2 locations in the Santa Clarita Valley California

You will receive 5 - $10 Certificates for $25! WHAT A DEAL!

Locations:

25343 Wayne Mills Place
Valencia, CA 91355
Phone: 661-775-2777

23874 Copper Hill Drive
Valencia, CA 91355
Phone: 661-287-3131

"Fired Up for Red Brick: Two locations in the SCV offer pizza beyond the ordinary - and available in adventurous flavors"

By Michelle Sathe, Signal Senior Staff Writer

Honestly, pizza doesn't really ring my chimes. Dough, tomato sauce, cheese...yawn. Usually, I just eat the cheesy, saucy part and leave the soppy crust behind.

I might have to start changing my tune after trying the gourmet pies at Red Brick Pizza, a chain that rightfully claims "beyond ordinary pizza."

There are two Red Brick locations in the Santa Clarita Valley - on Copper Hill Drive in Saugus and Wayne Mills Place in Valencia - owned by local businessmen and friends since kindergarten Eddie Kaladjikian, Hrair Bebekian, and Karim Merzian.

"We wanted to do something close to home," Kaladjikian said. "My friend had opened a Red Brick Pizza in Moorpark. The food was really good, the atmosphere was really cool, it just had a little bit of everything."

Walking in and seeing the flames rage in their pizza oven in the open kitchen was the first good sign.

"Our ovens make the pizza nice and crispy, like it's made on good bread. It's just a better pizza all the way around," Kaladjikian said.

The extensive menu was the second: There's bacon cheeseburger pizza, Greek pizza, Thai pizza, and more than a dozen other "Gourmet Favorites" to choose from, all laid out on a base of hand-made, olive-oil infused dough.

A smoky tang permeates the delicious BBQ Chicken Pizza ($7.45 - $17.75), loaded with tender marinated chunks and fresh mushrooms, red onions and cilantro. The crust is perfect - thin, crispy, so good I ate the pillowy ends, too. It's a best seller and rightfully so.

Garlic hits your senses before the first bite of the Roasted Garlic Chicken Pizza ($7.85 - $18.50), featuring a decadent white sauce, crunchy bits of red bell pepper and red onions, mushrooms and savory notes from a sprinkling of bacon, topped with fresh tomato slices and a dusting of Parmesan. Yum...I mean, how can you go wrong with bacon, garlic and cheese?

Red Brick Pizza's vibe is modern - graphic tile mosaics on the wall, vibrant shades of red, orange and yellow throughout, large, comfy leather booths. Each table has its own small, flat-screen TV and remote control with access to more than 100 channels.

"The kids like the TVs and love pizza, the parents like that its good food and that we have beer and wine," Kaladjikian said. "Some people come here just for the salads."

All of Red Brick Pizza's salads are chopped, which is a blessing to people, like me, who fear how to elegantly consume the huge pieces of lettuce that some restaurants serve. Five salads (Caesar, Green, Chinese Chicken, Greek and Italian - $3.25 - $8.99) are menu standbys; a special daily chopped salad is also on offer.

Fresh is the keyword here. The small Chopped Italian ($4.15) was generously portioned and loaded with crisp romaine, tomato and red bell peppers, pungent salami, piquant bits of artichoke hearts, pitted kalamata olives and pepperoncinis, and crunchy, buttery croutons made on the premises, all cloaked in Red Brick Pizza's zesty house vinaigrette.

The oddly-named yet very tasty Fhazani sandwich ($6.95) is another fire-roasted winner - basically, a salad wrap encased in golden brown crust and filled with vegetables, your choice of meat from the toppings list, or available in signature flavors: Club, Ham & Cheese, BBQ Chicken, and Italian.

With molten cheese at its core and luscious ranch dressing throughout the Club, which is layered with ham, chicken, bacon, red onions and chilled greens, it's a crispy, crunchy, creamy cacophony of flavors and textures.

Right now, the Santa Clarita Valley Red Brick Pizzas are offering any Fhazani for $5, as well as four everyday lunch specials ranging from $4.50 to $6.99 and take out deals of two large one-topping pizzas for $19.99 or two large gourmet pizzas for $26.99.

"That's a good price. They're usually $17.99 each, so it's about 25 percent off," Kaladjikian said of the latter. "We know everyone's on a budget right now."

Still, you might want to leave a little room in your budget and appetite. Red Brick Pizza has a dozen gelatos or Italian-style ice creams ($2.75 - $4.75) to choose from, including a rich, delicate Nutella flavor redolent of hazelnuts.