SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - When we last met Danny Palacios, he was peddling his handcrafted pizzas without a parlor.
"We rented a commercial kitchen and sold pizzas at the Little Italy Mercado on Saturdays," Danny said.
But now his Berkeley Pizza, named after his alma mater, has a dining location at 539 Island Avenue in the Gaslamp.
"We probably have the smallest menu in town, basically pizza or pizza," Danny said.
Not just any pizza. Berkeley blends the best of both deep dish and thin crust.
"The pizza we make is basically called a stuffed pizza. It's a subset of a deep dish," Danny explained. "It's still very thick, but it's thick because of the toppings. So it actually has a thin crust. On the bottom goes the dough, then the cheese, and some toppings. Then there's a second paper-thin layer of dough. It kind of seals in the vegetables to give it a chicken pot pie effect, and then we top that we put the stewed tomatoes."
And every Berkeley pizza weighs in at around six pounds.
"So for people who have this thick crust, thin crust debate, this is the best of both worlds," Danny said.
Berkeley Pizza only delivers downtown, and as it was in their old location, a lot of their business is in the street.
"They call ahead, they place their order and because parking is an issue downtown we just bring it out to them curbside," Danny said.
Because Berkeley Pizza is located next to the nefarious Stingaree nightclub, on Friday and Saturday nights they are open until 3 a.m.
"We like to say we're doing a public service because they need something to absorb what they've been drinking all night," Danny said.
When it comes to pizza, we all have our personal prejudices or regional preferences, but here at Berkeley Pizza, they've found a round of middle ground, one slice at a time.
Berkeley Pizza
539 Island Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 937-0808
