Signal Hill’s Ten Mile Brewing will host grand opening of pizza kitchen this Saturday

Beer and pizza. Enough said. 

Signal Hill’s Ten Mile Brewing Company will host the grand opening of its pizza kitchen this Saturday, June 11. A menu boasting creative flavor combinations is the latest addition to the father and son’s everchanging option of craft beers. 

“This is something that we have been wanting to do for a long time,” said brewer Jesse Sundstrom, who runs the brewery with his father Dan. “We actually were talking about wanting to do food when we very first opened the brewery.”

The new menu will include Neopolitan-style pizzas with common flavors like cheese, pepperoni, margarita, and barbeque chicken, but will also include more unique flavorings crafted by Sundstrom.

The breakfast pizza uses Cajun cream sauce as a base and is topped with potatoes, bacon from Shady Grove Foods, a cracked egg and hot sauce.

The Cajun pizza is topped with tasso—a heavily smoked, spiced pork shoulder traditional in Louisiana cuisine—as well as carrots, onion, zucchini and yellow squash with a heavy cream base. 

“You get this really awesome flavor profile with that one,” Sundstrom said. “A little bit spicy, that classic Cajun spice.”

Today, the brewery will debut a new pizza complete with scallions, garlic, bacon and goat cheese—which Sundstrom is “really, really excited about.”

A drizzle of barbeque sauce is added as a base for the BBQ chicken pizza at Ten Mile Brewing on June 8, 2022. Brewery owner Jesse Sundstrom spent four years perfecting the pizza. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune)

Handfuls of cubed mozzarella fall onto the BBQ chicken pizza at Ten Mile Brewing on June 8, 2022. Brewery owner Jesse Sundstrom spent four years perfecting the pizza. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune)

Ten Mile Brewing owner Jesse Sundstrom pulls a BBQ chicken pizza out of the oven as a breakfast pizza prepares for its turn in the oven on June 8, 2022. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune)

Ten Mile Brewing owner Jesse Sundstrom slices through a Cajun pizza inside the brewery’s kitchen on June 8, 2022. The cajun pizza comes with tasso as well as carrots, onion, zucchini, and yellow squash with a heavy cream base (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune)

The pandemic played a key role in the Sundstroms’ decision to add a kitchen to their brewery. 

When the tasting room first opened in 2017, Ten Mile’s permit allowed them to host food trucks in their parking lot in lieu of a kitchen. But food trucks can be “unreliable” and leave the brewery “hanging” if they don’t show up, owner Dan Sundstrom told the Signal Tribune in 2020.

When local health officials let restaurants reopen with safety guidelines, breweries without commercial kitchens were only allowed to sell alcohol to-go. 

“That was kind of the thing that pushed us to actually make it happen,” Jesse Sundstrom said. “So in the event, if something comes back around, and we do have to shut down again, we are still able to stay open, continue to serve food and serve the community.”

The Signal Hill City Council approved Ten Mile’s permits in December 2020. Since then, the Sundstroms have built out their commercial kitchen from scratch. The kitchen is located in the back of the brewery, replacing an office and storage area.

The brewery will continue to host a food truck on Fridays, with the intention of phasing out the trucks over time to focus on the pizza kitchen.

This Saturday’s grand opening will coincide with Ten Mile’s regular Sip & Shop event, where local vendors are invited to sell their wares in the brewery’s parking lot. 

On Saturday from noon to 2 p.m., Ten Mile will offer a special: any two beers and a pizza for $30. 

For more information about Ten Mile Brewing Company, including their up-to-date drink menu, visit www.tenmilebrewing.com.