Pizza Port Solana Beach

rdrummer

New Jersey

4.4/5  rDev +4.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 5 | $$

Pizza Port is a hard place to rate. It is almost unfair to rate several of the categories. First, it is not a fancy place. It is a pizza parlor, after all. The brewery is small so there are a small number of PP beers on tap at any time, but there were also about 10 guest taps with CA micros, including Pliny the Elder. I had a bottle of their SPF 45 Saison, which was excellent and a pint of the Trippel Overhead Golden Ale.

The unfairness comes in the category of service since this is a self-service pizza and beer parlor, the only real service is handing you the food and pouring a beer. The beerman was friendly knew what I would like after a couple questions and was generally friendly. We were there for a mid-week lunch so it wasn't busy.

The food was excellent. Pizzas and salads were the only thing on the menu but the pizzas were huge, had all kinds of toppings available, and had an excellent thick crust, obviously freshly made.

I would definitely recommend Pizza Port and will returning next year when I visit San Diego again.

02-20-2006 15:53:28 | More by rdrummer

John_Deas

4.4/5  rDev +4.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

Pizza Port is a good place to get a fresh draft and pizza in Solana Beach. On tap is a good selection of house beers. Average prices of about $5/pint as of December 2012. Wine and beer is served in a plain glass at about 55 degrees (my guess). The pizza was good, the music classic rock and the service good (behind the bar only). Cashier short-changed my wife by a dollar.

Typical beach casual restaurant ambiance. Plenty of indoor and outdoor seating and tables. About 25 well-behaved patrons were there on pre-Christmas weekend afternoon.

Plenty of street parking is available in the neighborhood. It's easy to get there off Coast Highway, across from the Amtrak station, and to find with GPS.

12-27-2012 21:12:14 | More by John_Deas

hopfacebrew

Colorado

3.95/5  rDev -6.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

Brought the kids in for lunch at Pizza Port as there was a little playground right down the street by the beach. Worked out great. We strolled in right as they were opening, first people in. As such we may have caught the staff unprepared. The first two people we spoke with were behind the registers and were unwelcoming and acted as if it was an inconvenience we were there. Turn-off. However, as the bartender showed up and the cashier came over they were very helpful and pleasant, though I have to rate as 3.0 due to the initial impression. Bartender went out of his way to help a foreigner from Colorado ;) Ordered a pizza while the kids ran around the open area with long benches. Cool vibe. Brewery right behind the counter. Guy was taking a hydrometer sample while we sat, pretty cool. Plates, silverware, and boxes along the wall, very do-it-yourself. The other guy behind the bar hooked up a free One Down Brown as he was obviously hung over and poured the wrong beer. Kind of him. Overall, if I lived near by I'd be here all the time. The kids destroyed the pizza, which was pretty good. Enjoyable. Great beer.

02-01-2012 15:04:53 | More by hopfacebrew

mikehoch

California

3.95/5  rDev -6.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3 | $$

This place is the real deal. It's been around for many years, making beer long before it was the cool thing to do. The pizza we had today was a little undercooked, but when you're there mainly for the beer, the pizza is more than adequate. Just order something with a lot of meat.

The beers we had were tasty, and they had a nice selection for such a small brewery. We tried the IPA, Double IPA, the Red, and a Brown. All were all fresh, with good character. The space they allocate to brewing is tiny--it looked to be about 15 x 25 feet, or less than 400 ft/sq. Compare that to Stone Brewing Co, which recently opened a 55K ft/sq brewery.

While small, the place has great character. The people were nice, and it's a local scene. They have newer, larger locations, but there is something special about an original location.

12-29-2011 05:36:49 | More by mikehoch

tjensen3618

California

4/5  rDev -5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4 | $$

I stopped by this place with some friends on our way to a beer weekend in SD. This one is a lot smaller on the inside than the Carlsbad Pizza Port, it also has a smaller beer list.

There was a small line to order but it moved quickly and there were a few open places to sit. The chick that took my beer order was super nice.

I don't know why as I assume all the Pizza Ports have the same Pizza recipes, but for some reason our Pizza was not quite as delicious as other was I've had from the chain, but it was still pretty damn good.

The beers I had were a pretty rare Abita Select Black IPA, and the house brewed A.B.L.E. I enjoyed both a lot.

All in all it was a good experience, but in the future I'd probably rather either try the other ones I haven't yet been to or go to the Carlsbad one a few miles up the freeway.

12-22-2011 00:50:04 | More by tjensen3618

BenHesk12

California

4.1/5  rDev -2.6%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

Pizza Port Solana Beach has a selection of their own beers as a well as a guest tap list. I've found most of the locally brewed pizza port beers to be mediocre to decent and mostly relied on the guest tap list, which happens to usually be pretty interesting. Although there's technically no bar and you just stand in line, they are usually pretty helpful with beer knowledge.

I had to give low reviews for the atmosphere and service though because the place is always loud, overcrowded with little kids running around, and the teenagers making the pizza don't seem to care if you get your pizza or not. I once waited an hour for a pizza after they didn't call my name.

All that being said, this is some of the best pizza I've ever had. They put the toppings under the cheese, use high quality ingredients, and the dough is flawless. That's what makes Pizza Port worth the waiting in line and dealing with little kids. Overall, never a bad place to get pizza and beers with some friends.

12-01-2011 02:42:53 | More by BenHesk12

madpentzer

California

4.83/5  rDev +14.7%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

I absolutely love this place. Great pizza, great beer, and a great environment. After spending an afternoon at the beach this is my go to spot to get some grub and good pints. The prices are reasonable, and the bartenders are always nice and knowledgeable about the beer they're serving. They serve growlers too. I recently picked up a growler of their Tubby's Porter, which was a nice treat when I got home. The only downside about this place is that it is always crowded during dinner time. I would recommend coming here if you're ever visiting San Diego and have the time.

11-19-2011 20:48:34 | More by madpentzer

flexabull

California

4.09/5  rDev -2.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | $$

Snuck in here for a beer before heading down to Del Mar.

Place is cool, it's an old tiny pizza place / brewery just a few blocks from the ocean. It's was pretty packed on a Sunday afternoon with lots of younger folks enjoying beers and / or pizza while watching games on the TVs.

Quality is very good, it's Port, enough said.

Service was good, the server acknowledged and served me quickly.

Selection was pretty good, but not as good as the other places I visited on my trip, they had about 6 house beers, and 10 or so guest beers.

Didn't try the food, this was one pint and done.

Overall, a cool little pizza and beer place that was worth the stop.

08-09-2011 04:10:43 | More by flexabull

ThreeWiseMen

California

4.2/5  rDev -0.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

Stopped in here for the first time this afternoon to grab some lunch and a few beers. Chances are I'll be visiting again soon, especially since this location seems to be the easiest to get to from my new home near UCSD.

The only other Pizza Port I've been to at this point is the one up in Carlsbad, which is about twice the size of this one with close to twice as many tap handles (from what I can remember, anyway). Still, this location struck me as more comfortable; less noise, fewer people, friendlier service (not to say service hasn't been friendly at the Carlsbad location), lower ceilings, and less floor space make it seem more like a local hangout and less like a tourist destination. As with the other location(s), the interior is laden with wooden picnic tables, flat-screen TVs, and arcade games. It's the ideal local pizza joint.

I ordered a couple half pints of Pizza Port brews - Chinooky Pale Ale and Cardiff Chronic - and paired them with a small Pizza Solana. While I wasn't thrilled with the Cardiff Chronic, both beers were well-crafted and devoid of major flaws. As for the pizza, it was one of the best I've ever had!

I'll likely amend this review in time, but I can't wait to make another trip up here.

07-27-2011 01:11:12 | More by ThreeWiseMen

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

3.6/5  rDev -14.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 2.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5 | $$$$

Lots of wooden tables inside, slight row of bar seats outside, but no tables or close bar service. Always the socal surf vibe going on. Arcade in the back. Nice line to just go order beers.

Beers and pizza are always top notch. This 'original' pizza port location seems to have less variety on tap and less of the heavy hitters they have come to be known for when I visit. Still good though. Also the most expensive. I got charged $20 for a REFILL of the Swami IPA. Clarified, no, still $20 for a refill. Ripoff, especially when the better Psuedo or Poor Man's is cheaper at other locations.

Still a cool place with good pizza and beer, but give me San Clemente or Carlsbad any day.

07-11-2011 15:21:07 | More by Beerandraiderfan