Tucked into a Stater Bros shopping center near Riverside Municipal Airport, D’Caesaro Pizza & Italian is the kind of place that looks like a simple neighborhood pizzeria and then quietly serves some of the best pizza in the city at prices that make you wonder why you ever bothered with chains.
This family-run, no-frills Italian joint has been doing pizza, pasta, grinders, beer, and wine for over 30 years, and locals talk about it as their go-to for hot, cheesy pies and comforting red-sauce plates. 🍕
The Old-School Red-Sauce Formula That Has Kept ALL Of Riverside Coming Back To D’Caesaro For Decades
Sitting at the corner of Adams and Arlington at 6160 Arlington Ave, D’Caesaro has quietly built a loyal following by doing exactly what a neighborhood Italian restaurant should: keeping the focus on pizza, pasta, grinders, beer, and wine, with dine-in, takeout, and daily lunch specials served from 10 AM.
Guests describe it as “far and away the best, most consistent, highest value pizza and Italian restaurant” in the area, with hot, cheesy pies, generous toppings, and solid red-sauce pastas earning it the “best pizza in Riverside” label from both the owners and the regulars who back that claim up.
The pizza is the headline, with multiple reviewers calling it “nice and hot and cheesy” and praising the sauce, the crust, and the cheese across everything from simple cheese pies to loaded meat and veggie builds, as captured in enthusiastic One Bite comments from local pizza hunters.
Beyond the pies, the menu includes lasagna, ravioli, spaghetti, baked pastas, and grinders with fillings like roast beef and ham, plus beer and wine to round out a proper sit-down meal.
Daily lunch specials run from 10 AM to 3 PM and come with a 20-oz drink, making D’Caesaro a popular value lunch stop for people working or running errands nearby.
It isn’t trying to be trendy. It’s trying to be reliable, and after more than three decades in the same shopping center, it’s clearly succeeding at exactly that.
Here are the revised food highlights with one sentence per dish, conversational tone, varied phrasing, and citation-stuffing cleaned up:
Food Highlights
- Cheese & Pepperoni Pizza: Hot, cheesy, and built on a well-liked red sauce with a classic slightly doughy crust, the cheese and pepperoni pies are what regulars call their default family pizza night order and the benchmark that keeps them skipping the chains in favor of this Stater Bros corner spot.
- Combination & Loaded Specialty Pizzas: Multiple meats and veggies stacked over that same sauce-and-cheese base make the combination and specialty builds the go-to when you’re feeding a crowd and need one box to cover every craving from sausage to peppers and olives. 🍕
- Lasagna: Layered pasta, meat sauce, and plenty of melted cheese baked until the top goes bubbly and browned earn the lasagna consistent shoutouts from guests who want something fork-and-knife and hearty instead of another slice. 🍝
- Cheese Ravioli: Ravioli in marinara covered with melted cheese and baked until bubbly makes this house staple the straight-ahead, kid-and-adult-friendly plate that hits the saucy, cheesy, baked Italian craving without getting the least bit complicated.
- Meatball & Italian Grinders: Toasty bread, melty cheese, and fillings like meatballs, roast beef, and ham give the grinder lineup a non-pizza option that still feels very D’Caesaro, and they’re especially popular at lunch when you want something you can eat on the go instead of committing to a full pie. 🥖
- Lunch Specials: Slices, small pastas, or simple mains bundled into wallet-friendly combos with a 20-oz drink included, served daily from 10 AM to 3 PM, are the deals that keep locals treating D’Caesaro as a regular weekday stop rather than just a weekend pizza destination.
Atmosphere
D’Caesaro is exactly what you’d hope for from a long-running family pizza joint in a shopping center: casual dining room, TVs, booths and tables, and a steady crowd of regulars who clearly know exactly what they’re here for.
The no-frills decor is part of the charm, with guests consistently emphasizing great food, fair prices, and friendly service over any interest in styling or ambiance.
Being in the Stater Bros center near the corner of Adams and Arlington makes it convenient for Riverside families, churchgoers from across the street, and people coming through the airport area, with plenty of parking to sweeten the deal.
Staff remember faces, families order their usuals, and nobody’s rushing you out the door as long as you’re still working through your pizza and pasta.
Bottom Line
D’Caesaro Pizza & Italian is the Riverside spot you hit when you want hot, cheesy pizza, old-school pastas, and grinders in a family-run, no-frills dining room that’s been doing it right for over three decades.
If you’re near Arlington and Adams and craving a classic pizza night or a good-value lunch, this is the place locals will steer you toward.
Address:
6160 Arlington Ave, #4C, Riverside, CA 92504
📞 +1 951-687-0777
🕔 Open Tue–Thu, 10 AM–7:30 PM; Fri–Sat, 10 AM–8 PM; Sun, 10 AM–7 PM (Closed Mon)