacation destination on earth.
Are you California dreamin' yet? When people think of the food that makes California famous, they probably think of sourdough bread (bakers have been making the distinctly flavored loaves since the Gold Rush years), cioppino (a classic stew created by members of San Francisco's Italian fishing community to make use of every last morsel of the day's fresh catch), and fortune cookies, which reportedly originated in San Francisco, though Los Angeles might beg to differ (per Matador Network).
Pizza might not immediately come to mind when imagining California food, but the top pizza parlor in the U.S. (and Canada), according to Yelp, is in Pasadena (per Yelp). So consider adding Pasadena to your California bucket list.
Sapori di 786 Degrees: a wide world of pizza
Apparently, Yelp, the wildly popular crowd-sourced restaurant and food review website, took several criteria into account to arrive at honoring Pasadena's Sapori di 786 Degrees with the top spot on its list of the top 100 pizza joints — specifically, review ratings and volume of reviews (per Yelp). The restaurant has received nearly 800 five-star reviews.
Sapori di 786 Degrees isn't your average pizza parlor churning out pepperoni- and sausage-topped pies. It's a gourmet joint, open Thursday to Sunday only, noted for its wood-fired, Neapolitan-style pies that take inspiration not only from Italy but the world. "Which country would you like to visit today?” says the website. Just a few of the many choices include the tandoor-baked Bombay tikka masala pizza, which has a saffron-infused sauce; the shrimp Tuscany pizza, with shrimp, spinach, mushrooms (in season), fresh mozzarella, and a creamy pesto sauce; and the Habibi, with lamb and beef, roasted onions, garlic-infused yogurt sauce, and smoked mozzarella.
"International comfort food dishes as a pizza,” says Yelp reviewer Sue I. "Can I get a mic drop? Because my jaw dropped when I read the menu.”
From auto 'spokesmodel' to master pizza maker
Sapori di 786 Degrees is no stranger to the spotlight. The pizza restaurant that breaks barriers and boundaries was founded by Ali Haider, a former automobile "spokesmodel.” When he and his wife traveled to Italy for their honeymoon, they discovered their "amore” for Neapolitan margherita pizza — and Haider found his true calling (per the Sapori di 786 website). He returned to Naples time and again to learn the art and craft of pizza making under the guidance of the "master pizzaiolos,” or pizza chefs. He opened his first pizza restaurant in Sun Valley, California, and his Italian and halal fusion pies were a big hit — enough so to warrant a second restaurant, in Pasadena (per Kuwait Times). The Sun Valley location is a previous Yelp winner for best restaurant in California (per ABC7, on YouTube).
Haider's family tree can be traced to India (mother) and Iraq (father), so it makes sense that his pizzas have so much international flavor. If his name and his global approach to pizza seem familiar, you might have caught him on Hulu's "Best in Dough” competition series, on which he competed, and bested, two other award-winning pizza chefs (per PR Underground).