Madra Deli Wines & Spirits

I love this place. I’ve been coming here for 20 years, and I’ll keep coming as long as Sam is willing to stay in business. Just make sure that you aren’t too nice, he needs to work for his money. But seriously, I was short enough that I couldn’t see over the counter when I started buying Starburst candy on my way home from Hearst, and 20 years later I’m still eating his pizza. And that isn’t just out of loyalty, if you want a good thin-​crust pizza this is the spot.
The employees make this place what it is. Sam has my business as long as his doors are open.

Decent pizza with red sauce.
Gyros is garbage. Greasy, old, flavorless, overcooked meat with rubbery lettuce and canned black olives.
Chips were expired and stale.
White pizza was a major disappointment! Garlic is just a pile of nasty powder. Nothing fresh for $ 24.00? Ridiculous!
Oscar was friendly, polite and hardworking. This is a neighborhood joint which likely survives because there is plenty of alcohol and little food competition.

Lately, I’ve been trying the pizza shops around the College Area. And Honestly, the pizzas here are the best. The dough and crust isn’t too stiff; it’s nice and chewy, but also light and thin. It’s the perfect width. The cheese and sauce are great as well.

Stopped in here for lunch. They do good sandwiches here. Service is pretty quick. I have not had their pizza yet. Place does not have a huge selection of alcohol items. They have the usual core items like vodka and jack daniels. Small selection of craft beer. Good selection of chips, some I have not seen around yet. They have some tables outside to eat. Overall a nice place for lunch.

BEST PIZZA EVER.
The pizzas are huge and the crust is perfect.
I really can’t order pizza from anywhere else.
I really want to try their sandwiches next.

A Del Cerro Institution. Going here to me is like going to see friends. There are only three full time employees Sam the owner, Oscar and Enrique. I mostly go here to buy Lotto and always feel welcome. Pizza is good and freshly made to order. They have some very competitive prices on 22oz. Craft Brews. Convenient, friendly and local! Our neighborhood store!

3 stars for convenience store pizza; 1 star otherwise. I was swayed by other reviews to try this place, but this is not like NY-​style pizza if you know the real thing. NY pizza should be thin enough that you have to fold a slice for it to remain structurally sound. This wasn’t that, I am sorry to say. I went to grad school out east and did not find this passable.

Best pizza in San Diego! The Madra sandwich is our favorite as well as the gyros! Sam the owner is awesome! Hidden gem in San Diego!

Best pizza in San Diego, great sandwiches, and owner is a nice guy to boot!

The best kept secret in San Diego. Even on the internet, they’re not getting the respect they deserve.
This is my favorite pizza place, no ambiance but great pizza. Pick up a Giant Size Pizza and feed the whole family. Buy by the slice option too, if you just want to stop in for lunch.
It’s nestled in a nondescript, unimpressive, strip mall utterly devoid of character. And that’s how it looks inside: your typical corner liquor store, a place to buy gum or god forbid buy overpriced liquor.
But the pizza, it’s fantastic. Cheese, sauce, dough, crust, all perfect for me. And consistent. I’ve never had a bad pie there. I don’t think the style of pizza matches up well with a lot of toppings, but I’ve always judged a pizza place on its pizza, not its toppings.
It’s not a restaurant, just a place you pick up pizza and go. But you’ll be glad you did. Madra Deli is the best pizza in San Diego. I’ve tried them all.

I reserved judgement until after I had sampled both their pizza and deli sandwiches. Both are excellent! Their pizzas are fresh, and they are made NY style. It is pretty darn close to being a slice right out of a corner NYC pizza joint. I grew up in San Diego, so I am not a NYC pizza connoisseur… but the last few times I was in NYC trolling around after midnight picking up slices of pie, I thought to myself «the only thing close to this back home is Madra.»
Instead of just blowing my load on a review right away, I decided to wait until I had a hankering for a deli sandwich so that I could decide if this place was a 4 or a 5. I spouted off my order so quickly that I assumed it would need to be repeated… but he repeated it perfectly and my sandwich was made perfectly. I got the club sandwich. The tomatoes and lettuce were extremely fresh, the meat and cheese were delicious, and it was just an overall excellent sandwich. Toasted bread made it really pop.
I guess the best part for me is they are right around the corner from my house, so Ic an call it in, start walking, and its ready when I get there.
Will I be back? Yup. It’s only a half a block away.

Sam makes an exceptional double decker club sandwich that will fill you up for a long time. Sometimes for the day! Will be coming here for years to come!

Pizza is okay
Very much overpriced!
ordered a large veggie, a greek salad, and a white pizza and the total was 55 bucks! A rip off if you ask me.
They sell slices for 2.60 for just cheese… places much better (bronx, amore, luigis) sell slices for 2.50 (any toppings you want).
The pizza I would give a 3 on a 5 scale… they didnt have parmesan packets and the mushrooms were canned.
The white pizza was better which is why I give it a 3 but overall this place is not worth the price.
I think the large veggie was 28 bucks! The equivalent elsewhere is about 8 bucks cheaper
Also was kind of grossed out to watch the cook crumble the feta cheese in his hands without gloves or anything…

Pretty good for such a convenient location if you live in the neighborhood. Typical liquor store pricing — kinda expensive for their stuff (the pizza is the exception).
Pros:
Pizza was great — huge slice on a thin crust. Tasty!
Outdoor seating (in the parking lot — very basic — but shade provided)
Cons:
Starbucks doubleshot I bought out of the case was expired — realized it later. Tasted fine though — but careful of the dates — perhaps they aren’t checking themselves.
Notes:
I would take the pizza by the slice without the toppings. It’s already made and reheats nicely. However, toppings don’t really integrate into the pizza that well. The pineapple topping I tried I ended up pushing off the slice because it had that weird pineapple-​sitting-​in-​an-​open-​can for a day smell (metallic). The mushroom topping I tried was canned slice mushrooms and they were kinda lame. Just stick with the good part — the pizza slice. I will say that if you aren’t picky about the topping quality, they were VERY generous with the amount of topping they put on — tons of it.
Also, they enforce a $ 10 credit card minimum.

You wouldn’t think that a liquor store blows dedicated pizza parlors out of the water, but Madra Liquor does!!!
Plenty of beers on tap, hot gyros, sandwiches… Delicious 5-​star pizza!

Really good New York style pizza, good value.
Take-​out or eat outside at their picnic table in the parking lot (not pretty). Take-​out works!

About 3 ½ stars for the pizza, same as Tivoli. I liked the crust better at Madra (thin, slightly crispy on the bottom), but the sauce better at Tivoli.
… and in fact no one got horrible gas after eating the pizza (see previous review below).

And another contender arises!!!
This is the best pizza in SD. Hands down!!!
I just discovered this place last week for the first time, and was shocked!
I thought,.wow! Im sure when I get home, there will be 40 Unilocal about this place,.however, as you can see I was wrong. This place rocks!
If you like east coast style pizza,.this is the place to go!
Watch out Bronx pizza!

Friendly neighborhood deli and top-​3 pizza joints in town. Ginormous slices. If you order the GIANT pizza it is less than $ 25 and serves so many people. Each slice is huge! They also do great sandwiches custom made to order.
Sam is the owner, nice guy, has owned it for decades — tell him hello!

I go here for the pizza. The slices are enormous (like the size of my forearm) and delicious and cost about three bucks. Throw in an 99 cent Arizona Iced Tea and you’ve got yourself a great meal for less one five dollar bill. It’s convenient, too, because you can order whatever combination of toppings you want and it will be ready in four minutes (more or less) because he prepares pizzas with only cheese, then adds the toppings and finishes the cooking when you order. If you are ever in the area or if you go to SDSU you should definitely check this place out for lunch.
AV