{tran eats} Pizzeria Ortica – Costa Mesa, CA

Not sure how long Pizzeria Ortica has been around.. probably a while.. but I’ve never been. We stopped in for a pre-theater dinner before seeing The Illusionists at SCFTA. One of the first things you see when you walk into the restaurant is part of the kitchen.. pretty cool that it’s all out in the open like that.

We ordered a couple appetizers, four different pizzas to share, and my dad got pasta (because he does not believe that you can eat pizza for dinner). Everything was so good.. my favorite pizza was the rapini, with the fried egg. No one got to try the pasta, because dad killed it before any of us could get our forks in.

Complimentary Bread and Butter

Cherry choices – Luxardo or Neon Maraschino?

D.O.C. Buffalo Mozzarella

BRUSCHETTA- pork belly butter, pickled wild foraged mushrooms, radish, watercress

CHITARRA- grilled shrimp & calamari, Borlotti beans, soffritto, tomato conserva, basil, Calabrian chiles

{clockwise from top left} PROSCIUTTO, PANCETTA, ESCAROLE

RAPINI – house-made fennel sausage, San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella, rapini, chiles, fried egg

Our server/bartender was awesome. I had a Roy Rogers, and she came out with samples of both Luxardo “Original” Maraschino cherries and the typical sweetened Maraschino cherries. Next time, I’ll just ask for the Luxardo cherries. They are SO good! I need to get a jar of these for home consumption. Minh ordered an rye whiskey old-fashioned (his drink of choice), which he said was really smooth and good. Sometimes when he orders them at restaurants or bars, they just come out terrible.