By Kathleen Furore
Is it possible to make Mexican-inspired pizzas the mainstay of a restaurant menu? And if you do, will customers actually come?
Those were the questions Pizzeria El Jefe: Mexican Pizza Revolution in Chula Vista, California faced as the restaurant prepared to debut on Main Street in Chula Vista, California in 2019.
The answer to both questions turned out to be “Yes!”
Husband-and-wife team Ana Concepcion de la Rocha Tapia and Jose Rios have grown the concept — known for its wide-ranging pizza menu and Mexican-inspired wings — from a small, struggling startup into a popular family-run business that relocated to a larger location in a nearby strip mall in December 2024.
“Jose and Anna built something here that belongs to this neighborhood, a family business rooted in Mexican culinary tradition, run by people who show up every day and put their names on every pie that goes out the door,” a story in Chula Vista Living reported.
BUILDING THE PIES
La Vaca Flaca Birria Pizza with Consomme
The pizzas that have become a fixture in Chula Vista are far more than tortillas layered with meat and cheese — the “recipe” most people picture when they hear “Mexican pizza.” That picture is a legacy of the item Taco Bell debuted with much fanfare in the 1980s: two crisp tortillas stacked with seasoned beef, beans, cheese, and toppings.
At Pizzeria El Jefe, fresh ingredients and house-made crusts are the cornerstones of each pie.
“Everything is made by hand — we make our own flour dough, and nothing is store-bought,” the manager, Diego, stresses.
Three of the pies are customer favorites, he says.
Me Gustan Tus Piñas!
La Vaca Flaca — house-made dough topped with traditional Mexican birria, diced onion, fresh radish and cilantro, and served with consommé on the side.
Mar y Tierra — a surf-and-turf pie built on the proprietary dough, layered with sautéed shrimp and carne asada, finished with avocado, tomato, onion, jalapeño and mayo-chipotle sauce.
Me Gustan Tus Piñas — the restaurant’s made-from-scratch dough piled high with adobada pork, freshly diced pineapple, thinly sliced red onion, jalapeños, cilantro and house-made Frida poblana sauce.
“MEXICAN-STYLE” PIZZA DEFINED
So, what exactly makes a pizza a Mexican pie? According to information from the California Milk Advisory Board, the ingredients fall into three categories:
The meat. Chorizo is an obvious topping choice; it is widely recognized as a Latin product and delivers a spicy-but-not-too-spicy flavor that most customers recognize. But while it tops many Mexican pizzas, it shouldn’t be the only (or even necessarily the primary) option you offer your customers. As Pizzeria El Jefe has proven, meats like birria, carne asada and adobada pork turn basic Mexican pizzas into culinary explorations of regional fare.
The cheese. Replacing mozzarella — the ubiquitous pizza cheese — with any of several Hispanic quesos will be a clear signal your pizza has moved beyond the Italian realm. According to the California Milk Advisory Board, Oaxaca cheese offers a nearly identical melt with a distinctly Mexican identity. Cotija and queso fresco also are frequently used, layered in for texture and a sharper, saltier finish.
The toppings and sauces. Think common taco and burrito ingredients repurposed on a pizza — black beans, corn, jalapeños, salsa, chili powder, and mole, for example.
The good news is that you likely have everything you need on hand to create at least one or two Mexican pizzas — maybe as LTOs to test the concept (they’re ideal options for delivery orders, too).
Click here to read the recipe for the Calabacitas Con Puerco Pizza topped made with Real California Queso Oaxaca and Real California Queso Fresco.
Sidebar: Creative Pizzas in the Heart of Mexico
At Ix’im Pizza in Azcapotzalco, a borough of Mexico City, the menu is designed for customers who crave Mexican flavors but want to enjoy them in a whole new way. They can do just that at this popular pizzeria where favorite Mexican dishes are transformed into artisanal pizzas made with a blue corn and wheat crust.
- Among the topping choices:
- Buttered esquites
- Suadero (slow-cooked beef )
- Carne al pastor
- Cochinita pibil
- Chapulines (grasshoppers)
- Huitlacoche (corn fungus)
Click here to go to the next article, Microgreens: SMALL GREENS, BIG FLAVOR