A taste of Brooklyn has arrived at Bel Air Mall. Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, a coal-fired pizza chain that built its reputation under the Brooklyn Bridge before expanding across the country, has opened a location at the Shoppes at Bel Air, giving Mobile shoppers and diners a new option built around thin-crust, brick-oven pies.
The restaurant sits near the mall’s main entrance, across from P.F. Chang’s, in a stretch of storefronts that has been steadily reworked in recent years as Bel Air Mall has looked to broaden its dining options beyond the traditional food court. Grimaldi’s arrival adds a sit-down, full-menu pizzeria to that mix, complete with table service, a wine list and a menu that stretches well beyond pizza into salads, calzones and Italian sodas.
What sets Grimaldi’s apart from the mall’s other options, and from many pizza chains generally, is its coal-fired oven, a labor-intensive cooking method that produces a thin, slightly charred crust and a quick, high-heat bake. The technique traces back to New York pizzerias that built their identity around coal ovens in the early 20th century, and it remains relatively rare among chain restaurants, most of which rely on gas or electric ovens for consistency and lower overhead.
The menu at the new location includes starters such as an antipasto plate piled with roasted red peppers, Genoa salami, fresh mozzarella and olives, along with a hearty kale chopped salad tossed with romaine, cucumber, artichoke, sundried tomatoes, Kalamata olives and shaved cheese, a portion large enough to be shared among several diners.
Pizzas are offered in a traditional 12-inch size with a long list of toppings available a la carte, allowing diners to build their own combinations or split toppings between halves of a single pie. A classic build pairs pepperoni and meatballs over red sauce, delivering the kind of thin, charred crust that has become the chain’s signature. For something different, a pesto-based pie topped with anchovies, white onion and Kalamata olives offers a lighter, herbier alternative to the traditional tomato-sauce pizza.
Beyond pizza, the menu includes calzones and a rotating selection of Italian sodas, giving the restaurant a broader appeal for families and larger groups looking for something beyond a slice. Service at the new location has been described as attentive, with staff well-versed in both the food and wine menu, and turnaround on food has been reported as quick even during busy stretches.
Pricing lands in the mid-range for a sit-down restaurant, with a 12-inch pizza starting around $10 before toppings, and individual topping add-ons running a few dollars each. Diners looking to keep the bill lower can stick to a pizza and skip the wine list, while those looking for a fuller meal can build out a spread with the antipasto, salad and multiple pies.
On the menu board, the antipasto starter runs about $10, the kale chopped salad about $9, and a traditional 12-inch pizza also starts around $10 before toppings, with a pesto-based 12-inch running closer to $11. Extra toppings such as pepperoni, meatballs, anchovies, white onion and Kalamata olives are priced individually, typically a few dollars apiece, so a fully loaded specialty pie can run several dollars higher than the base price.
The addition continues a broader shift at Bel Air Mall, which has worked to diversify its restaurant offerings alongside its traditional retail tenants in recent years, part of a wider trend among American shopping malls to lean more heavily on dining and entertainment as anchor draws. For Mobile-area diners who might not think to look for a coal-fired pizza chain inside a mall, Grimaldi’s new location offers a reason to reconsider.
Grimaldi’s Pizzeria is located at 3299 Bel Air Mall, Suite B1, in Mobile.