Lon's Pizza Adventure

Today a new guest blogger will be speaking his mind on pizza and women, more women than pizza, but anyway,

I bring you Lon Zimmet, and his Manhattan Beach Adventure:

On Sunday night before Memorial Day, I was in Manhattan Beach. After the bars closed, I went to eat pizza because I had had many drinks and I was hungry. Actually, I wasn’t that hungry but there was a smoking hot girl in a red dress from the bar who was going to eat pizza. There was also a smoking hot girl in a green dress that was at the same bar, and my friend and I were amazed to find out that the green dress and the red dress were friends. Anyway there was a long line so I figured this place must be good. Also, any pizza that attractive women like must be delicious because attractive women are the smartest people I know.

Anyway, the thing I remember most about the pizza is waiting in line for it. I remember this so well is because I asked somebody, “Are you on line?” And they said, “Do you mean, ‘in line.’?” And I said no, I’m from NJ and there we say “on line.” In any event, it turns out he wasn’t on line, which was good because that’s one less person keeping me from eating pizza.

Things really took an unexpected turn when a girl heard me say I was from NJ, and it turns out she was from NJ too.  Even crazier was that she went to college in Ithaca which is right near where I went to college.  We laughed and laughed about this for a long time.

But then I saw the red dress girl eating her pizza so I turned my back on NJ girl in the middle of her telling me about her sick aunt or something and I said, ‘hey Red Dress, how’s that pizza treating you?” And it seemed like she liked it.  But it turns out she was a dental student on vacation from Wisconsin so fuck her, what does she know.

So I order two slices of pizza. One for me and one for my friend. It was five dollars and change which seems reasonable.  I remember thinking when I looked at it, ‘wow, that’s what pizza should look like.’  It looked like very good pizza.  And it was.  I can’t remember many of the specifics because I was very drunk and also still high from my conversation about New Jersey, but at the time my friend and I said to each other it was the best pizza we’ve had in Los Angeles.

It had perfect thickness and had a good cheese/dough ratio. I think this is very important.  I hate really thick doughy pizza that only has a thin layer of cheese on top.  But this had a perfect combination.  Plus it was very tasty.

Or it could have seemed that way because I was very drunk.  Everything tastes good when you’re drunk.  For now, I’ll give it five stars.  But I’ll be back in Manhattan Beach on Fourth of July weekend, and I’ll try having a slice then when I’m less drunk.

The Manhattan Pizzeria - 133 Manhattan Beach Blvd, Manhattan Beach

Price: $

Overall:

Editor's note:  Although Lon said he thought it was 5 stars, because of the drunk factor I am bringing it down a half a slice, until he or I go back sober.  I have no doubt the pizza was good, but a 5 ?  Who has been the one eating pizza everyday?  

Pizza Mayven

In the heart of the Jewish community is a place called Pizza Mayven, which serves completely kosher foods.  You can get pizzas, calzones, pastas, and even Mexican food all blessed by the Rabbi. It was a funny looking place, very hidden from the street with plastic chairs and folding tables.  It looked like an indoor concession stand at a high school football game.  They don’t serve any meat on the pizzas, so its only variations of veggie topping.   I got a medium cheese pizza, which was 13 dollars.

  

The pizza looked especially good, but the taste was not on par with the looks. The crust was well cooked and crispy, but was too thick and dense. The cheese was good, it had a lightly browned top but the sauce was a little chunky and dry, and there wasn’t enough of it.  It was a lot better than my expectations however, for some reason I just didn’t like the sound of kosher pizza.  I would like to go back however, because it seems like to me, that they must have something that is really good, maybe it’s the veggie burrito.  But for now I’ll skip the pizza here and move on. 

I actually just found a link that has more than 10 kosher pizza joints.  So I guess I have some work to do.  Jewish Pizza... Oy... 

Pizza Mayven - 140 N. La Brea 90036

Price: $$

Overall:

N.Y.P.D. Pizza

Today I ventured into Burbank to a new place I heard about called N.Y.P.D. Pizza.  I think the full name is NYPD Restaurants Precinct Pizza Delicatessen, or something.  I don't know really, its a lot of words.  I don't even know if an actual N.Y.P.D. owns the place.  It is filled with gimmicky pictures of New York, police cars, police departments signs and badges.  Even down to the names of the food, every item has a section of N.Y. named after it, like the Manhattan Meat Lovers Pizza or the Astoria Greek salad.  Their slogan is "Taste of New York" and like most pizza joints in L.A. they try to mimic the highly raved about N.Y. pizza.  It appears to be a national franchise mostly in Florida, and none in New York.  It has kind of a generic feel to it, like a TGI Fridays, they have T.V.'s playing sports and a large selection of beer.  It actually was kind of comforting in a non offensive franchise way.  I didn't see any cops there so while I waited for the pizza, I had a few beers and drove home.  Ha ha, just kidding mom.

Anyway, none of that really matters.  The pizza is the important part here.  The sizing and prices are a bit confusing.  They have a large for $13, which at first seems pretty good, the thing is that a large is only their third biggest pizza, they also have a XL and a XXL, the XXL is 18'', the size of a most regular large pizza's.  The large I got was 14'' however they gave me a coupon for a $10 large so it wasn't a bad deal after all.

The pizza was a little light on top.  The crust looked like it was going to be a little doughy, there was no natural puff at the end.  Turns out it was very delicious.  The crust had a flour taste rather than the dry corn meal.  It was very crispy and crunchy on the bottom, and the end was chewy and doughy but still with the crispy bottom.  There was just the right amount of cheese.  The sauce was a little too light but good.  There was a strong taste of oregano on the first bite but it mellowed out after you get into it.  There wasn't anything special about the pizza, it didn't taste like a wood oven, or smell of fresh baked crust, it didn't have that charred black bubble on the out side edge, but it did everything right and close to the way it should be.  I haven't yet explored the other places in Burbank, but I could see this as a usual spot for me. 

NYPD Pizza - 150 South San Fernando Blvd. (and all over the country)

Price - $$

Overall:

Johnnie's New York Pizzeria

 Lately I have been noticing that most pizza places have a slogan to go with their name, which alone is a interesting fact, what other non-franchise restaurants do this.  In most slogans, the words "New York" are involved or "best pizza".  The funny thing about Johnnie's is they have New York right in their name.  Johnnies New York Pizzeria .

What a perfect name; Johnnie, somewhat Italian, New York, the place where they do it the best, and Pizzeria, a fancy word for a place that makes pizza.  A place I reviewed awhile back was called Hollywood Express Pizza, this might be the worst name, their slogan should be: "Who cares about pizza, it's all the same."

Anyway, Johnnies knows what it's doing when it comes to marketing and it also claims to have a little secret.  The crust is made from filtered water, so as to imitate New York water. Apparently a good crust is made out of the perfect water.  I don't know how important that is, but every little bit can help; it certainly gets people talking about Johnnies.  

 This is some what of a chain.  They have them all over Southern California. Most of you pizza lovers have probably been to one at some point. They have a great lunch special: salad, garlic rolls, soda and a pizza or pasta for 8 bucks.   I took a business lunch there today and got the personal size cheese pizza lunch special.  I like to say business lunch makes me feel like I wasn't just eating pizza.  Now I don’t know if the personal pizzas are made differently from the larger traditional sizes, but the small pizza was not as good as I remembered the larger pizzas.  Not to say it was bad.  I did enjoy it.  The sauce was very good, a little sweet and it had some nice spices in it as well. The cheese was a little on the light side, but that’s better than on the heavy side, personally.  The crust had a good taste to it but didn’t quite have the right texture. It was a little chewy and not as crispy as I’d hoped it would be. A large 16 inch pizza is about 15 dollars, which isn’t too bad, and the lunch special is hard to beat. This wasn’t the best pizza I have had so far but I can’t say it was bad, and large I believe is even better. 

Johnnie's New York Pizzeria - everywhere 

Price: $$ 

Overall:

Jacopo’s Pizzeria

The last pizza place in Beverly Hills I could find was Jacopo's.  It was right down the street from the Mulberry Street Pizzeria.  So it had a lot to live up to.    
I went inside and noticed it had a different feel to it, much more fitting for Beverly hills.  Red leather booths and chandeliers, kind of like your typical old italian restaurant but with more of a trendy vibe.  Anyway that doesn't matter.  The pizza is a bit over priced, 3.50 for a slice and $18 for a large.  I got a slice of cheese and it wasn’t too bad.  It reminded me of a place called Combo’s on Hollywood Blvd.  Nothing special.  They put a little too much oregano on it to over compensate for the lack of flavor.  The crust was thin but a little greasy, flopping and drooping as I ate it. I wan’t too impressed with this but it was better than the worst.  But definitely not better than the place down the street.  

Jacopo’s – Beverly Drive

Price: $$

Overall:

Mulberry Street Pizzeria

In Beverly Hills is a place called Mulberry Street Pizzeria, "The world's most famous pizzeria", they say. I don't think thats true, but it does seem to be well known in L.A. among pizza lovers. This is one of 3 locations, 2 of which are in Beverly Hills, the other is in Encino.

The one in Beverly Hills is a real hole in the wall, literally. This small dark stone cave where they cook pizza is very unexpected in a place like Beverly Hills. They have one size, “big”. A 20’’ pizza should feed a few people. Previously I got a single slice which was a normal to big size and cost 3.50. Though I have since ordered the whole 20 inch cheese pie which will run you about 20 dollars. Considering the thin and light style of this pizza, 20 dollars is a little pricey, but it is a big pizza so it's price isn't too ridiculous.

Now, I was here about a year ago - May 2008 according to my blog. This is when I got just one slice. This is what I wrote: OLD REVIEW

The crust was thin and had a nice amount of charcoal burns on the bottom, it was well done, crispy and doughy at the same time, so far the best crust I have eaten. That’s the hardest part to get right with a pizza in my opinion. You would think once they have the hang of the crust the rest falls into place. Well, that was not the case. The problem came from the cheese. The sauce was fine, but the cheese just wasn’t right. It was stretchy and chewy. Like it wasn’t melted enough or it was the wrong kind. Maybe there was just a little too much of it as well. While it didn’t ruin the pizza, it still tasted good, I just was so frustrated that it was so close to being the best, and something so easy was just done so wrong. Unfortunately my rating for the place dropped a few notches because of it.

NEW REVIEW:

Now I recently went back and got a whole pie, and it is seemingly not the same as what I wrote above. Perhaps it was an off day or something happened to the recipe. It was a different Beverly Hills location, but they use the same ovens and the pizza from what I can see looks the same. The crust was still pretty good. It was ultra thin, and had a good chewiness to it. It was light and crispy as well. The perfect pizza for folding and eating on the go. The crust didn't have a whole lot of flavor, but it did taste relatively fresh. This seemed to be the same as the last time I went except for the light amount of char. There was no char and it wasn't cooked as long this time. The sauce and cheese that seemed to really fail last time were actually pretty good this time. Both are put on pretty light, if anything there is more sauce than cheese but both have a good amount relating to the crust. The sauce is slightly on the sweet side but full of Italian spices. Despite it being spicy it was definitely the right flavor for a pizza and not the kind of sauce for a pasta. The cheese was the main thing that turned me of the first time, this time however, it was fine. Not really a major factor though, since it was put on light and paired with a strongly flavored sauce. This time my experience was much more satisfying. All the hype about this place is actually worth it.

Is it the best pizza ? No certainly not in the country. In L.A. it is probably one of the top pizzerias but still not my favorite. When it comes to New York style pizza in LA I stick with the 3 V's - Vito's, Village Pizzeria, and Verrazzano's. Then of course there is Joe's which is straight from New York. Mulberry St Pizzeria is somewhere below these guys, though the difference isn't too great. It's typical pizza that is done right. Nothing more nothing less, and this is what I think people truly want in a pizza. Maybe.

They also have sicilian, for the record.

Mulberry Street Pizzeria

240 S. Beverly Dr. 90212 (310-247-8100)

347 North Canon Dr Beverly Hills 90210 (310-247-8998)

17040 Ventura Blvd Encino 91316 (818-789-6861)

Price: $$

Overall:

Update on Village Pizzeria

I recently went to Village pizzeria for a second tasting.  Click here to read all about it.   

Il Buco Pizzeria

After I finished my personal pizza from Al Gelato, I drove a mile down Robertson to my second stop in the Beverly Hills area, Il Buco.    

This place looks like a nice fancy restaurant, expensive but not overly so.  Seems like a great place to take a lady.  They have their own tomato sauce and I think they make their own pasta. Their pizza is also personal sized, and comes in a few styles – Margherita, Napoletana, New York, an eggplant and veggies one and a meat one. No cheese on the Napoletana and the difference between the New York and the Margherita is probably just replacing the basil with pepperonis.   I got the Margherita, and it was just ok.  The cheese and sauce were pretty tasty and the leaves of basil added some good flavor.   The crust unfortunately was the downfall.   It was thin and well done, but too crispy and kind of dried out.  The end of the pizza tasted more like a hard bread stick.  Plus, for its size, it was over priced, 12 dollars for a small personal pizza.  I could have eaten two.  If it had been good, that is.      

Il Buco Pizzeria - 107 N Robertson 90211

Price: $$$

Overall:

 

Al Gelato

Today I went exploring in Beverly Hills, or West Hollywood. I don't know where the line is, but they have a few pizza places over there, so I went to try them all.

The first stop was Al Gelato; this place was a lot of fun. It was a genuine Italian sweet shop, with biscotti, cheesecake, and gelato. It had some of the best gelato around. They gave me samples of almost every flavor while I waited for the pizza. While known for their desserts, they also have dinners, pizza, pasta and great meatballs. I ordered a small personal cheese pizza since I was planning on having more elsewhere. The price was affordable. While I waited, a large pizza with a whole lot of toppings came out. Then my small pizza came out with no toppings. I have to say I was a little disappointed. Not only was there a considerable size difference but it just didn’t look as good. The crust wasn't cooked enough. From here on out I need to stop getting personal sized pizzas. I don’t know what they do to them, but they just aren’t the same as the 14 inch and overs.
Anyway, that being said, the pizza wasn’t bad. The crust was great, crispy and thin. With just a touch of doughy-ness inside. The sauce and cheese were really tasting good to me. I feel if I go the next size up it could be a real contender. As of now, it is just a touch above average.

7/6/08

PS: I since have gone back to Al Gelato. I got a large this time. While I waited I also ordered a meatball cause they looked so good. They are. I had blamed the shortcomings of my last experience, on the personal size of the pizza. I am afraid to say those problems still existed in the large version. The cheese was a little heavy this time, and the sweet tasting sauce got lost in the blanket of cheese. But these are minor critiques, the pizza was still one of the best and since it was consistent, I feel it deserves a bump up in the rating.

Al Gelato - 805 S. Robertson 90035

Price: $

Overall:

Rainforest Cafe

Today I'm giving you 2 posts because for one, I ate at 2 places, and also I didn't write anything yesterday.  So there you go.  Across from Cheebo is a place called Rainforest Cafe.  This place has a little of everything but, like Cheebo, specializes in pizza.  They have slices pre-made warming on a turning tray.  So the slices could sometimes not be so fresh and they won't necessarily warm it in the oven for you unless you specify.  They charge you a little much too, $3.50 for one, it's a bigger than average slice but not a "big slice".   The whole pies are much more reasonably priced, in fact cheap.  I got a slice of cheese today and it wasn't too fresh.  It is also the kind of pizza you need to eat fresh.  It doesn't stay fresh long; it cools down and gets rubbery real quick.  The other main thing about it is, they have sesame seeds on the crust, making the outer edge look like a bagel.

 

 It is interesting, to say the least.  I can't say I like it, but then again I can't really say I don't like it either.  It just isn't what you expect, so your tongue automatically rejects it, but the truth is it doesn't taste that bad.  The good news is, if you order a whole pizza you can get it without sesame seeds.  Other than that, the pizza is nothing special, a Marinara-like sauce and lightly browned cheese on top of a chewier denser crust that is thin.  One slice is satisfying with or without sesame seeds but getting a whole pizza might be pushing it. 

Rainforest Cafe - 1451 Gardner St 90046

Price: $$

Overall:

Cheebo

Today I went to a place called Cheebo.  It is a bright orange building on Sunset that sells all kinds of food, but majors in pizza.  It is fun to say Cheebo, if you yell it emphasizing the 'o' at the end, in public you'll get some looks.  The pizza is fun too; it is in a kind of oval shape rather than the traditional circle.

 

 I got the small for $11, which is a little more than it should be.  The large, I think, is an extra row wide and several rows longer, and thats probably around $16.  Today I got a sausage and cheese pizza, thought I'd mix it up a little.  The sausage was ground up with little bits and large bits, but it tasted pretty good.  It was too much sausage really, the flavor overpowered the basic taste of the cheese and sauce, and it was all piled on in the middle.  When I got a bite of just cheese I thought it tasted pretty good but the sauce was lacking.  There could have been a lot more sauce, I could barely taste it with all the cheese and the strong amount of sausage.  The crust was floppy and soggy with grease in the center.  But towards the end it tasted pretty good, the crust even though it didn't seem to be cooked that much, was really light and crispy at the end.  

There were parts of this pizza I liked and parts that weren't so good, I feel it could be a different pizza every time you order it.  I remember getting pepperoni and cheese once and it was loaded with sauce and sopping with grease.  Good, but messy and filling.  

CheeeBooooooo !!!!  like that Cheeto's guy, who was that, Boomer Esiason ?   

Cheebo - 7533 Sunset Blvd. 90046

Price: $$

Overall:

il Capriccio wood fire pizzeria

There are two Il Capriccio locations, one on Vermont and Hollywood and the other just a mile down the road on Hollywood. What I learned today, when I attempted to get pizza at the one on Vermont, was that the one on Vermont has no pizza. In fact the 2 places which at one point were related are no longer owned by the same person. So the one on Vermont is Italian cuisine while the other is strictly a pizzeria (with sandwiches, apps, and desserts).

Once I got to the right Il Capriccio I ordered a large 16'' pizza margherita for $18. The exciting thing about this place is the wood fired stone oven. There are not too many pizzerias in LA that have this. Of course just because you cook a pizza with an actual wood fire doesn't mean it will be good, though it's hard not to get your hopes up.

The crust had the taste and the texture of a pizza that had been cooked with a wood fire. It was crispy on the outside and had a slight smokey taste. It was cooked pretty evenly which was good, however I have had pizza there before that had not been rotated as it was cooking. It also could have been cooked longer, it was crispy but was still doughy inside and didn't have a slight char anywhere to it, but I suppose thats a preference. Even if it had been cooked a touch longer it wouldn't have changed the fact that the crust was a little dense and doughy on the inside. But good flavor.

The best part was the light sauce, it tasted fresh and pure, a little bitter, a little sweet, with just a touch of spices if any. It was a good sauce indeed which worked out because the cheese was almost non existent. Like I ordered a tomato pie or something.

I have gotten both the Americana, which is the regular pizza as we know it, and the Margherita which has supposedly fresher mozzarella and considerably less of it, also with a touch of basil. The Americana was light on the cheese which mixed in with the sauce a little, plus it stopped short a few inches from the edge. The sauce kept going a couple inches past that, so there were a couple inches with just sauce, an area that could have had cheese too.

If you thought there was not enough cheese on the American then the Margherita is not for you. Small spots of mozzarella were few and far between. There was one slice with only one small spot on the tip of the triangle. So that was a bit of a downer. I am a person who believes you CAN have too much cheese. This was far, the other extreme.

Overall this pizza had a great taste that combined great sauce and wood burned flavor. The dough in my opinion needs to be a little lighter and of course more cheese and this pie could be a 10 star work of art. Also if they can start using their wood fire to the best of its ability; there is much more potential with this pizza.

il Capriccio Wood Fire Pizzeria

4518 Hollywood Blvd 90027
Price: $$
Overall:

Marco's Trattoria

Today I ordered from this cool-looking breakfast, lunch and dinner place in West Hollywood, called Marco's Trattoria.

  

I found that their menu online gives you an option of ordering a pizza with a thin, medium, or thick crust, which is pretty cool.  I, of course, had to go with the thin crust. They give you a 16-inch pie, which is more than enough for 2 people even though I ended up eating way more by myself. The 16-inch is only 12 dollars, which is pretty fair.  So far so good. I picked up the pizza, and it looked pretty good, as most pizza does I suppose. 

Here is a picture that looks pretty similar to other pizzas.

 

The one thing you notice is the crust is thin at the end too; there is no gradual rise in the dough and it doesn’t seem to be cooked as much as it should. I took the first bite, notoriously the best bite, and it was good as usual. The first thing I noticed was the sauce, it was a thick heavy sauce like a marinara and there was a lot of it. The amount may have been right for a thicker crust, but this thin crust had trouble supporting the amount of sauce.  The taste, I wasn't a fan of either.  The sauce was too heavy with spices and not sweet enough.  The deeper you got into the slice, the less you could tolerate the sauce.  It was too overpowering and the cheese was almost not even a factor.  The crust was very thin and had a flaky texture to it, almost like a croissant, but a lot more density to it.  The crust could have been cooked longer; it didn't have that crunchy crispy-ness to it on the bottom, and the outer edge was the same.  Overall, the pizza was better than a lot of pizza I have had, but didn't really meet my expectations for average.    

Marco's Trattoria - 8136 Santa Monica Blvd 90046

Price: $

Overall:

Tomato Pie Pizza Joint

Today I picked up from a place called Tomato Pie Pizza Joint. They have this name because they serve a version of a tomato pie. This is basically a pizza with no cheese, although they put a little parmesan on top. They also have a Sicilian style pizza too, but I have to stick to the thin crust version I’ve been chasing. They also have a Syracuse Pie. Since I am a Syracuse alum I was exited about that. It is a buffalo chick pizza basically. It has hot sauce and ranch mixed with the cheese, chicken and spices. They also have this special veggie pizza that looked amazing.

tomato pieSicilian

I got my cheese pie from the one on Melrose, pictured above. Though recently I have been back to Sliverlake for the other location. They have a little patio out back which is nice.

This is a place that is reasonably priced. I got a generously large 18-inch pie for 14 dollars. I took it home and ate over half of it; is that too much? The pizza tasted good at first, it had good flavor and I liked the sauce a lot. I realized every pizza I eat tastes great the first bite you take, and the deeper you get into the slice the more the elements of the pizza stand out. Finally, when you get to the end all there is, is the crust, and if thats not good enough then you can 't finish it. So you really cannot judge a slice until you finish it. Anyway, this pizza could have stood to have a little more cheese, but it was alright. The crust, of course the common mistake, was not great. The taste was just too flat and stale and a little tough to bite through. It wasn’t nearly crispy enough and there was no puff at the end. I am being overly critical obviously, the crust is better than most. A lot of people swear by this place so I don't know. I found it to be only slightly above average. Perhaps it is the fact they have tomato pies and Sicilian pies and a pie called the Grandma - their signature dish if you will.

When I returned to Tomato Pie I was sure to get the Grandma Pie because this is what the people rave about. So I felt I needed to be in the loop. The grandma is closer to a traditional Neapolitan style pizza in that it is primarily sauce w/ a light smattering of cheese. Though the cheese was the same cheese they usually use, just less of it, and the sauce had a lot more spices than a regular pie. It was a variation of a Neapolitan style.

It was loaded with oregano, basil and slices of cloves of garlic. A lot of garlic, if you aren't on board with garlic don't get this pizza. The sauce was really tasty, like a said a lot of flavor and spices with whole chunks of crushed marinated tomatoes. The problem I have with this is, it is not a sauce I want on my pizza. Pizza should have only lightly spiced and sweet sauce. I guess you could say this is more of a dinner pizza. This is just my preference though, the sauce was good.

The main problem was the same as the regular pie, the crust. It was crispy and thin, so it got half way to being good, but was also dense and dry. I have ordered the pizza a second time more recently and it was a little better from the Silverlake location. The crust was not as dry and had a little chewiness to it. It is a decent pie, I dont know if it is worth raving about all over the country but I still prefer a classic run of the mill thin slice of pizza. A relatively cheap pie though $17 for an 18 inch. If you like Tomato Pie's crust, if you like a spicy flavorful sauce and if you like garlic, this pie is for you. Enjoy.

Tomato Pie Pizza Joint

7751 1/2 Melrose Ave. 90046

323-653-9993

2457 Hyperion Ave. Silverlake 90027

323-661-6474

Price: $

Overall: