When asked about the origin of Truly Pizza, the wildly popular pizza place in Dana Point, co-founder John Arena mused about the humor of how things always seem to come full circle.
As the story goes, Arena moved to Las Vegas with his cousin in 1980 to open a tiny pizzeria. He had picked up a few tips and tricks growing up in his family’s shop in New York and wanted to launch out on his own.
“When I was a young child my dad always worked two jobs,” Arena said. “He was a New York City factory worker by day and after his shift, he would go straight to our family-owned pizzeria and work late into the night. By the time he came home, I was always asleep, but without fail my dad would come to my room to kiss me goodnight. After a night of cooking, his clothes would take on the aroma of pizza. For my entire life the fragrance of pizza has conjured up the love of family and a commitment to the beautiful heritage of the world’s greatest communal food.”
On the second day of operation, Donna Baldwin, now a co-founder but who was in high school at the time, came in with her brother to grab a slice.
“She charmed us immediately, and we offered her a job,” Arena said. “Her pizza career seemed to be over fairly quickly, but as it turned out she was actually taking a 40-year hiatus only to come roaring back when she called me and said, ‘Hey — let’s build a really special pizzeria by the beach.’”
In 2023, they opened Truly Pizza in Dana Point. Their second location is scheduled to open in Laguna Beach early next year with the Venice location following in late 2026.
“Truly Pizza is a testament to a shared love of great food that tells the story of a beautiful community and a commitment to creating an uncompromising experience,” Arena said. “These are the values that are shared by all four of the core creators of Truly Pizza.”
Chris Decker is the founding pizzaiolo who worked by Arena’s side in Las Vegas for almost 30 years. When Decker applied to be a busboy, he was a college freshman, and the two bonded over shared New York roots and an obsessive interest in the personalities that make up the culinary community. Pizziolo Michael Vakneen is the fourth member of the team.
From Dana Point to Laguna to Venice Beach, the Truly Pizza team seems especially smitten by seaside locales. Truly Pizza will open at 320 N. Coast Highway, next to Urth Caffe, early next year.
“Beach communities have an energy you just can’t replicate,” Baldwin said. “There’s a natural openness, a sense of connection and a laid-back spirit that aligns perfectly with who we are. Our guests range from families, friends, date-night couples, neighbors and travelers looking for a true California-coastal spot to gather.”
Since debuting a few years ago, Truly Pizza has made quite an impression on its customers, in part because of its award-winning three-day-fermented pizza dough and groundbreaking innovation called micro-blistering.
“Micro-blistering is one of the signatures of our crust,” Arena explained. “It comes from a fermentation process that develops deep flavor and creates tiny bubbles in the dough. When it hits the heat, those bubbles char ever so slightly, giving the crust a light crispness and beautiful speckling without compromising the chew.”
“We wanted a pizza that was unique to Truly,” he added. “Something that honored classic techniques but pushed beyond a traditional style. Our team spent months testing dough formulas, fermentation times, flour combinations and oven temperatures. After a lot of late nights and a lot of tasting, we landed on what became our signature micro-blistered crust. It’s the foundation of everything we do.”
Truly Pizza’s menu showcases 12-inch crispy and airy hearth-baked pizzas and square pizzas.
“Pizza is one of those foods that brings people together instantly,” Arena said. “It’s communal, it’s shareable and it encourages a kind of joyful, casual dining that we really believe in. But beyond that, pizza is endlessly expressive. You can honor tradition, play with new techniques, showcase seasonal produce or highlight incredible local businesses all on the same canvas. It’s simple at its core, but the possibilities are limitless.”
For more information, visit
trulypizza.com.
Dining and Cooking