“Benito’s Pizza Cafe is rapidly becoming a hot spot in the heart of Downtown Oceanside for not only pizza but pasta, chicken, subs, calzones, salads, appetizers and more.”
Steve Marcott, Oside News
Welcome to Benito’s Pizza Cafe!
We may be fairly new to Oside, but we’re far from a new kid on the block in the restaurant business. Benito’s has been around over 40 years, with humble Midwest beginnings.
Benito’s Pizza Cafe owner Mauro Matoune’s father, Benito Mautone, immigrated to the U.S. from Palinuro Italy when he was 18. In 1979, he opened his first Benito’s Pizza. Mauro, along his brothers Jason and Michael, were raised in the family business.
The Oceanside location made a good choice for several reasons.
First, Benito’s has had success opening a Benito’s on the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) base in Yuma, Arizona. Being close to Camp Pendleton, the Mission Ave. location made perfect sense.
Second, Benito’s wanted to be part of the revitalization happening in Oside. Mauro explained “Oceanside is becoming a culinary destination in Southern California, with a wide variety of new options, and we wanted to add to that.”
Finally, the building itself was a major draw. “We fell in love with the location…with the original exposed high beam wood ceilings.There’s so much history here, we thought it would be great to be a part of that.”
As a family, we’ve always been passionate about good food.”
Quality matters most at Benito’s Pizza Cafe. We don’t cut corners, and use the freshest ingredients. Our pizza and pasta recipes are made in house. We take pride in our work and look forward to sharing our love of Italian food with you.
The benefits of brick oven cooked pizza
Tastier crust
At such high temperatures, the radiant heat of the oven crisps the outside of the pizza very quickly. Any moisture in the dough is sealed off. This prevents the base of the dough from becoming soggy and delivers in a flavorful crust that’s puffy, soft and chewy.
Unique flavor
Only a wood-fired brick oven pizza imparts that unique smoky flavor that cannot be reproduced in a traditional oven. The high temperature produces other flavors not achieved by slow cooking.
Crispier toppings
The intense heat and constant airflow seals and cooks the toppings evenly and quickly. The vegetable toppings come out crispier than in a traditional oven. This quick cooking seals in the vegetables’ nutrients. The cheese does not burn but, instead, has an appealing color and a rich, smoky flavor.