Folks Pizzeria, Costa Mesa, CA, USA

 

https://folkspizzeria.com/

Before we jump right in, I need to give some extra/bonus points for the mushroom wallpaper in the restroom.  Super cool.

The OC's most popular pizza spot.

OK, I'm not sure that this is accurate, but after reading a ton of reviews/stories about this place I think that it kinda is, it's also a claim that's backed up by how fricken busy they are.

Naturally leavened house-made dough is the key here.  As you'll see, it looks thick, and it is around the rim (cornicione for my Italian-ish friends out there) but that thickness is mostly air.  Crunchy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside.  

Another nice touch here is that all of their wines are natural, and they have an entire section that is orange.  Love it, it's something that we came across when we were in Montreal recently.  Maybe there'll be a story about that in the future, for now, back to the pie.

I wasn't feeling a salad, even though their Cesar looked great, so I decided to start with the wings, a dozen please.

They are deep fired to give a little crunch and then the coating tastes a lot like orange chicken, but with a bite to it, mildly spicy.

As you can see I hated them....

Pow!

Salame Calabrese

OK, again, looks thick and filling, but it couldn't be more not.

Super thin in the center of the pie (did I say crispy???  Madonna!  The crunch!  And not just crunch from the bottom, anywhere that isn't touching sauce or toppings is crunchy, and inside of the crunch is a light pillow of fluffy dough, expanding with caverns and tunnels of air.  SUPER light.

Fennel Sausage (sausage made in house)

The dough is bulk fermented for a couple of days then balled and used that day (more or less).  Cooked at 650F on a deck oven, which is great and a lot less elements to manage.  And really, the focus is the pizza and not the oven, and pizzas don't know if the heat comes from wood  or coal, or an electric oven, etc...  Sure, coal is more dry, etc... but temp is temp, and again, let's keep the eye on the pizza. 

Love it.

Did I say crispy???

Literally even the last slice that I enjoyed (and I enjoyed a lot) was still standing at attention.  

Amaze-balls.

And you'll notice that I'm not folding the slice in half to make it stand straight (which is a cheat for sure, I immediately swipe right when I see someone do that on TikTok, super lame).  

So no, no tricks, just awesome.

Geeze Louise

I just had this and am super stuffed, and I already want more.

100% destination pizza

Travel Pie

Perfection

This next photo really shows who these folks are.  Serving a pie that looks like this says:

 "We are gonna do our thing and we give zero shits if you don't like it"

It rings of New Haven style honestly, but more natural and less conforming, if that makes sense.  

Yes, this is the West Coast version of the New Haven style, but it really needs it's own name.   I'm on it.

Is this my favorite pizza?  I really think so.  

It's also the newest so it's easy to fall for it. But is that true?  

I mean, what would I want to be different??  Honestly, nothing, zero, it's perfect.

DVA