San Carlos Downtown Business Spotlight: Speederia Pizzeria.
March 9, 2008
The Best Pizza in San Carlos?
Choosing a favorite pizza is about as personal and subjective as it gets. Some folks like thick and cheesy with lots of dough, and some like thin, New York-style pies. Toppings works for some, while others like just cheese. I was raised on the thick-crust pizzas that have been a staple in the Bay Area since I lived here as a kid, but lately there have been numerous East-Coast pizzerias that have attempted to break into this market.
If you haven't tried a great New York pizza, you're in for a treat. Far and away the best I've had is at Speederia Pizzeria, right here in San Carlos. They have mastered the key element of the pie where the others have failed: the crust. It's super-thin, and cooked to perfection. The sauce is tasty, but not overpowering — just as it should be. They offer a good variety of toppings, but keeping true to East Coast pies, you won't find a pizza that's buried in inches of the stuff. Moderation works wonderfully here.
Another genius move: Speederia keeps a selection of all of their pizzas cooked at about 95% — that way, when you order a slice, they speed-heat it in an oven and within a minute you have a piping hot, fully cooked slice. Who wants to spend half of their lunch hour waiting for pizza to be cooked? Of course, they'll cook up a custom pie to order, and the wait isn't usually more than 20-25 minutes (if you stay away from peak take-out times.)
The formula appears to be working — the place is usually packed during lunch hours, especially on Wednesdays when the San Carlos School kids get out early and invade Laurel Street en masse. Their lunch special is a hit –> two slices of any pizza and a fountain drink for $6.
Is there room for improvement? Sure. The place is very small, with very limited seating. It could probably benefit from a good salad bar, and they don't offer home delivery. But if you don't mind sitting outside on a nice sunny day in San Carlos and enjoying a great slice of pizza, you can't beat this place.
Speederia is located at:
711 Laurel Street
San Carlos, CA 94070
(650) 591-9115
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