Learn How Lover’s Deli Uses ‘Hispanic flavors’ on Its Pizzas in California’s Central Valley

Inspired by classic mom-and-pop shops  portrayed on screen, Lover’s Deli was created to look like it’s always been there, says co-owner Eli Torres. He credits the whole team at Lover’s Deli for its success. “Starting at the top with Chef Daniel Alvarez – he’s the pizza sensei around these parts. He keeps the Lover’s Deli heart pumping for sure. As well as our our core crew, who’s been with us since the beginning. Daniel competed at the Pizza Expo in Las Vegas for the first time this past March, and we were all proud to see him place send in the Pan (Division).” One of only a few slice shops in the area, Lover’s serves up pan-style pizza.

“Our house style is a Grandma-style pan pizza,” he continues. “You’ll see that style in our slice case daily and is one of our favorites. When we first started out in early 2024, our main focus was definitely Sicilian style all the way. We were obsessed with the fluffed up jumbo slice and didn’t think there would ever be another style that could take our heart. Then, enter the Detroit style. We ran that style pizza as a fun special called Slim Shady (a Detroit-style vodka and pepperoni slice) – and it became such a local favorite that it is now a recurring slice style. This past month, we also started running personal-size French bread pizzas (Frenchies), which we are excited to continue to play around with and do some more specials for that style.”

“We really wanted to incorporate Hispanic flavors that we grew up with in the Central Valley into our food. Making sure to highlight ingredients like chorizo sausage, cotija cheese and cilantro – or, as we call it, ‘West Coast Basil’ – into our specials. The most notable example is our Cilantro Pesto that is featured on a few of our pizzas, as well as our most popular sandwich called the Cheech & Chong. We also use it to make our CPR sauce (Cilantro Pesto Ranch) that is always in high demand at the shop. All of our sandwiches and pizza creations are named and inspired by different aspects of pop-culture, movies, TV and music. It always makes it fun when we get to be creative with concepts and names for new menu items.”

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