FINALLY .... Good Italian pizza Lakeside

Just had pizza cooked in the one week old brick pizza oven now at Hostelria del Arte. Finally a pizza both my husband and I can both say....ahhhh that was good. This is the Italian restaurant at the Japanese garden in West Ajijic. Crust is thin and crispy with sauce that actually tastes Italian and not like Mexican salsa. Stephano and Rosalee are very proud of the oven they had built so be sure to ask to see it. We will definitely be back. Thiere has been nowhere Lakeside that has pizza I would be willing to go out of my way for until now.
Not cheap 135-145 pesos, enough to feed 2 and well worth it IMHO

Where is the Japanese garden in West Ajijic?

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hoster%C3%ADa+del+Arte/@20.297903,-103.28747,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x842f440a931c184b:0xd4d4b01432ad653e?hl=en

CheenaGringo wrote:https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hoster%C3%ADa+del+Arte/@20.297903,-103.28747,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x842f440a931c184b:0xd4d4b01432ad653e?hl=en

it's right next to the Pemex on the mountain side in West Ajijic

Osteria del Arte.  Not hosteleria.

i'll continue to order dominos delivered to mi casa thanks.

David wrote:Osteria del Arte.  Not hosteleria.

Both are close...

Oops....need stronger glasses

Me too!

What about that place a couple blocks down from the 7-11. That was great pizza

joyfull wrote:Just had pizza cooked in the one week old brick pizza oven now at Hostelria del Arte. Finally a pizza both my husband and I can both say....ahhhh that was good.  This is the Italian restaurant at the Japanese garden in West Ajijic. Crust is thin and crispy with sauce that actually tastes Italian and not like Mexican salsa. Stephano and Rosalee are very proud of the oven they had built so be sure to ask to see it. We will definitely be back. Thiere has been nowhere Lakeside that has pizza I would be willing to go out of my way for until now.
Not cheap 135-145 pesos, enough to feed 2 and well worth it IMHO

OK the crust and sauce are great. How about the toppings. Most pizzas here have very skimpy toppings?

If it is indeed authentic Italian pizza the crust will be thin and charred in spots, ingredient quality superb and toppings minimal but excellent. I've yet to see that anywhere at Lakeside - including at Pizzeria Toscana which is run by an Italian who ought to know (and do) better but has gotten away with delivering (or rather, not delivering - another mistake IMHO) mediocrity that is still at least edible, unlike the competition.

Will try Hosteria del Arte but honestly the bar is set so low here that the best pizza I know of at Lakeside is the frozen pepperoni one (made in Italy - seriously - and precooked in a wood fired oven) from Wal Mart.

coffeeguy wrote:

Will try Hosteria del Arte but honestly the bar is set so low here that the best pizza I know of at Lakeside is the frozen pepperoni one (made in Italy - seriously - and precooked in a wood fired oven) from Wal Mart.

What brand is that?

never had a good pizza in a restaurant here including toscana where i even took some of my own ingredients and they blew that too. californiac style 'designer' pizza ain't authentic with that paper thin, pita bread like, crust. i have had the real deal in toronto,montreal and edmonton[tonys pizza] yes thin crust, but it has to be air tossed for the real deal and that ultra thin crust around here ain't air tossed. tony learned his trade in new york.
the closest crust i've had here to real is domino's as far as dough type is concerned but it ain't air tossed either and a little too thick.
we're old-what's wrong with the traditional stough-eh! designer-ppphhhttt!

Where is the Italian Food Expert when we could really use him to set everyone straight on pizzas?

Pizza is all about Opinion. Everybody has a different answer to the same question. Thick or thin etc etc etc. Costco is my favorite pizza but have to agree with Pedro Dominoes is best locally. Yes I know we should be shot for that opinion but have you tried the new Dominoes crust they redid a few years ago?
Its not the same pie as when they started the biz.

Z

the dominos crust is chewy like it is supposed to be.

I get a slice of cheese pizza every time I go to Costco, and load it up with onions and jalapeños. :) But the whole ketchup-and-mustard-on-pizza thing? I will never understand that.

"like it is supposed to be."

How about we start off with just how many types of Italian Pizza there are:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/europe/travel-tips-and-articles/77459
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza

Just these lists alone will confuse the heck out of you and then when you add in all the North American versions - total chaos! As Zed said, it boils down to your own personal preference and that ends up being the right pizza for you.

viajero wrote:

coffeeguy wrote:

Will try Hosteria del Arte but honestly the bar is set so low here that the best pizza I know of at Lakeside is the frozen pepperoni one (made in Italy - seriously - and precooked in a wood fired oven) from Wal Mart.

What brand is that?

It's their "World Table" private label. There are three varieties, but the pepperoni is the only only one that would please a pizza purist. Of course it being our local Wal Mart they are out of it at least half the time, in keeping with their general policy of not wanting to restock anything that sells well.

Regarding Neil's links, Naples and Neopolitan pizza are the "motherland" and the only pizza in Italy with its own DOC (denomiaziona de origine controllata). No question that many other pizzas can be and are delicious, but when we talk about authentic Italian pizza that's what is meant.

The Pizzeria Toscana guy and his family (at La Taverna) are from Livorno, which is in Tuscany and it known for its seafood. Tuscany otherwise is known for its beans, its steak (Bistecca alla Fiorentina) and of course its wine - but not its pizza!

I'm still looking forward to trying the pizza at the Hosteria. Just having an oven that burns hot enough is more than half the battle, and it sounds like they might.

Anyone interested in learning more about the Neopolitan real deal should enjoy this web site:

http://www.pizzanapoletana.org/eng_chisiamo.php

Thanks Coffeeguy,I thought that might be the brand,I've seen them but not tried them,now I will.

the toscana guy merely mimics californiac designer- ahem! pizza.

We sometimes buy the "World Table" frozen pizza at Walmart also. It's stomach-able. And you can embellish it a bit. But yes, that's how low the bar is, locally.

Haven't yet tried the pizza at Hosteria del Arte, but undoubtedly will at some point. The guy at the funky place out past the Chapala Country Club - completely blanking on the name at the moment - tends to at least use better quality toppings.

Meh.

I like the pizza at La Taverna.  The son has to much attitude.

Had lunch with friends at Hosteria del Arte this afternoon and we ordered a couple of different pizzas.

The crust is excellent and very authentic, tomato sauce and cheese are good quality and they're properly baked. Prices range from 135 pesos for pizza margherita to 155 for pizza with prosciutto. Ingredient quality is good, not great but it's certainly among the best, if not the best, pizza available at Lakeside.

The ambiance is pleasant too, but the beverage scene is not good. On the plus side, they're now offering the very good Berber beer from Guadalajara, but an Italian place with no wine program is a sad thing. They have a barely passable Sicilian Shiraz for 265 pesos a bottle, and everything else was over 500 pesos. No wine list either - you have to ask the owner. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to go to Costco (or for that matter just down the street to Vinos Americas) and buy a few bottles of 90 peso Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, but they haven't figured this out, thereby missing both a major profit center and an opportunity to have something that goes with their food.

The rest of the menu is also all carbs, with the exception of a couple of not-very-Italian chicken dishes, and prices are on the high side (e.g .115 pesos for lasagna, 135 up for pasta).

I like La Taverna's pizza too, David, and though that restaurant has seen better days and the owners seem burned out it's still a much better overall experience, with a good range of dishes, respectable wine program and competent service.

Seems to me the business opportunity for Hosteria is for someone with a motorbike to start doing pizza delivery!