Pitfire Artisan Pizza

Tasty pizza, no doubt. HOWEVER, for the size of the pizza it’s definitely a bit overpriced. I ordered take out for two pizzas and the total came out to be over $ 30. Mind you, that was for two 10″ pizzas. It hits hard on the pockets for sure.
Would I try this place again? Well to be honest with you, only if it’s free. LOL. A man can go broke buying food here and still end up starving. Again though, tasty pizza most definitely, but I won’t be opening my wallet here again simply because of the price point vs. quantity.

Had the chicken pasta… it was a bit dry and tasteless. I went nuts covering it with parmesan cheese just for some flavoring. The ice cream cookie dessert was nothing special, especially for $ 6. It’s a hard piece of cookie with a scoop of soft serve… I think if the cookie had been soft and warm it would’ve made a difference, but it was hard and cold. We got there at around 430 and the place was empty and easy to find an open seat. Sat there chatting until 7pm and as the night progressed, the music got louder and louder, to the point where we could not longer have a conversation. Nice place for families, very spacious and child friendly. there’s parking in the back but looks like it’d be hard to get a spot during dining hours. Servers were all attentive and friendly. But probably wouldn’t go back for the pasta, might go back to try the pizza.

Comparing Pitfire Artisan Pizza to Blaze, Pieology, and all the other low end build your own pizza joints is just so off-​base, it’s almost comical. Certainly, there’s something self-​gratifying about designing your own pizza, but the fact is Pitfire strives to hit a different target market than Blaze and Pieology. They serve soup, salads, pasta, and have a full bar, which puts it more in the class of The Luggage Room, Settebello, Mi Piace, and California Pizza Kitchen.
Actually, the food at Pitfire is actually pretty decent, In the 3 – 4 times that we’ve had dinner here, the pizza and pasta were all quite good. My favorite Pasadena pizza place, hands down, is the Luggage Room. But on those rare occasions, when the wait at the Luggage Room is too long, Pitfire is a suitable alternative if hunger satisfaction is the only goal.
Perhaps I’ve been lucky because I’m not quite understanding the lack of love for Pitfire’s food. The salads are good, the pasta is good, and the pizza’s are good. More often than not, we’re spending around $ 25-​$ 30 for dinner for two, not including alcohol, and the quality of food is perfectly fine at this price point.
But there’s a few caveats. I find the restaurant space to be strange and uninviting compared to the other Pitfires in L.A. county. The bar looks like an afterthought. It’s a square shaped bar. It’s great for eating sushi, but not for drinking. Great bars are long, where people can have conversations without being stared at by some strange person sitting directly across.
There’s all sorts of goofy objects hanging from the ceiling that lend nothing to the atmosphere. Being that there’s a bar here, the idea is to get to people to come and stay awhile, but more often than not, I just want to eat and leave, because there is nothing compelling me to stay. If it were me, I’d put a long bar somewhere against a wall, put in some booths, tone down the harsh lighting, and darken up the restaurant just a little to give it a better vibe.
There’s a huge outdoor patio at the front of the building. It’s very dog friendly which is a huge plus for us dog-​lovers. However, there’s been more than one occasion where the patio was filled with exhaust fumes from speeding motorists who think Arroyo Parkway is an extension of the Pasadena freeway. It’s not a great patio. Some glass partitions around the perimeter of the patio would certainly help.
Somebody dropped some major coinage to build this place, yet every time we’ve been here, it’s been a literal ghost town. Despite good food and a solid menu, I hope that it’s not bound for extinction, but for it to exist in a location which gets little foot traffic, Pitfire Pizza needs to assess this location and figure out what it’s going to take to fill the seats.
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Super average. Go the extra mile (literally) and go to the Blaze pizza off of Colorado. Better flavor and better prices.

There are a ton of pizza spots all over the Pasadena area that are just as great. And I might be biased because I live around the corner … but this place is great for all. Whether it’s a quick bite, date night or taking the kids out when you’re not feeling up for cooking.
Their pizza’s are thin crust with quality fresh ingredients. It’s an order at the bar and take a number kinda spot, but their staff is very attentive and you can order more through them while you’re already seated.
Plenty of parking and just across the street from the Goldline, so if you still wanted to hit up old town but not wait in line for all the restaurants there … this is a great starter spot.
Pro Tip: If you sit at the bar, you get full service.

Pizza is a little bit small, but taste ok, the bread is dry.
but overall is good

GREAT PIZZA! Mac and cheese and broccoli were excellent!
The food was out in a matter of minutes.
Service was perfect!
I would recommend this eatery to anyone.

The pizza was decent, but not great. Very dry, needed more sauce.
The service was horrible. Everyone was scattered, it took forever to order, the person was taking several orders from different people. The manager was scattered and asked if we wanted a box about 5 minutes into the meal. Get some new management and employees and MAYBE I will come back. MAYBE

Delicious delicious delicious. however you can definetley get a bigger pizza with more toppings for the money you’ll spend on the 4 slices you get here.
I would recommend dining in.
Fresh ingredients and fresh taste to anything you order.
56 $ on two pizzas and a pitcher of beer. 28 each for 4 slices and 2 beers. If they offered a salad or wings the price wouldn’t be bad.

I went there with my co-​workers for lunch during the week. For some reason I had assumed it was similar to a Blaze or Pizza Studio, where you go down the line and build your own. It’s actually an order at the counter sort of place. The pizza oven and pizza maker is in the front of the restaurant, so you can see them while they cook, which is nice. The décor was very nice and modern and the place was overall really clean and sleek. The space is really big and they have a nice patio as well. We went around 12:45pm and there weren’t too many people there.
I ended up ordering the Burata pizza (tomato sauce, fresh burata, caramelized onions, crushed hazelnuts, arugula, and pesto). The sauce was actually really good! It’s sweet and fresh, I really liked it. Their crust is also pretty good. Overall it’s a bit bready for a pizza, i prefer a thin crust. The price was a bit higher than a build your own location. I paid $ 11. My co workers also enjoyed theirs – they had the shrimp pizza and the sausage one.
I thought about building my own pizza, but the downside is you end up spend like $ 15. It starts at $ 8.50 for a regular cheese pizza. Each veggie or cheese topping was $ 1.50 and the meats were $ 2.50. That’s a pricy pizza! Also, I decided no arugula but after I ordered I realized I really wanted to substitute that for olives on top. I asked if he could add olives and the guy said oh it’s already gone through so I can’t change it. Mind you, the pizza maker was probably 4ft away from him and I literally asked before I had even signed my copy of the receipt so the order had just barely gone through.
This place is good, and I may come back to check out their happy hour (not sure what that entails) or to try their pastas but if I’m looking for a quick bite to eat for lunch I’d rather go to a build your own place that’s less expensive and more accommodating.

It’s comforting to know that no matter what side of town I find myself on, there is always a Pitfire Pizza nearby. This location is particularly good because of the easy parking and large dining area with outdoor patio. Pitfire is a casual, order and pay at the counter type joint, but the food quality rivals that of any sophisticated dining establishment.
You really can’t go wrong with anything at Pitfire. I’ve had pizza, salad and pasta and all have been solid. The ingredients are always fresh and of high quality. My favorite pizza is the greens, egg and ham: broccolini, over easy eggs and prosciutto are a classic combination and the perfect melding of decadent and fresh flavors and textures. The crust is medium thickness with a perfect chew, and I love the oven charred edges that have extra crunch. I love the salads which are heaping and served with home-​made dressing. And their spaghetti bolognese is some of the best I’ve ever had.
The have a great selection of beers, and for those days where sobriety takes precedence, their fresh squeezed lemonade is perfectly tart and refreshing. Prices may seem a little high for such a casual dining experience, but the quality of ingredients and the care that goes into preparing each dish justifies the price.

Didn’t feel like eating hospital food from the huntington so I took a stroll down to this place.
BIG SUR SHRIMP PIZZA
Basically…marinated shrimp, 4 cheese, roasted garlic, marinated tomato, parsley, red chili flake. Quite tasty. Nice place to sit outside on a beautiful Pasadena day and enjoy a hot tasty pie with an ice cold beer.

A little slow for dinner service. Surprised it only had 3.5 stars because the food was good. Had the folded chicken pesto pizza. The server recommended getting the folded instead of unfolded so I get a side salad. It came piping hot. The Hubs got the green eggs and ham. Pretty good as well.
Update: came back again because I thought they had good food. Not sure why it’s not busy of a place on a Saturday with a DJ playing. It got a good vibe and atmosphere. Had the big sur tonight and the chicken pesto again. Their house salad was delish. Service was friendly and had a great time

My friends and I were driving around Pasadena looking for some fancy, pretentious restaurant to try on Friday night. We were all pretty starving so I have no idea why we wanted to live like fancy folks and spend our Friday night at some pompous place.
Anyway, my friend who lives in Pasadena knew that if we weren’t fed soon there would be a car full of HANGRY people so she recommended one of her favorite spots… Pitfire Pizza!
This place literally hit. the. spot. I mean… it could not have gotten any better. The meals were satisfying and we even ordered a pitcher of sangria to please the «Friday Night» debauchery experience that we subconsciously were seeking.
Price is very reasonable for the quality AND quantity of food. There’s a bar inside the restaurant itself so you can enjoy a few drinks after your main course. Employees and staff are super friendly and service is efficient. Really can’t complain at all about this place.

I get it now! Even though it’s named, Pitfire Artisan Pizza, I much prefer to think of PItfire as my neighborhood Italian spot.
Rather than ordering all pizzas, our favorite meal combines one of their pastas, one pizza, one vegetable dish, and it’s the perfect amount of food for us. We’ve enjoyed all the pastas we’ve tried. Our favorite thus far has been the Chicken and Mushroom Cavatappi has tender chunks of chicken, wild mushrooms, a handful of slightly bitter arugula mixed into garlic cream sauce dressed cavatappi. Also good was the Farfalle with sausage and greens with a really fennelly pork sausage, sweet caramelized onions, garlic, cream and bowtie pasta. We tend to avoid red meat so the Spaghetti and Chicken Meatballs is a plus, with their big handformed meatballs that are solid. For pizzas, we still tend to favor the Sausage Party (a meatlover’s type concoction with crispy bacon and salumi, so good). We lean towards their fire roasted asparagus, that comes with crispy roasted tips and dressed with EVOO and lemon zest. With a couple of glasses of their lemonades (free refills!!), it’s a good meal.
We’ve really been liking it as a kid-​friendly dining spot. They have both high chairs and booster seats. Every time we’ve gone, there have been plenty of other families which makes the kid on kid distraction factor high. Also, the space has a lot of visual stimuli (overhead lights, hanging mobiles, clay dough for giveaways). It’s very open and loud as-​is with indie music playing so the sounds of people talking and kids squealing doesn’t really feel out of place.

The Service: Friendly & efficient. The food is served in less than 10 minutes!
The Food:
Pitfire Sausage — fennel sausage, tomato sauce, fontina, fresh mozzarella, marinated tomato and red onion. Freshly baked pizza. The dough is not too thick. Good texture. Perfect tomato sauce, good amount of sausage. Perfect portion for one person.
Farmers Market Plate — fire-​roasted asparagus, lemon, parmesan
grilled corn on the cob, tomato butter with ricotta, fire-​roasted cauliflower and mint flatbread. Wish the portion is a little bit bigger. Still hungry after finish the dish. It looks a lot of food on their menu description. But only 2 corn, asparagus, cauliflower and two pieces of flatbread. Corn is sweet, love it! Didn’t like the mint flatbread at all… some part is so crunchy, feel like eating cookies. Some part are so tough to chewy? Not sure if they are pita bread or pizza dough?

I don’t get why this is $ 3 more than Blaze and Pieology. It doesn’t even taste as good, but it’s worth 30% more?!
Sausage ($ 10.50)
There’s a set menu already, so I didn’t even get to build it myself. That’s the fun part at Blaze and Pieology. Anyways, the pizza was decent. Nothing really that special. The sausage was actually VERY good. I liked that enough. I just can’t get over the fact that it’s so much more expensive and you can’t build your own.
Not that impressed. I’m sorry.

I’ve been eating a lot of pizza & salad in the Pasadena area & was excited to try Pitfire. Like so many competitors, there is a build-​your-​own pizza option & a few popular options that you can order by name. However, unlike Blaze or PizzaRev, if you build your own pizza Pitfire charges per topping. I got a small size house salad with parmesan cheese shavings & balsamic dressing, which was great. I didn’t have to wait too long for my pizza, which I’d give a B-​. Good crust, but the sauce is kind of sweet. My server did check on me & refilled my iced tea. The space is really interesting with lots of natural light & a mix of booths, tables, stools & bar seating.
While the food is OK, what almost dragged this review in the 2-​star category was the price. One pizza, one house salad & iced tea came to a $ 21 lunch. I don’t mind spending $ 21 on lunch, but that means I could go to Houstons, Porto Alegre, Smitty’s or any number of fancy places. For comparison, the sausage pizza that I got at Pitfire was $ 12, whereas the build your own pizza at Blaze with toppings is about $ 7.

Being a frequent of the West-​side, I always heard and passed by Pitfire but assumed that it was yet another pizza spot. Ironically I was with a friend whom was craving pizza and I was not. Long behold we made a U-​Turn since Pitfire was fairly new to the Pasadena area, there I was stubbing in.
There is tons of parking in the back.
I hate walking into an establishment having to find out that I have to order food first, than sit. This is what it is like.
The atmosphere was nice since it is more modern with an industrial twist. I was surprised to learn that there was a bar which was cool. Can’t beat pizza and beer. Didn’t sit at the bar cause my friend claims she’s holy but she’s full of holy#%*!
I ordered a Calzone which was really good. The cheese was really rich and the bread was very soft. I had a piece of the pizza which was good, but you would have to love open wood fire pizza to love it. Also, make sure to order the lemonade cause it’s awesome.
Thankfully we were assisted by our really cool host Arlani while other servers were ehhh… thankfully she gave a lot of good recommendations for take out since I had to order food to take home. The Margherita and the Hand Chopped Salad is the items she claimed were really good, and in fact it was ! I am glad I took her word for it. Her attentiveness and knowledge of good food made my experience way better !
I will make sure to see her again.
Now I will consider dropping by the Venice location since this place left a good taste in my mouth.

Another pizza joint opened in Pasadena. According to my husband the sausage pizza was just so so. The crust was slightly brunt and it looked oily. My review is based solely on the cauliflower, broccolini and customer service. Highly recommend both the cauliflower and broccolini. The flavors are amazing. I would give it 5 stars for those two items.
Customer service here is mediocre. We asked for water with out meal and it took forever for them to bring over two cups and a glass bottle of water. The place was not busy when we went for lunch so I am not sure why service is slow.
The place is still new and the décor is simple but nice. A nice place to hang out with friends. I would go back for those two vegetable items.
There is a small parking lot on the back and a few spaces along the side. They take credit card.