As pizza’s next wave takes hold, a new challenger to Orange County dining landscape emerges: Slice House by noted pizzaiolo Tony Gemignani.
Slice House by Tony Gemignani, a fast-casual spinoff of Gemignani’s acclaimed Tony’s Pizza Napoletana found in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, will open in winter 2024 inside the newly refurbished Fountain Valley Plaza shopping center on Brookhurst Street.
Fountain Valley’s upcoming Slice House, franchised by Dean Stehlik, will feature a menu of Gemignani’s pies in New York (hand-tossed, thin crust pizza), Sicilian (thick, focaccia-like, rectangular), Grandma (thin, rectangular), and Detroit-style (rectangular with a thick, crisp, chewy crust) iterations. Pizzas will be available by the slice or whole pies. Gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian options will also be available for those with dietary restrictions.
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Menu items include the Burrata Queen (sliced Avorio mozzarella, pesto, burrata, ricotta, garlic, hot pepper oil, Maldon salt), the Cal Italia (a no-tomato-sauce pie featuring asiago, gorgonzola, fig preserve, prosciutto di parma and balsamic reduction) and the Wise Guy (tomato sauce, mozzarella, sweet and spicy Italian sausage, pepperoni, ricotta, hot pepper oil and green onion), to name a few.
Slice House also offers wings, garlic bread, arugula and bacon salad, pastas, a meatball sub, chocolate chip cookies and spumoni. Beer and wine are also on tap.
The new eatery will have indoor seating for 65 people and patio seating for 35. It will be open seven days a week from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m.
A staple inside San Francisco’s pizza scene, Gemignani, who founded Slice House in 2022, comes with accolades to spare: The Fremont native is a world pizza champion, four-time Guinness Book of World Record holder (his titles include “world’s longest pizza,” “most people tossing pizza dough at once,” “largest pizza base spun in two minutes,” and “most consecutive pizza rolls across the shoulder in 30 seconds”) and winner of “The Food Network Challenge.”
Slice House has 30 restaurants and stadium kiosks across California, Nevada and Idaho.
According to the company website, Slice House has plans to expand its footprint in Orange County with in-development locations aimed for Anaheim, Dana Point, Irvine, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach, Orange and Huntington Beach. Gemignani also plans to open a handful of locations in the San Diego area.