Santino's Pizza, Ventura

I love the old school Italian pizzerias, with the red checked table clothes and the Chianti bottle candle holders that you can sometimes find in the older parts of LA. You know, like what Buca di Beppo wants to be but isn't quite. Ventura has a couple of old Italian restaurants, like Ferraro's and the Spaghetti Factory, (both of which I'll get to in another post) but yesterday we headed out to Santinos. A 30 year old family run pizzeria located next to Ventura college, we went because of the "Family Special," a large, one topping pizza with four small salads, all for $25.95, but discovered that the special isn't offered Friday or Saturday. We ordered that anyway, for the additional $5 or so dollars. They have a fresh salad bar, and while we ate that we could see the pizza chef twirling the dough. He didn't throw it in the air, which is what I was waiting for, and as far as I'm concerned, the mark of a good pizza maker. Still, he did spin the pizza with some skill.

We went with the white topping, which I found to taste like a garlicy ranch dressing, and with the very pleasant wait staff and quick order-to-table time, it was a good family pizza night. I think the best pizza in town is still Toppers, but this was good, fresh and fast. The kids liked it, so we'd go back again.

There's also a bar that serves the full restaurant menu, a banquet room (where my daughter had her AYSO banquet last year) and a small game room. Would I drive out of my way for it? No. If it was suggested, would I go? Yes.