DeSano's Pizza

    In the middle of nowhere (Los Angeles) there is a parking lot as big as the warehouse-size pizzeria next to it. Unheard of in this town.  Inside this huge place are not 1 or 2 pizza ovens but 4.  They are ready for anything.  

The pizzas are delicious.  They have a bunch pizzas, from Classic Neapolitan style D.O.P.  to specialty pies as well as calzones, (which I have yet to have) gelato and refreshing beer. Pizzas size small 11'' to large 18'' for reasonable prices. 

The cheese is fresh, the tomato sauce sweet and the crust is doughy and crispy at the same time, with a little char for flavor.  I'd like my crust to be a little less dense, and their crust is a little more on the soft and doughy side.   Other than that no complaints. 

I recommend the Diavola Pizza and  Lasagna Pizza both really good.  

Great place to hang out have some beers and watch sports if you're into that.   But if you just come for the pizza thats good too.  

DeSano's Pizza

4959 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90029

Price: $$

Rating:

Japanese Pizza

  I went to Tokyo a few months ago.  A truly amazing place.  I didn't have a whole lot of time to really explore the pizza.  Seeing as I was in Japan I tried to stick to food like ramen and sushi.  That being said there was a surprising amount of Italian places.  Most of these place were kind of Japanese style versions of Italian which is a hybrid the likes of nothing I have ever had before.  Though it did seem like there were some legitimate Italian restaurants and pizzerias that did their best to cook Italian food as traditionally as possible.  The one thing about the Japanese is they don't half ass things.  IF they are going to do pizza they go to great lengths to make the best possible pizza. 

But like I said I didn't seek out any pizza.  Everything is so hard to find there, without speaking the language and having limited gps, searching for the best pizza was not in the cards.  

Here is the Dominos of Japan. Pizza-La.  The only one I actually saw, but they are apparently everywhere.  This was in Kyoto.  They had a whole garage full of delivery mopeds. I didn't try this pizza.  

 

Here is the most amazing thing pizza related I saw.  A Pizza Van.  Here in LA we have lots of food trucks, probably several that are pizza related.  I have never seen a food Van.  Much less one that has a wood fired stone oven inside.  and thats all it had because there isn't room for anything else.  

Again I had just eaten, so I regrettably did not try the van pizza.  Though if it looks anything like the pizza it porbably would have been good.  

Finally I tried some pizza.  Actually it was like 3 days into the trip.  This was a quaint little Cafe on a canal.  With the quietest trains passing by on the other side of the water.  They had a lot of Italian food and Gelato, but I'm not sure it was going for strictly Italian.  I am not sure really what it was going for but they had pizza so I got some. 

It was pretty decent, considering my expectation were low.  The crust was a little chewy and a little doughy, in a good way.  Though not all too crispy.   The sauce was very light and sweet.  Fairly bland in flavor but really not bad.  Very eatable.

This was a crazy pizza.  It had sausage and corn with red peppers and a salsa tomato base.  Not bad at all. 

Of course there is always Shakey's 

I didn't see anything that resembled NY style pizza, only individual Neopolitan pizzas.  Not even any advertisements boasting NY pizza.  Italian was the only terminology that I saw.   

Grabbing a slice to go doesn't gel with the culture of Japan.  Nobody eats while they walk.  Eating is an event that is taken seriously, just like everything they do.  There is a time and place.  Eating is for sitting and enjoying your time.  So food to go isn't something that happens.  Unless it is a American chain like McDonalds.    

It was a great trip.  I saw so many things and ate so many crazy foods.  I failed on the Pizza however.  So next time I go.  Pizza will be my main goal.  

Michael's Pizzeria

 

When Mother Dough of Los Feliz showed up I thought that would be the best pizza LA would ever see.  Then NY heavy hitters Joe and Grimaldi came to town and I thought finally real NY pizza.  

I am once again surprised as I have now experienced Michael's Pizzeria.  Quite possibly the best pizza in LA.  The problem is it isn't technically in LA.  It is in Long Beach.  

Despite being far away (from me anyway)  it is worth the drive.  There are 3 locations, 1 in Rancho Mirage.  Two in Long beach, one on what is technically an island appropriately named Naples.  The ambiance isn't exactly what you'd expect from a pizza place.  It feels like more of a sit down juice bar.  Or a diner from the cartoon The Jetsons.  

The pizza is near perfect.   The crust is is amazing.   Flavorful, perfectly cooked, which good char markings all over.  Cooked in a wood fired Brick oven.  I timed the pizza in the oven, cooking about 7 minutes I think.  Just had a great consistency, very thin in the middle and doughy and chewy on the outer edge but crispy on the outside.
The cheese is made fresh in house and you can tell.  Generous chunks of it sporadically about.
The sauce is really tasty.  Packed with flavor, not too sweet but not too spiced.  A perfect balance.
There could have been a little more of it.  Where it was thin on the sauce, it was a tad bit dry.

This place is a D.O.P. - so its supervised by the pizza gods of Italy.

The meat pizza which was the special had several kinds of delicious italian meats as wells as some cilli peppers and huge chunks of garlic.  They had a clam pizza as well.  Really a great selection of unusual pies that makes going there an adventure every time.
The prices are pretty standard for this kind for  Neapolitan style pies of this caliber.

Michael's Pizzeria 

5616 E 2nd St

Long Beach, CA 90803 

Price: $$$

Rating: 5‎

Grimaldi's Pizzeria

A long history is Grimaldi's.  It started in Brooklyn under the bridge and quickly grew into a huge success and one of the best pizzas in all of NY and therefore the country.  It went through an owner change and some lawsuits that followed, all the while the name Grimaldi's became a chain that spread all over the country.  It has been quite a journey.

         -  Though as far as expanding goes Joe's Pizza has them beat in terms of time and area, opening at least 6 locations and a food truck in Los Angeles.  In just a few years.  

Grimaldi's only has one location in LA and it is in El Segundo.  They use coal fired oven to cook the pizza in.  This oven is quite a hassle as it seemed to delay their opening for almost a year.  The hassle is worth it because it makes the pizza taste delicious and unique to any other pizza in LA, that I know of.

I have been to Grimaldi's a lot since it opened.  It is some of the best pizza in this city.  The crust is crispy and charred with great flavor and a toughness to it.  The sauce on the margarita is just perfect.  A light and sweet sauce, the cheese is light and creamy as well and not overpowering or over used.  I could probably eat their margarita pizza continually until I overdosed and died.  I would not be able to stop eating it.
 It is a great pizza at an affordable price. $16 for a large 18 inch margarita pizza.  The place is a big, sit down casual restaurant with a nice outside patio and a good collection of beers.

 It has been a long time since I ate at the one in NY, so I cant give a detailed review of the differences.  But they aren't exactly the same.  The most notable difference is the spices they put on their pizza.  Oregano and other italian spices are sprinkled on top.  I don't remember them doing that at the original location.  I don't need that personally but I don't mind either.   The crust isn't quite as amazing as NY either, maybe it's in my head, maybe its in the water, maybe its in the air, I don't know.  It is no fault of the chefs though, it is just the way it is in LA.  It's not the same.  But that doesn't make it bad. Grimaldi's recipe and oven make for one of the best crusts in LA and one of the best pizza's.

Grimaldi's Pizzeria

2121 Rosecrans Ave.  Suite 1399

El Segundo, CA 90245

phone 310-648-7503

RATING:

4.5

Mother Dough

My motivation for writing about pizza has been low lately. I eat pizza all the time, but work and other daily tasks move my blog to the bottom of the shelf.

Today is different, because Mother Dough is here. The pizza is just the kind of pizza that brings my motivation back, tenfold.

A simple place in Los Feliz that is focused on Italian tradition. It has a few appetizers, 5 pizzas and a chocolate mousse that would make Heaven look like Hell. Also a small selection of some great beer and wine.

The pizzas: The classic margherita, prosciutto and arugula, sausage pizza, a zucchini pizza, and a vine tomato with olive oil and cheese.

For once I didn't get the classic Margherita, but I can guess what it tasted like. I did get the prosciutto and arugula, which I have never been a huge supporter of, but it was good. The prosciutto and arugula were both put on after the pizza was cooked.

Though the two other pizzas I ordered were some of the most amazing pizzas I have had, the sausage was a simple margherita with a generous amount of some of the best sausage I have tasted.

Then there was the oven-roasted vine tomatoes, smokey olive oil and sea salt with basil and buffalo mozzarella. This one was unique and just so perfect.

These Neapolitan style pizzas were spot on not only with tradition, but with flavors, textures and over all enjoyment.

All of the pizzas used a buffalo mozzarella cheese, which was so creamy and soft and just melted in your mouth.

The sauce was a simple tomato sauce, very light with a slight tang. Not an overpowering sauce at all, though all the pizzas I had, had toppings so the focus was not the sauce. That being said, every pizza I devoured had no overpowering flavors. They all were just as equal and worked together for an overall experience.

Then there was the crust. A near perfect crust. Cooked at 850 degrees, the pizza came out in about a minute with a golden brown outside, mixed with spots of charred flavor throughout. The massive wood fired stone oven was a beautiful site that did a perfect job with the pizza. The crust was soft and chewy on the inside. The flavor was amazing. All the flavors you want in a crust were there: smokey, salty, sweet and charred flavors.

The only fault I gave it was, the crust did not get as crispy as I prefer it. I like a little crunch at least on the outer edge. But thats my opinion and the fact it didn't have that crispiness did not make me enjoy the crust any less.

The crust and overall ideology of the pizza very much reminds me of Roberta's in Brooklyn, NY. Though I still give them the edge.

The name of the place refers to the fact that a little batch of dough from each day is carried over to the next day. So each batch of dough has some traits from the original batch from when the owner started making pizza.

Of course this is all in theory. Part gimmick, part tradition. It doesn't matter though because the pizza is outstanding. You pay the price but for the quality of ingredients and the skill level in which this pizza is made, I think it is worth it.

Best Neopolitan pizza in LA for sure.

Mother Dough

4648 Hollywood Boulevard Los Feliz CA

Price: $$$

Overall:

4.5

Fresh Brothers

Fresh Bros. is a growing chain. It's got pizza, salads and wings as it reminds you all over the place. The wings are good, the make your own salad is great. The pizza, well, not the best. Though it is not terrible by any means. This is the kind of pizza that a lot of people might actually like. People that might not be so picky about their crust.

The sauce is a very flavorful sauce with lots of spices, only slightly sweet. There is a generous amount of it and it does indeed taste relatively fresh. The cheese also has a generous amount and tastes pretty good. The toppings, one was pepperoni the other personal size pizza had mushrooms on it; were under the cheese and cooked to a good crisp. I can't speak for the mushrooms but the pepperoni's did not over power the pizza like they usually do on a pizza.

The pizza is not too greasy and tastes fresh even if it isn't. So everything is pretty decent up to this point. It is an average to slightly above average pizza if you really like the crust. I however did NOT like the crust. It is cheap pre made dough, that is cake-y and dense. Yes it was thin, but not crispy. It was just chewy and bland. Not the right material at all, nor the consistency I hope for in a well made crust.

Fresh Brothers

2008 N. Sepulveda Blvd. Manhattan Beach, 90266
310-546-4444

Locations also in:

Redondo Beach, Marina Del Rey, Westlake Village and Calabasas

Price: $15 for a 16''

Overall:

2.0

Pizza Blog Resurgence ?

Sorry to my readers for not updating with new exciting pizza places recently. I have taken some time off to think about what I have here and how I can make it better.

Here are my current goals for this website.

1) Keep the reviews shorter, I am not much of a writer.

2) create a map of all the pizza joints

3) create a list of all places sorted by Pizza Slice ratings.

4) And finally post more places.

- because I am definitely still eating pizza, so why not write about it.

Pizza Puzzle

Pizza Review #276

Here is my review of a pizza, that if I had eaten it, it would have tasted like cardboard.

I ordered this large pizza from London, so needless to say I wasn't expecting the best pizza. When the box arrived, it was quite small and I was worried I got ripped of. The max size of pizza that would fit in the box would probably be around 7 inches. This is no large pizza. Perhaps there was some meters to inches conversion problems.

Then once I opened it I realized that there was some assembly required. What kind of pizza joint makes you create your own pizza. I was very annoyed. It took me several days of 3 plus hours of work to make my own pizza.

On the plus side, it came pre-cooked so no time wasted there. The pizza was very flat, it didn't have much of a rise is the dough. It was also slightly over cooked. The sauce appeared to have been cooked twice. Once off the pizza and once on the pizza. The cheese looked good, it was pure mozzarella and had a generous amount on it. The toppings however did not look appetizing.

In fact I couldn't quite distinguish what was even on the pizza. There were green peppers that was for sure, though they were soggy and over cooked. From there it was anyones guess. I believe there was chicken and possibly garlic. Though they both looked surprisingly similar. Also possibly slices of canadian bacon, or pepperoni, again not quite sure.

Either way it looked like a terribly dry, over-cooked pizza with a lot of flavor but the wrong kind of flavor. Not to mention I think it was actually made out of card board.

This pizza is the worst pizza I have ever ordered. It ended up being the assembling of the pizza that was the highlight.

Pizza Puzzle

London, England

Price: $$$$$ (for shipping)

-1 pizza slices

Vinny's Pizza

Vinny's Pizza is a cool bar/restaurant in a quaint little area in downtown El Segundo. It has a great outside patio with TVs and a good beer selection. It also has pizza. Which according to their name, they are known for. So I ordered a large 16 inch pizza for 12 dollars, way cheaper than Stuft Pizza.

It is a pretty good looking pizza. It is pretty good tasting too. A thin and crispy crust. Not so crispy on the bottom, but definitely on the outer edge. It was a little dry too, maybe due to the over cooking of the crust. The cheese and sauce were put on generously and in good ratio to each other. The sauce was a heavily spicy sauce. The cheese was decent but had a real salty and oily flavor and after taste.

I'd say overall the pizza is definitely a pizza I'd be happy with if I was drinking at the bar. Though it has some issues that doesn't make it near the best. It is definitely the best in El Segundo, in my opinion. In the close area there are 3 other places Stuft Pizza, Justa Pizza, and Hanks Pizza.

Vinny's Pizza

310 Grand Ave. El Segundo 90245

310-322-5464

Price: $

Overall:

Stuft Pizza

A quaint little area in downtown El Segundo brings many different eateries. Including a great cheese steak place and 2 pizza places. Down the street from Vinny's Pizza is place called Stuft Pizza. They had slices sitting on a rotating display case, so regretfully I bought one. After you see this pizza, you can guess it is a franchise. They have 6 or so places all over the Southern CA area.

A large Pizza is 16 dollars, but the size is only 14 inches. So a bit overpriced. The slices on the other hand are only a dollar. Though they are small and as you can see not that exciting.

Not a whole lot to say about this place. It is generic pizza. The crust is thick and doughy. The sauce is dry. It has decent flavor but nothing extraordinary. It just is pizza, with no inspiration. Similar to Domino's but with less oil, butter and fat no doubt. So I guess it is probably relatively healthier but doesn't have the same addictive taste. Though I didn't feel sick after eating it either so I guess I'll give it a point for that.

Though it seems, Mondays are the day to go. 1$ beers which is always good and 1$ pizza which isn't always good. On normal days, when you order a large pizza, not a good deal or meal.

Stuft Pizza

400 Main St. El Segundo 90245

310-322-2667

Price: $$

Overall:

Golden Mean Vegan Cafe

I don't eat vegan, I don't know what vegan pizza means and I really don't even know what a vegan is. So instead of trying to explain a pizza I don't know, I have recruited a friend of mine, Lily Milkovic-Jakal, who is more in tune with the Vegan world.

So listen to what she says.

As a new Vegan on the scene pizza has been my biggest challenge because I HEART cheese! I woke up last Saturday with a mean pizza hankering and decided to make a day of it. For lunch I headed to Golden Mean Vegan Cafe in Santa Monica. Golden Mean isn't strictly a pizza joint, but they do have a "Pizza of the Day" on the menu featuring a rustic fibonacci cornmeal crust. My pizza came topped with tomato sauce, plum tomatoes, spinach and Daiya vegan cheese which is the best "fake" cheese I've tasted to date. Daiya does not contain many of the common allergens including; Soy, Dairy (Casein or Lactose) Gluten, Egg, Wheat, Barley, Whey, and Nuts and its free of artificial ingredients, preservatives, hormones & antibiotics. But that's not the best part about Daiya cheese! It actually TASTES like cheese, stretches, melts, and when baked it gets golden. So, Daiya cheese is a MUST HAVE for a vegan pizza if you miss the real deal as much as I do! The pizza as a whole wasn't exactly what I expected, but it was good in its own right. The cornmeal crust and veggie toppings gave this pizza a very earthy taste and it didn't leave me feeling weighed down or oily. While I can appreciate GOLDEN MEAN's healthy approach to pizza-making, if you are looking for that classic pizza experience - this isn't your place.

A few hours after lunch at the GOLDEN MEAN VEGAN CAFE, I still needed to satiate my pizza craving so I headed to PIZZA FUSION in Santa Monica, CA for some din-din. Pizza Fusion offers an array of tasty organic pizza options and even has a few vegan..... for more click here

Golden Mean Vegan Cafe

1028 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica 90401

310-393-6500

Price: $

Overall:

Slice Truck

I remember a not so distant day when a food truck meant tacos. Taco Hunt.com But lately there has been a flooding of food trucks all over, from Korean BBQ to grilled cheese and now of course pizza too. It all amounts to just more traffic on the highways. It is actually hard to go driving around and not see one. Maybe a food truck will make me something while we are sitting in traffic on the freeway together, now that'd be something great.

Well I finally tracked down the slice truck. I hit them up twice in a week. The first time was at a Silverlake music festival. Then I though I would try them again in their natural environment. Their usual spot is down by USC. Pizza for the kids. Don't know what else USC has in the way of good pizza so it is probably a pretty profitable spot for them.

I just got a slice this time, usually I go with a full large pizza but I figured it is called Slice Truck so if the slices aren't good what's the point.

I have to say it was a pretty enjoyable pizza. I didn't notice any difference from the festival slice to the regular slice. I guess I managed to get fresh slices each time.

The pizza is thin crust NY style, but the crust is a hair thicker than your typical thin crust. It is semi crispy crust, but not charred or crunchy in any way. It has a good tough and chewy consistency and it is not too dry or stale. The sauce and cheese are both put on very generously. Though are in pretty good balance with each other. The sauce doesn't stand out all that much. It is a sweet sauce with a light oregano flavoring. There is an also generous covering of parmesan cheese and basil on top.

The basil and parmesan help disguise the pizza as being a bit more complex than it actually is. I think the pizza is pretty basic and balances on a line between genuine NY style and generic Middle American style. This may sound like an insult, it's not. I just try to classify pizza for the sake of you people and blog. The point is I really enjoyed the pizza, I think it had good flavor and texture and would get it again if it was near by.

The slice truck like most other food trucks has many different outlets on the internet, from Facebook and twitter to a blog of their own. Their blog is filled with random stuff you can read while you eat a slice. They also post reviews by costumers of their place, pulled randomly from yelp, which can be pretty entertaining.

Here is an interesting article on their blog that talks about the geometry of pizza.

Slice Truck Blog

Slice Truck

Jefferson Blvd and McClintock Ave (but also, everywhere)

Price: $

Overall:

L.O.V.E. Pizza

I love Pizza too. That doesn't mean I would name my restaurant that. It seems that LOVE stands for something, hence the dots in between the letters, though there is no mention of what it might be.

This is a place on Melrose Blvd that has replaced Enzo's another pizza place, which had replaced a pizza place before them called Alberto's. Alberto's, I was told was possibly the best pizza in town at the time, unfortunately it left before I had the chance to try it. Since then the pizza in the spot has deteriorated with each new owner.

Now it is LOVE Pizza. A slice place that pulls out a "fresh" slice from the back for 3 dollars.

It has been awhile since I have had Enzo's, but I'm pretty sure this is the exact same pizza. An average slice with an unnatural amount of grease dripping out the back. The strong flavor of Oregano carries the sauce. Though the sauce is a little lacking and definitely overpowered by the cheese and grease. The crust is generic and dry with a cake-y texture. Not light or airy, nor packed with flavor. It is a little crispy but thats about it. Enzo's wasn't worth going to, and I don't think this place is any better.

They are open "late" they say. This means 12.

L.O.V.E. Pizza

7261 Melrose Ave. 90046

323-936-3696

Price: $

Overall: