San Antonio cult fave Lovers Pizzeria serves up exceptional pies, but expect lines

“How long do you think this is going to take?” another person in line with me outside Lovers Pizzeria asked his dining companion with a sigh.

“I don’t know,” she replied, “but I really want to try the poblano pizza.”

“So, I guess we’ll have to come back another time to order the pepperoni.” Another sigh followed.

“They don’t have a pepperoni,” she responded, almost defensively.

More back-and-forth ensued, but I didn’t want to appear to be eavesdropping too hard.

Whatever the drift of further discussion, he left but she stayed — presumably to order the poblano pizza, without both pepperoni and him. Although, for clarification, you can add pepperoni to any of the five titled pies at Lovers: cheese, poblano, vodka, tomato and margarita. That’s right, the latter is spelled like the local-favorite cocktail, not the traditional Italian pizza.

But the departed dining companion wasn’t the only person frustrated by the wait on my visit. Possibly more committed to each other than to what’s arguably become San Antonio’s most Insta-popular pie, another duo in front of me decided to leave together after 20 minutes in line.

Lovers Pizzeria opens at 3 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, and a mere four months after relocating to its current Monte Vista digs, its New York-style pies have accumulated the kind of cult following that has fans enduring long waits and early sellouts.

Owners Dustin Dworak and Victoria Moreno launched the venture on the South Side in 2023, but spent 10 months in apparent limbo after losing their original space. Needless to say, local pizza enthusiasts have welcomed them back in a big way.

I arrived just after opening time on a Friday, foolishly thinking I would beat the crowd. Wrong. After snagging the last slot in the parking lot, I entered to find all tables occupied and a line horseshoeing along one side of the small dining room.

Veteran Lovers lovers had come prepared with card games and diversions for the kids. I recognized this didn’t bode well.

Thirty minutes in, I finally stepped up to the counter. Not having to worry about reconciling my taste with anybody else’s, I confidently ordered a poblano and the margarita. Less confidently, I asked how long the order was likely to take.

“When we’re slammed like this, at least 90 minutes — maybe two hours,” I was told. “We’ll call you when it‘s ready.”

I headed back home to make an accompanying salad and get a head start on the wine.

Just shy of the two-hour mark, no call having come — it never did — I headed back anyway. Arriving this time to a near-empty parking lot and a “sold-out” sign outside the side-entry door. It was 5:50 p.m. Counting two trips back and forth, I’d invested more than three and a half hours in the experience.

The pizzas, at least, were still warm.

Was it all worth it? Upfront, let me state that I’m never doing this again, so you’ll have to decide for yourself whether the tomato, cheese or vodka pies justify the wait. Or if the house-made sausage add-on is a serious consideration.

However, I can say my two pies were exceptional.

Let’s start with the margarita. While its name is modified, the composition is otherwise classic: tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, oregano, fresh basil, olive oil and “finishing” cheese. It’s the standard by which any good pizzeria — fancy, wood-burning oven or not — is judged.

Lovers’ oven is of the “or not” variety, but it nevertheless turns out a thin, suitably charred and robust, “naturally leavened” crust that manages to be both crisp and pleasantly chewy. Some might find that there’s a tad too much sprightly tomato sauce, which slightly throws off the sauce-cheese balance, but it’s good sauce, so that’s a minor quibble. Sauce-to-cheese ratio aside, there is just enough mozzarella.

If cost counts, it’s $22 for a 16-inch pie, and it might be worth it to me if, and only if, (a) I lived closer and (b) the wait time was substantially less. Which, in fairness, it must frequently be.

The poblano pizza doesn’t pretend to be classic. It features low-moisture mozzarella — the better for shredding — along with roasted poblanos in a cream sauce, and the usual EVOO and finishing cheese, presumably house-grated parmesan.

The first thing you might notice is that, when still warm, this pizza announces itself with a distinct aroma: charred poblano, of course, and it’s a pleasant surprise.

Creamy poblano being a weightier topping than those on the margarita, the same crust came across a little less crisp. Still, it proved much sturdier than the prevailing norm. No fold required to keep it from drooping. And the flavor is bold without overwhelming the crust.

Is it worth $26? I can think of smaller, more complex options elsewhere that I’d rather have on the regular at, say, $17 or $18. But keep the larger size in mind. There may be leftovers.

Which reheat beautifully. Just add a slice or two to a screaming hot cast-iron skillet. The salad and wine may be long gone, but as of this writing I’m still working on the pizza.

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This article appears in May 14-27, 2025.