Scoreboard Pizzeria – Stone oven-baked pizza and craft beers!

“Eat More Pizza!” That’s Scoreboard Pizzeria’s slogan and the Valdez family is working hard to see that Fallbrook residents take their advice. Open since March 13, it’s a story of two Fallbrook High grads returning to offer something special to the community – something they felt was missing: A sports-themed pizza restaurant.

Raymond Valdez and Matty Napier had played football together at Fallbrook High, then after graduating, they took off to separate American coasts. Raymond attended the University of Hawaii where he graduated with a degree in Marine Biology and Matty went to Baltimore to be with family. The two returned to Fallbrook and decided to open the business with help from Raymond’s parents, Ray and Lynn Valdez. Now it is truly a family business with the Valdez’s daughter, Maria, who just graduated from Fresno State, joining the group.

Three months before the establishment was opened Ray, Lynn and Raymond, with help from one of Ray’s friends, remodeled the interior. Now it is new, sparkling, and ready for action.

Raymond has learned a lot about running a restaurant from his uncle, who owns Fidel’s restaurant in Solana Beach. “He taught me about food quality. We use nothing but fresh products here – the only thing that comes in a can is the olives and the pineapple,” he noted.

Twelve different beers are on tap, and directly connected to the refrigerator, so they are extremely cold. Only glass vessels are used to serve the beer. The craft beers are rotated, but they keep a base of popular brands.

There is a lot to tell you about this new pizzeria, and some of the highlights follow:

• Scoreboard uses fresh meat from Major Market

• Pizza is cooked in a “seasoned” stone oven

• Nothing is frozen – they don’t even own a freezer

• Everything is prepared when ordered

• Nothing is deep-fried

• They only feature Fallbrook wines

Two pizza-by-the-slice deals are creating a stir. For $5.50, diners are served two slices of pizza and one soft drink. For $8.50 they can enjoy a beer or glass of wine plus two slices of pizza. (Pizza-by-the-slice is cooked until 4 p.m.)

Matty makes the dough fresh every day; and you might even catch him adeptly tossing it into the air – a skill he learned while working in Baltimore. From that pizza dough, Matty forms a thin crust, but thin is not bad, it just means that you can taste more of the meat and cheese. The toppings vary – from traditional pepperoni to some wildly creative pizzas. Their pizza repertoire is too vast to list, but here are a few sneak peeks.

The “Chef’s Special” is piled high with ricotta cheese, mushrooms, pepperoni, cheese and lots of spinach. It has a great flavor. The “Carnitas” pizza is packed with carnitas, jalapeños, and cilantro. “Olive Oil” is a pizza made with olive oil, tomatoes, jalapeños, garlic, and basil, but no sauce and no cheese. Perfect for the vegetarian in your family!

Lynn makes the sandwiches and salads, but she also cooks the Italian meatballs for the meatball sandwich – a skill she learned from her father who was “a great meatball maker,” according to Raymond.

Seven large screen televisions are always tuned to a sports channel. All the TVs are hooked up separately, so they can all play the same channel, or different channels, according to preference.

“You can sit down and enjoy pizza, enjoy TV – the kids can go crazy a little bit and play arcade games,” Raymond said, “we are one of the only restaurants that is open late – we are open until ten offering good food – good service and cold, cold beer.”

Visit Scoreboard Pizzeria in the Albertson’s shopping center at 1125 S. Mission Rd. Telephone number is: (760) 728-9997. Take-out is available.