Here’s a Pizza Wheat Pie Fit for California

Pizza is the perfect California food. Nothing is too bizarre, too spicy or too exotic to be at home on either the left coast or a 12-inch pie. Pizza and Californians can both handle being stripped to essentials or loaded down with every imaginable topping.

The secret? Good crust and an attitude. Fortunately for North County residents, Fitness Pizza in Yorba Linda has both in its wonderfully chewy, never soggy, whole-wheat crust. The restaurant also makes a regular crust, but who would order a pizza called the Triathlete on glorified Wonder Bread?

Despite a menu that looks like an Olympic directory (all the pizzas are named for sports, and it’s illustrated with those nifty international symbols), Fitness Pizza has less in common with spa cuisine than with your basic neighborhood pizza joint. There’s even the obligatory video game.

And although the topping list includes some interesting items--eggplant, spinach and pesto to name just a few--you’ll also find the familiar sausage, pepperoni and black olives variety. Prices are slightly higher than average for a casual pizzeria--a 16-inch cheese pie will run you $10.45, and most of the specialty pizzas are just under $18.

If you venture beyond the routine, you’ll find that owners Bob Sahrai and Anthony Rajabi (this is their first restaurant venture) have come up with some interesting combinations. Some are too interesting for this pizza traditionalist, but others work well enough to be considered in any pizzeria’s standard repertoire.

Roast beef slathered in a smoky barbecue sauce with red onion and mushrooms (Fitness calls it the Bullrider) is everything a pizza should be--bold, tangy and messy.

“Summu Wrestler” is the answer to the pizza-or-Asian-food dilemma; the chicken and Chinese vegetables in teriyaki sauce should satisfy all cravings.

Other combinations worth trying are the Matador: beans, salsa, olives, Cheddar cheese and jalapeno; and the Surfer: shrimp in scampi sauce and olives.

Fitness also serves pasta--spaghetti, ravioli, fettuccine, tortellini and mostaccioli--and there is a children’s menu. You can order domestic or imported beer or wine by the glass or carafe. The dozen or so tables are divided into two areas, and there are several outdoor tables as well.

If, however, the measure of any pizzeria is its cheese pizza, then Fitness passes that test easily. The cheese is ample and stretchy, the sauce is just the right consistency--thick but without a hint of tomato paste--and the crust is . . . well, it isn’t Wonder Bread.

Fitness Pizza, 18246 Imperial Highway, Yorba Linda. Open Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. (714) 993-5421.