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Hotspots - Mission Pizza & Pub | Fremont
San Jose Mercury News - Sunday, November 26, 2006
by Kim Boatman and Matt Nauman
The A's aren't coming to Fremont for another few years, but it's never too
early to start checking out the local hangouts. Our favorite? Mission Pizza
& Pub on Washington Boulevard. Despite its strip-mall location, this place
wins the Triple Crown for its pizza, its beer and its ambience.
THE SCENE: It seems as if just about
everybody who lives in the Mission San Jose area of Fremont winds up at
Mission Pizza one time or another, and owner Phil Willis knows a good number
of them by name.
They come for pizzas with near-perfect crusts, both soft and crispy, and
fresh, generously applied ingredients. Combinations are both creative --
peanut sauce and shrimp -- and traditional. While area rec teams flock to
Mission Pizza for team parties and teenagers hang out at the tables outside,
you'll find dads hoisting glasses of Young's Double Chocolate Stout from
England, Delirium Tremens from Belgium and Rogue's Dry Hop Red from Oregon
-- some of the 32 beers on tap.
There's live music, often bluegrass, on Fridays and Saturdays. And the walls
are enough to keep diners entertained on other nights. Every single space --
yes, even the bathroom walls -- is covered. Hundreds of beer bottles fill
row after artistic row. (1,600 of 'em, the menu says.) Beer signs, beer
taps, beer clocks, well, you get the idea. But the owner, Phil of Phil's
Combo fame, is a music lover. That's why the decor also includes guitars,
mandolins and other musical instruments.
DETAILS: Mission Pizza serves lunch and
dinner. Parking can be tricky, as the strip mall has a couple of other
restaurants plus a popular music store that offers lessons.
TIPS: Visit
www.missionpizza.com and print out
coupons. Savvy locals know that Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays are double
coupon days.
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