I’ll start this feature with a gesture of gratitude that the former Pandora’s Pizza spot on Coast Highway and Leucadia Boulevard is back to being what it was meant to be, a pizza joint at heart with a personality all its own.
At the new Johnny Rad’z Pizza, that personality celebrates the skate culture in Encinitas via our own Mike McGill, owner of McGill’s Skate Shop, inventor of the “McTwist” aerial trick that established him as one of skateboarding’s pioneers, and part of the iconic Bones Brigade team, alongside Tony Hawk, Lance Mountain, Rodney Mullen and others.
Coincidentally, and as you all know by now, Tony Hawk has his own skate-focused joint across the street at Chick & Hawk that has been in the works for the past few years — more on that venture coming soon.
And while my skateboarding adventures growing up in Royal Oak, Michigan, starting with metal-wheel 15 Toes boards, never advanced beyond cruising mellow parking structures, we did follow the adventures of the McGills and Hawks of the world from afar as they were all around our age.
Those skateboard sessions also laid the foundation for our surfing obsession, beginning with the Great Lakes and eventually leading us to Encinitas. So yeah, there is a very loose connection to this scene, and I’m stoked to have two of its legends owning restaurants I can walk to.
In the true outsider nature with an inside joke of the old school skateboard tribe, the name Johnny Rad’z comes from Johnny Rad, the fictional character from the 1987 Stacy Peralta skateboard movie “The Search for Animal Chin.” This cult classic follows the members of the Bones Brigade as they search for the legendary first skateboarder, Animal Chin.
McGill plays on that with Johnny Rad, now a “radical restaurateur” and partner in his new venture. Follow that? If not, I delve a bit deeper into the backstory and how the restaurant came to be in my Lick the Plate radio interview with McGill, available at https://www.lick-the-plate.com.
I should also note that McGill spent his first 10 years living in Brooklyn, New York, where his Italian grandmother and Irish grandfather owned an Irish bar with a kitchen in the back. His grandma cooked up pizzas and other Italian fare, so an appreciation for a solid pizza was ingrained in him at an early age.
The revamped space is part homage to Encinitas skate culture, the Bones Brigade, and features delicious, solid sourdough crust pizza, hoagies, and salads. As with the recently opened New Wave Bagel down the street, the sourdough trend is becoming firmly established in coastal Encinitas.
And honestly, I’m all for it. If there can be any healthy element to scarfing down a pizza, hoagie, or hero (basically the same thing, depending on where you are from), I am totally on board with that.
And speaking of heroes, the meatball version at Johnny Rad’z has made it to the top of my local list. It is loaded with a bounty of meatballs, mozzarella, provolone, red peppers, basil and oil on a sourdough roll. They also accommodated my request for extra cheese and well done, no problem. It passed my “as good hot as it is cold the next day” test. Other heroes include a Brooklyn Brisket, an Italian Sub and a Caprese.
And while there is no shortage of pizza joints in Encinitas, I really think Johnny Rad’z is on to something with their sourdough crust. I sampled most of their offerings via slices, and they were all spot on; again, they passed that “next day cold” test as well. The slices ate like a New York City slice, pliable and easy to fold down the middle for that epic bite, a perfect slice can provide.
The space itself feels much more like Pandora’s than the previous upscale Osteria Tavi, which never really caught on. There is plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, including sizable, comfortable outdoor booths that feel like you are in a friend’s backyard, high tops, and indoor seating at tables. The sizable bar serves beer and wine.
Its location provides a plethora of visual stimulation ranging from the cars, motorcycles, e-bikes and bicycles stopped at the intersection of Coast Highway and Leucadia Boulevard, passing Coaster and Amtrak trains, and a steady flow of folks flowing by on the sidewalk exploring the now foodie-centric offerings in Leucadia.
And I think it’s safe to say that this once funky stretch of Encinitas has really come into its own as a foodie destination. And along with some of the trendier new offerings, it’s nice to see places like Johnny Rad’z emerge and pay tribute to the local culture with a style all their own, while staying true to the original, local vibe that Pandora created initially.
And if you are not familiar with the skate culture history in the region, I’d suggest checking out “The Search for Animal Chin” on YouTube to get a feel for it and popping into McGill’s Skate Shop in Encinitas to support this independent retailer.
You can find Johnny Rad’z Pizza at 828 North Coast Highway 101 and on Instagram. There is also parking in a garage accessible through the alley behind the restaurant, along Coast Highway, and across the street next to the railroad tracks.
