Marcelino's Italian Kitchen

There are 2 of these in the same town, Sherman Oaks. One is more of a take out place - the one on Burbank Blvd. is for eating in. It's a pretty typical Italian restaurant, with salads, sandwiches, pastas and calzones. It seems very family oriented, maybe its the children's drawings on the tables or the actual child who took my drink order.

Me and a friend ordered a large pizza, it was about 16 inches for 13 dollars. Very reasonable. They have two sizes bigger, Family and Jumbo which are probably 18 and 20 inch pizzas.

It was definitely a decent pie. Simple, not too many spices, a light sweet sauce with good cheese and a thin and crispy crust. The crust had a corn meal bottom which I believe kept it crispy. It wasn't as thin as i could have been. It had the same thickness from the outer edge all the way to the middle. So it was the middle that could have thinned out a bit. The opposite of what the outer edge could have been. The crust was kind of tasteless and a little dry as well. Though this is all overly critical. It is a cheap pizza that seems high quality and tastes good. The place is what a pizzeria should be as well: easy going, no glitz or excessive decor and it had a sense of family which always makes a pizza taste better.

Anyway, they have a great van so they are ok in my book.

Marcelino's Italian Kitchen

13646 Burbank Blvd. Sherman Oaks 91401

818 989 0855

12910 Magnolia Blvd. Sherman Oaks 91423

818 505 1111

Price: $

Overall:

San Gennaro Cafe

This is another Italian restaurant down the street form a slightly more casual Maria's Italian Kitchen in Brentwood Village. This place represents the Italian heritage pretty hard, it goes further than just New York, it is San Gennaro. It is one of the few places where it seemed most people working were actually Italian. Not that this makes it genuine. In fact it hypes it up more to be possibly let down. It seems like a great place to eat though, it is known for a great selection of cheap wine and apparently some good deals on pizza and happy hour. Though I don't think I got that 25% off when I went. It was after 4 on a weekday.

I got a large cheese, 18 inches for $13. Which is a pretty good price already. Their other dishes are on the pricey side but if it is pizza and wine you order, you are all set.

Notice the vibrant red color of the sauce. This is not only the first thing you notice when you look at it but also the first thing you taste.

The sauce is extremely sweet with just a pure tamato taste. It is a little to thick for me, but I was really loving the sauce. Though after one slice or two it gets to be a little too sweet. If there was less of it on the pizza it might be ok, but it got to be too much sugar. The cheese tasted pretty good nothing special. The crust was thin, but a little too bready. It would have been better had they cooked it a little longer. Perhaps it was just sitting in the box too long. When I warmed up an old slice a few hours later in the oven the crust was crispy and perfect. The dough was just pure good tasting dough. Not too much butter or oil or salt or sugar. Just good bread. A really good pie. Just not quite crispy enough and too sweet.

They have some other great toppings and specialty pizzas as well as a gluten free version. Also they offer a thicker crust for you people craving Dominos.

San Gennaro Cafe

140 Barrington Place Brentwood Village

310-476-9696

Price: $

Overall:

Maria's Italian Kitchen

Here is a common Italian restaurant, Maria's Italian Kitchen. It has been open since 1945 and since then has opened about 7 other places all over the LA area. This is the one in Brentwood. They are all run and owned by women, supposedly. It is a nice little place, thats not too fancy but not too casual.

I ordered a large cheese pizza, and I asked for basil. Basil does not come on the pizza by default I don't think, so they may have charged extra I'm not sure. Either way it came to about 18 dollars, for about a 16 inch which is a little pricy.

This pizza tasted great at first, mainly because I was hungry. It had a pretty decent thin and crispy crust, though as a result it was kind of dried out. The cheese and sauce were put on in good amounts. The sauce had a rich flavor of spices though it didn't really stand out. One slice was pretty good, but after that it was too salty and oily and dry. Perhaps I am being a bit too hard on it. The basil was good, but a little too much of it.

It was a decent pizza worthy of calling it NY style. Just not perfect, but alas I seem to have become a pizza snob.

Maria's Italian Kitchen

11723 Barrington Place. Brentwood Village

310-476-6112

Price: $$

Overall: