Bottom Line: The Chorizo Pizza from Black Laboratory Brewing may not set your mouth on fire, but it has plenty of spice and a perfect blending of flavors.
It has become common these days for a brewery to offer up a food menu to pair with their craft beers. And while brewing may be their main passion, I am finding that many of these establishments know how to produce first-rate eats that go quite nicely with what they are pouring from the taps. Case in point: Black Laboratory Brewing which is just east of downtown San Antonio. I stopped by there recently to sample their beer, and their food menu was certainly tempting as well. After perusing through the options, their Chorizo Pizza looked like it just might hit the spot.
For those who may not be familiar with chorizo (maybe because they have been living under a rock?), it is a spicy sausage often made from pork. In Europe, it is usually cured or smoked and is most often associated with Spanish cuisine. Mexican chorizo, which is what we typically encounter in Texas, is made fresh with ground pork and a lot of spices, particularly paprika. It is spicy but not scalding, and while it is mostly served with breakfast it can kick up many types of dishes.
The Chorizo Pizza from Black Laboratory includes the following: salsa verde, mozzarella, red onion, roasted corn, chorizo, and cilantro on a twelve-inch round of hand-made, thin-crust pizza dough. If your mouth is not watering from that description, you may want to check your pulse!
The crust is thin and not too crispy, but it has a nice pillowy texture with a hint of sweetness. The chorizo is the star of this pie with a bit of smokiness and plenty of spicinesses. Not that it is super-hot, though, because this is more about the seasonings than the burn. The cheese offers a creamy counterbalance to spice with just a little sharpness. The salsa verde is mild and does not have the tang of a tomato sauce or salsa, but it works well as the base. The corn offers some pops of sweet and earthiness, as do the red onions, and the fragrant cilantro is the perfect finishing touch. This is a gourmet pizza that scores on every count and is worth the extra money you spend on it.
As mentioned above, the chorizo brings some spice, but not a whole lot of heat. This pizza gets up to the Mild level on my scale, though it brings a nice, spicy tingling with it that lingers in your mouth. At first, I thought of asking for jalapenos the next time I order this (and I will be getting it again), but that may throw off the perfect balance of the ingredients they already worked out for this pie. Instead, sprinkle a little bit of that crushed red pepper they provide to bump this up to the perfect blend of heat of flavor. It doesn’t have to set your mouth on fire to count as a good, spicy offering. But this will definitely be a fiesta for your taste buds.
This is a twelve-inch pizza and you could probably split it with someone if you get an appetizer as well. But I didn’t want to share, so I boxed up what I didn’t eat and had it for lunch the next day! (It reheats quite well.) It cost $18 which is on the high side for this type of pie, but well worth it. And don’t skip out on their beers because they have some good choices from their taps. (You can read my review of those here). You should definitely get this brewery on your list as a go-to location, especially if you are a fan of craft beers. Those alone are worth the trip, but the food will keep you coming back as well. And I should mention the friendly service and atmosphere as well to give you even more reason to visit this establishment.
You can get all the info on Black Laboratory Brewing at my new site CraftBeersAndMore.com