San Remo Delivers! But You'll Have to Pick Up Your Pizza

San Remo's decor screams Pizzeria inside and out

BRADENTON – Being a northerner who spent a year working in Manhattan, my standards on pizza pie can be quite high and truth be told, I'd rather abstain than eat a bad slice. To my mind, bad pizza is worse than no pizza at all. Sure, in my high-metabolism days I would scarf down the frozen garbage in the college dining hall or eat day-old, hardened pie, but these days I'm only inhaling those kind of calories for the genuine article. Having recently moved to downtown Bradenton, I didn't know where to go for my fix, so I asked a friend who's a Bradenton O.G. and he shuttled me two blocks to San Remo Pizza and Pasta.

San Remo (map) is the real deal. Lorenzo Barreca and the family have been making pizza here since 1982 and Lorenzo's experience dates back even further to when he flipped pies for various pizzerias in his native New York. These days, the patriarch is semi-retired, though he comes in each morning to prepare the dough and sauce. His sons Joe and Lorenzo Jr., along with their sister Angela, run the show under the watchful eye of their mother, Antoinette who's still a regular fixture at San Remo. Lorenzo Jr. says it's the family factor that makes the difference. "We're cooking for ourselves," he told me. "We don't got a different guy back there every week. It's me and my family and that's why it's consistent."

Both brothers say that it's the consistency that separates the true pizza palaces from the also-rans and I have to agree. There are a couple of things that tip you off as to whether a pizza parlor is legit and the first one is the soda. Everyone knows that real pizzerias serve Coke, not Pepsi. Even if you don't like Coke (I myself never touch it outside of a pizza chaser or rum mixer), you still know that it is the only drink to accompany a big, greasy slice. So right off the bat, I was feeling good about this spot. Second, check out the condiments. Nothing brings out the flavor in a good piece of pizza like crushed red pepper, which should look flaky and red, not crisp and seedy. Again, San Remo was top shelf.

My next gage is always the sizes. A large pizza is round and measures 16 inches in diameter. In house slices are made on an even bigger pan. Still, there have been times when I've ordered a large from some place on the phone and showed up only to be handed something just bigger than a personal pan pizza and told that what I really wanted was the joint's "extra large" – the one they never told me about. Again, San Remo knows the score – 16 inch large, giant slices.

A perfect slice of San Remo pizza with crushed red pepper

Of course none of this matters much if the pizza is sub-par. First, check the visual. Bad pizza can't hide from your eyes and any self-respecting dough tosser will throw away a stale slice pie rather than serve up a piece of dry, chewy pizza past its prime. Our slices were perfect. The cheese was still completely distinct from the sauce, which tends to disappear into the mozzarella and dough, which themselves become two distinct entities when it's reheated too long after its birth.

The crust was crispy, with just enough doughiness to take in some of the tomato sauce, which was probably the best part of the show. Their commitment to fresh ingredients is obvious in every bite. San Remo does not skimp on cheese either. In fact, I can't imagine what an extra-cheese call might do to the digestive system. Quality cheese produces a puddle of grease – no way around it. It's whether or not the consistency of the dough (which is very hard to perfect in Florida) and sauce can take it on. Pizza has to meld into a perfect flow of those three essentials and meld this pizza does.

When asked about cooking in Florida, Joe says the dough really does act differently. "It's all about temperature and humidity," he explained. "But we've been doing it here for a long time and just know what works for us." Joe said that if he had to guess, he'd say that many northerners simply never adjust to the differences, accounting for the trouble with soupy centers or hard edges. "I've heard all kinds of crazy things," he added. "Like people using bottled water from New York and stuff, but we just use regular fresh, high-quality ingredients every day, with the same people making it every time and that's why people come back."

The ever day special is two slices and a 16 oz. fountain soda for $4.75. You can't beat this and stopping by for lunch is the perfect way to try them out before bringing a whole pie home for dinner – though I assure you a whole pie (or two) is the way to go. San Remo also offers a full menu of Italian entrŽes like lasagna, Manicotti and stuffed shells – generous portions at prices of $7-11, as well as fresh, nice-sized subs for $5-7. They're known for their veal and chicken parm, as well as a tasty clam sauce in white or read and fresh eggplant dishes daily. Just note, you'll have to eat in or pick it up. A driver would require a major no no: an outsider. Still, in every way that really matters – San Remo delivers big time!

San Remo Pizza & Pasta

1914 Tamiami Trail
Bradenton
941.749.0105