Blue Ribbon Artisan Pizza - Encinitas

The pizza was looked nice and was decent. However, I wholeheartedly agree with the cost/value situation of these pizzas. Maybe it’s because I am from the east coast but $24 for a 12” pie with underdone crust is insane. The mozzarella sticks, $14, were absolutely gorgeous, but the ooey gooey stretchy filling was sacrificed for the sake of its beautiful, in-retrospect-slightly-overdone dark golden crust. 3 of them were completely hollow, with only a trace of mozzarella left. However, the staff was very kind, clearly hustling, and I didn’t have to wait too long.

I liked the food but the wait staff is running thin here. Please invest in a handheld card reader to speed up paying the bill. We sat inside and noticed several customers walking inside from the patio to ask for their check. Please set out pizza boxes inside and outside for customers, too. The ergonomics of the bar setup along with and a narrow walkway to a from the kitchen and out the front door to patio is horribly inefficient.

The pizzas here have a decent crust, but the toppings were lacking. Service could have been better it was a bit slow and somewhat inattentive. The atmosphere was pleasant though. All in all, a mixed experience. The problem for me is that as the cost of living continues to rise and eating out becomes even more of a luxury, I’m scrutinizing the overall quality and value offered at restaurants more than ever and I struggled to justify spending over $50 for two average pizzas as this place. I hope restaurants take heed of this, especially as their prices are getting very high now.

Good and original pizza menu, fun bar scene too. Laid back local spot.

Solid 4. Flavor decent. Universally all places with B+ pizza are pushing the cost/value prop (even for coastal CA beach town). This is one of them. $23 individual pies.