Strada Pizzeria and Enoteca

The Strada in Canyon Country /​Santa Clarita is closed. :(
It’s a tough location — 3 restaurants have been in a closed there over the past 5 years.

To Frank R.,
Earlier this week, Strada posted a confusing good-​bye on Facebook. My whole family is depressed that they seem to have closed. I too hope that they are just relocating, or maybe locking doors for a bit through this economy problem. Please please let this be true…
Strada, you said. stay tuned… ???

I tried this place based on all of the positive Unilocal reviews. We ordered a margherita pizza and a panini. I was very impressed with the food. Everything is well presented and tastes original. The pizza was one of the best pizza’s I have had in this valley.
I will be checking out Strada again very soon.

So, a girl walks into a pizzeria…
Nope, there’s no joke here, just the beginning of a pretty decent review!
Had been to Strada before with my mom when it was a wee freshman on the Santa Clarita restaurant scene and although there was an incredibly long wait, the service was fantastic and we were gifted with a pizza and dough sticks while we anxiously pined for our to-​go order. Once we had taken our treasured meal home, we were both a little full from the complimentary apps. But, that didn’t stop us! The pizza was delicious, as was the tiny bite of meatball I snuck from my mom’s plate.
Because of above experience, I was more than excited to try Strada out again when I found myself back in Santa Clarita over Christmas. This time I went solo and although these guys can be no frills, get down to business type east coast dudes, I kind of dig it. I sat at the bar again and while gnawing on the complimentary dough sticks (not cooked all the way, just like I like ‘em) did a once over on the menu, settling for the Cavatappi Pesto (fresh mozzarella, roasted garlic, spinach, arugula and pine nuts with light pesto and crushed red pepper). I just realized as I recounted its contents that the dish was missing pine nuts (which is half why I ordered it, because I love those little tasty treats), but clearly I didn’t notice at the time, so the dish made up for it in flavor. It was heavy on the oil, but was a delicious blend of crushed red pepper and roasted garlic, and not too over powering. Overall, I enjoyed it and walked out a very satisfied customer ($ 15 with tip).

The food was great!
The pizza was wonderful, the antipasto salad was one of the best I’ve had. The calzone was very flavorful, and Frank R is serious it’s the size of a football.
But the staffing made me want to scream. Our server, the only one working tonight, was sincere and she was trying but she was 14! Yes I asked. And the only other employee was the cook. The customer to employee ratio was 9 to 1. For our party of 7 it took an hour and a half to have dinner, no appetizers and no dessert. I tried to speed up paying the bill by walking it to the counter but was amazed that no one was in sight. For 30 seconds neither the waitress nor the cook was around.
Until they’ve got their staffing worked out this will be a great place to dine and dash.
I’ll be back. hopefully for a better experience.

Third visit. I had a message from Courtland M, of Strada, responding to my last Unilocal saying they strive to have the best pizza in town, so i decided to give it another try.
Glad i did. Again ordered the white pizza (bianca verdi) & the meatball pizza, at the suggestion of the waitress. in the time between my visits it seems they have taken any criticism and used it to their advantage. My pizza was amazing; fresh ingredients, crispy crust, great flavor profiles and refreshing. Try the meatball pizza you won’t be disappointed!
Will be back soon.
—-
I’ve been here twice, the first time was with a BOGO coupon from
. I ordered the white pizza and my girlfriend had the peperoni. They were both really good, 4.5 stars. So we went back four days later got the same thing and the pizza was terrible, greasy, soggy. etc.

The Why:
I have lived in Canyon Country for some time now and usually shop at Stater Brothers for groceries. I would always drive past Strada Pizzeria but never gave any thought about checking out the place. I read some amazing Unilocal!reviews about the place and it really encouraged me to take my sisters last weekend. I was not let down by my fellow reviewers and I was overall very impressed.
Location:
Strada’s a very easy place to find since its at the corner of the Stater Bros. Plaza. Parking is no problem at all. The interior is very simplistic and quite small. So if you’re thinking about a dinner first date or taking a large party, you should consider going to a different place. But for those who are alone or in small groups looking for some of the best Italian food around town, this is the joint to be at.
Service:
The waiter (possibly a manager) at the time was extremely friendly and punctual. One of my pet peeves is running out of water to drink (or tea), and at Strada’s my glass was always full. The food took quite awhile to be served, but it was well worth the wait.
Food:
Everything we ordered was amazingly delicious. Here’s a list of what we ordered:
Antipasta: Baked Ravioli
Panini: Italian Cold Cut
Pasta: Penne Sausage
Specialties: Chicken Parmesan
Pizza: Bianca Verde Pizza
The only thing I wouldn’t recommend is the Chicken Parmesan. It was still good but wasn’t up to par with the other things that we had ordered.
All in all, I highly recommend this place to everyone to try out at least once.

I first rated this place 5 stars, but the second time I returned, the service and pizza was not the same quality. The owner/​cook seemed to have a chip on his shoulder and took a while to start on our pizza (I could see him standing there doing nothing). The veggie pizza wasn’t as good as the first time I tried it. Also, they were out of ingredients for some of the items on the menu. Both times I went, I noticed the waitress had to run next door to the super market to grab supplies; not only leaving us waitress-​less, but not very professional.

This is easily the best pizza I’ve had in Santa Clarita!
I took my car to Costco last week for a tire change, and walked over here to get some pizza for my kids and THANK GOODNESS I did!
I had the thin crust pepperoni and it was heavenly. Fresh Mozzarella cheese, tangy tomato sauce and a yeasty tasting, crackling crisp crust. This is pizza my friends.
It was heaven in my mouth. (But not in the perverted way in which that sentence sounds now that I’ve read it back.) :-)

I’ve been to Strada now a couple times.
They have the best thin crust european style pizza ever.
All the ingredients are very fresh and tasty.
i cannot stop thinking about the pizza.

This is the best restaurant on this side of town. The quality of food is top notch, and the prices are reasonable for the quality — fresh, mostly organic, handmade ingredients. ($ 18 large pizza, $ 10-​ish for large pasta meal, $ 11-​ish for large sandwich.)
Everything we tried was excellent: bianca verdi pizza, sausage and mushroom pizza, baked eggplant (comes with spaghetti), caesar salad (I could live on the dressing alone), complimentary bread sticks (basically pieces of seasoned pizza dough), and zeppoles (mini italian doughnuts).
I do have a couple of suggestions though:
1. The website and menu give the impression Strada is all about local, sustainable food (saying how they use local ingredients to reduce their carbon footprint, etc.). However, they use pizza dough from Lamonica Brooklyn Pizza Company — which is 3,000 miles away, right? Unless there is a local Lamonica’s that I don’t know about, this would pretty much be the opposite of local and sustainable pizza dough.
2. In that same vein, they serve Pellegrino water and sparkly drinks. Flown over all the way from Italy. The complete opposite of local, and with an enormous carbon footprint.
I’m going to hold Strada to the local/​sustainable standard they set for themselves, and I hope to see local/​sustainable pizza dough and water the next time I visit. If you’re going to talk the talk, you’ve gotta walk the walk!
And — the young waitress (I’m assuming the owner’s daughter?) is amazing. Professional, responsible, and friendly. Give that girl a raise!

I went here for a UYE/​Twitter gathering. I have held off on eating here, I am not too big on Italian but knew that sooner or later I would get here. So, I got to eat here with my fellow Unilocalers, which is always fun.
I was surprised to find the place in a strip mall. It is rather unassuming from the outside, inside it is cozy with an open kitchen. They serve bottled iced tea here, I forget the brand, but I am an tea connoisseur and I have had this brand before in finer restaurants. It is real tea and real good.
The menu that night was heavy on the pastas and red sauces. Some of the sandwiches looked interesting as did their pizzas. I opted for a lighter chicken sandwich with a cup of minestrone soup. They brought my entrée with a salad and forgot the soup, which they corrected. This gave me a chance to try the salad as well.
The salad was interesting. It was plain lettuce, but had a very unique and wonderful dressing on it. I never asked what it was, but it was very good. The minestrone appeared prepared fresh, and was full of all sorts of goodies. It was served lukewarm though and the broth was lacking something I could not quite put my finger on.
The chicken sandwich was very good. I did not get a chance to pay attention to exactly what was in it, but for a sandwich it definitely beat my expectations.
Strada is serving food that far beats what a location like this should be serving. I would expect to find their food being served in a more intimate sit down restaurant. It is refreshing to find people caring about quality of food in the SCV. One of my fellow Unilocalers had a pizza. It looked wonderful and will be on my plate the next time I return to eat here.

I’ve had the pleasure of eating here a couple of times. I really applaud the chance they’ve taken in terms of quality and effort, not to mention location and timing. The space is small, bright and IKEA-​fied, with an open kitchen.
The bread and oil at the table is really good and when we brought the kids, they were given little balls of dough to knead and shape (which they’ll bake during the course of the meal). Everything tastes really fresh and handmade. Their Bolognese sauce, a good measure of a place, is excellent. The portions are a little small, but that might be for the best.
I like, but don’t love, the pizza. My personal preference is for a thin, but rustic and bubbly crust with a nice chew and and a sightly scorched bottom. Their crust was uniformly flat, even along the edges. The bottom of the crust was uniformly tan, except along the edges, where it was charred. Everything else about the pizza was great. We tried both a Marghertia and a fennel with sausage. I also tried a stromboli, which was really good, except that the sauce was served cold. This was a shame, because it was this bright, flavorful and assertive tomato sauce — good stuff, even better served hot (I can imagine).
Coffee is served in a french press, which is great and all, but the gesture is negated by using pre-​ground Starbucks coffee, boiling water and by steeping it for ten minutes instead of three or four. Granted, I had the coffee a few months ago and this might have changed by now.
For dessert, I’ve only had the chance to try the zeppoles, but I’m going to have a hard time trying anything else. They are amazingly good and I’d visit for these alone.

I’m jealous of folks who live on this side of the SCV because they have something really special in Strada. They are an organic oasis in a sea of overprocessed food, chains and that Stater Bros.
I really like the concept here. Strada specializes in Italian fare featuring organic («when they can») ingredients. The staff was really welcoming and helpful. We tried the sausage and fennel pizza with a cesar salad. The pizza was fresh, light, and very tasty. I LOVED the fresh roasted fennel on top! So much so, that I am attempting to recreate this pizza at home right now.
My husband’s only complaint was that the size just wasn’t big enough for two to split. He’s got a hearty appetite. Luckily we opted for dessert. Well, maybe not lucky…
I have to admit, I really disliked the chocolate chip cannoli. It just wasn’t my thing, and the cannoli shell tasted overdone. I wish we had opted for chocolate cake or the Zeppole. Despite the dessert disappointment, I will definitely come back to try the their Panini, especially the Chicken Bruschetta.

Strada is one of the best new places to eat this side of Santa Clarita. I tried it out a month ago and couldn’t believe how tasty everything was. My family and I had the Pollo Organico Pizza, Spaghetti Bolognese, and a Caesar salad. I haven’t had pizza this good in a long time, and I didn’t feel like a fat pig after eating it. I didn’t think Spaghetti Bolognese could taste soooo good either.
I went again last night to try out some other menu items. So, I brought along my very picky sister to see what she thought. She agrees. Again, everything was fantastic, including the Chocolate chip cannoli we had for dessert.
Strada is my new favorite pizzeria!

At last my opportunity to fulfill my delighted promise to the folks who run this fantastic Santa Clarita jem.
My wife and I ordered a white pizza, the bruschetta appetiser (YUM!) and a some dinner salads. All were perfectly delicious, scrumptiously yummy and delectably memorable.
It’s been 3 weeks since our first and only visit and we’re still talking about getting back there for some wonderfully cared for and cooked food and personal, at-​home type of service.
Strada is everything everyone else says it is and more. They seem to have a real and proactive desire to use and recycle their resources carefully and promote earth-​friendly eating.
This place is all that is right in the world. Eat here and feel goood!

Ok, seriously? You haven’t been there yet? What are you waiting for!
Obviously many of you HAVEN’T Been there yet, because at lunch time on a Saturday there were plenty of empty seats. Which, I guess I should thank you for, because I was very hungry and thankful we didn’t have to wait for a table.
I think this makes the 4^th of 5^th time I’ve been there, and haven’t been let down yet. How many restaurants around Santa Clarita, nay, Southern California can you say that about?
Some small changes have been made, pizza now comes in two sizes, small and medium. We got the mediium, because seriously, if you get the small, your taste buds will be begging you for more!
Today we tried the chopped antipasto salad. Small pieces of crispy, fresh romaine lettuce mixed with just the right amount of chickpeas, luscious, tasty pieces of salamis, smatterings of olives and the tastiest citrus dressing! Oh, and did I mention the fresh mozarella? MMMMMMMM. Perched on top was a perfectly roasted wedge of potato that I could have eaten an entire plate of! I could seriously crave this salad, and wish Strada was closer to my work than some of the dismal choices I have. I’d be getting this salad at least once a week!
The pepperoni pizza was delicious. The piquant pepperoni was perfectly porportioned and played perfectly in proximity to the sauce (Ok, so I couldn’t think of any more words starting with P to throw in there)
For dessert we decided to try the almond tiramisu. It was moist and delicious and the almond flavor was not overpowering. It was nice spin on the traditionally boozy, inedible desserts you find other restaurants try to pass off as tiramisu.
Plus, they are still serving the flatbread when you sit down, or as I like call it, addictive crack bread!
The staff is so nice and working so hard at making some good quality, tasty food not-​from-​a-​chain for the people of the SCV. Go show them the foodie that you are, that you appreciate and love this type of food, and we aren’t just a bunch of brainwashed chain-​fed lummoxes!
So, has my witty review made you want to try it yet? Well, go now!!! Don’t let this place go the way of Café Melisse. Santa Clarita deserves a quality restaurant like this, lets support it!!!
FYI — they are on

I’m actually a little disappointed in me and the SCV. For one a 4* first review? REALLY? And the wife and I went on a Sunday @ 7 and they were empty. Don’t let this Gem get away!!!
Stopped by once again because I’ve been craving a second pass. I’ll be honest I was a little luke warm on the pizza and tonight I was craving some pasta. I’ll give you a run down:
Minestrone soup — CLEARLY home made. The beans and the broth were great.
Tazza Di Caesar — Got this with the lemon vinaigrette salad was fresh and the chicken great.
Spaghetti Bolognese — WOW. Why can’t I make pasta like this at home???
The funny thing about the Spaghetti is that if you goto ChiChi’s or anywhere else they hand you a plate about the size of the table filed with pasta. I guess they figure the quantity makes up for the lack of taste and second rate ingredients. Here they serve an average sized dish that just fills you up and leaves you wanting more. I actually had them make me another batch to bring home with me but I’m so full I can’t eat it. Service was spot on and friendly; we were out the door for less than $ 40 (with two orders of spaghetti). Color me in love. If you haven’t tried this place yet and you’re a fan of Italian food you need to get in gear.
I want it to be said NO I was not payed off nor did I get my dinner for free. This is just a cool little restaurant with great food and I definitely want to see them succeed.

Wow.
That pretty much sums it up…
Thank you William for the heads up about this place!
Even though it is across town, the drive is totally worth it! Everything that I ate today, from the bread + oil to the dessert was absolutely FANTASTIC!
I am going to say, that this is BY FAR the best Italian place in the SCV. We really need more places like this. Places that use the best ingredients and put a lot of effort into serving great food.
It reminded me of Mozza a bit, and I can’t wait to come back and try the pizzas!
I was there for lunch today, and the service was GREAT! Our waitress was very attentive, polite, and had a great sense of humor!
This is now one of my top places to eat at in the SCV.
I wish them the best of luck with their new restaurant!

This place is like an Ennio Morricone soundtrack to my ears. Only, sans the spaghetti, and not so western-​y. And, well, they had cheesy 80s music playing. So, perhaps it isn’t like one at all. But, the music was the least of my worries. I was about to eat Italian food for the first time in over a year, yesterday. That, in itself, was what I was worried about. Perhaps all this worry stemmed from eating too much Jeno’s Pizza Rolls and Mama Celeste Pizza when I was younger.
As I pull up to the front of Strada, I’m reminded of the old Federico Fellini movie with a similar namesake, La Strada. For a restaurant, I find it quite odd since the word «strada» literally translates to «road.» La Strada was a great movie — one of Fellini’s finest, in my opinion — but the ending of the movie was what some might consider tragic. I’m hoping my visit here doesn’t follow the same… ahem…road.
I consider this an adventurous day. No Asian dining for me, I think to myself. So, I decide to hit the dusty ol’ trail to check out this new Italian dining establishment in Santa Clarita. I don’t quite get it up (that’s what he said) for Italian food. Sure, it’s alright. The thought just doesn’t do much to whet the appetite when I’m collectively going through the food options, in my head.
Sisters and brothers, I think I found the restaurant that can bring the Sergio Leone out of me. Only, there’s nothing Bad, or Ugly, about this place. Just Good.
For starters, I’m a big copycat when it comes to Italian food.
«What are you having?»
«Mmm, that sounds good.»
«You know what? I think I’ll try that!»
If I didn’t love myself so much, I’d probably kill me for acting like that. But, I chalk it up to the fact that I just never really know what sounds good when it comes to Italian food. I was dining with a friend this time, but I decided to fly solo on the decision-​making.
This I know:
A typical Italian restaurant will start you off with bread.
We were served some fresh baked bread, lightly encrusted with Parmesan. By the bread, was what I first thought to be just olive oil. After dipping the bread into it, and tasting it, I knew otherwise. It had a hint of fruitiness to it, which immediately led me to believe that my tastebuds must be off. I asked the waiter — who was also the owner, and a really nice guy, as well — what kind of olive oil it was. After noticing that — once explained to me – my brows were still raised, he brought over the bottle.
Arabesquina virgin-​pressed olive oil, it was, which contained a «fruity and fragrant varietal.» I’m no Chef Boyardee over here, but I think this should be a staple of every Italian restaurant.
This I know:
They have 5 different types of food you can choose from — Zuppa (Insalate), Antipasti (Small Plates), Panini (Flat Bread Sandwiches), Pasta/​Secondo (Pasta and Main Entrees), and Pizza (…which is Pizza).
My friend and I chose 3 dishes:
–Tazza di Casar Salad «(Hearts of romaine lettuce cups, with organic chicken, crostini and Sonama Parmesan cheese.»)
–Stromboli («Three different salami’s, prosciutto and fresh mozzarella baked in our pizza dough. Comes with tomato sauce and crostini.»)
–Sausage & Peppers Panini («Sauteed peppers & onions, housemade sausage, Fontana cheese, and basil aioli.»)
This I know:
Joe DiMaggio was an Italian baseball player, right? Well, I felt like «Joltin’ Joe» rounding the bases. I successfully got to first with the bread and Arabequina olive oil. I stole second base eating the Caesar Salad. I don’t eat Caesar-​style often, because it’s not a preference. But, I figured …“when in Rome,” right? Glad I chose this over the Roasted Caprese Salad, because… buon gusto!
The Stromboli was great. The salami didn’t taste like the Farmer John’s variety I was used to eating on a single guy’s budget. The mozarella was smooth and rich, but not overpowering. Lastly, the panini felt like a home run. A little salty for my taste, but the green pesto sauce they put on the plate (for dipping, rather than show, I presume) neutralized the saltiness. The saltiness of the Panini was the only minor quibble I had with the meal. But, according to my friend, Italian food is supposed to be a little on the salty side.
Oh il fratello!
The dessert may have been the home run hit of the night, however. We opted for the zeppole («Mini Italian doughnuts tossed in cinnamon/​sugar and powdered sugar»), as well as the toasted almond tira misu. Both tasty enough to have Al Capone rise from the dead and proclaim guilt to everything he’s ever done, just for the opportunity to try these — the tira misu, particularly.
So at the end of the road, Strada led me to a culinary lesson — Italian food isn’t half bad. While it may still never reach the depths of my taste buds, I do know that for «a fistful of dollars» this is a mighty good meal. One that Clint Eastwood and Fellini would enjoy.