Los Angeles is in the midst of a pizza renaissance.
Pizzaiolos across the city are slicing up unique takes on pies that pull from multiple influences — local, global, and everything in between — just like Los Angeles itself.
It's like when you create a playlist for your friends with all your favorite songs. There’s a little jazz, rock, hip-hop, country, pop.
That’s L.A.-style pizza.
Because the region isn't beholden to any specific standards for pizzas, chefs get to use all the best parts of what makes for a great pie. And, I would argue, that means L.A. is currently making pizza which is better than any other city across the globe.
Fighting talk, I know, but this is a hill I'm willing to die on.
Now, as LAist’s food editor, I’m often asked where to go to get pizza. So I’ve put together a list of my favorite picks. It's clearly not exhaustive, and it's not a list that tells you where to get "the best" pizza. Instead, it's a snapshot of L.A.-style pizza right now — my take on what stands out in terms of creativity and skill.
LaSorted’s: Silver Lake
Tommy Brockert was an L.A. event photographer when his then-girlfriend, now wife, gave him an Ooni pizza oven. That led him to enroll in a one-day pizza-making class, where he was hooked and began stumbling down the rabbit hole of crafting his own naturally leavened sourdough pizza crusts.
When his income dried up at the start of the pandemic, he had the crazy idea of selling his homemade pizzas off the front porch of his home in Echo Park.
It was so successful that he now runs his own pizza shop, LaSorted’s, in Silver Lake, just down the road from where he used to sell his porch pizzas.
A good place to start is the Mamba, prepared as a regular cheese slice or with pepperoni. Its name comes from the late Laker great Kobe Byrant, who once said he ate a pepperoni pizza before scoring 81 points in a single game in 2006. Brocket, who grew up worshiping the Lakers and Dodgers, chose the name.
The Upside Down Mamba is perhaps the most texturally interesting pie on the menu.
According to Brockert, this style of pizza has roots in Philadelphia, which he learned about from some of his Philly-born employees. The name is exactly what it is: their cheese pizza, with its toppings, flipped, with a three-cheese blend serving as its base, then topped thoroughly with tomato sauce, sprinkled with flaky sea salt, and Sicilian oregano. The thin layer of cooked cheese underneath the sauce forms a buffer between the sauce and the pizza crust, making for a uniquely excellent texture that many West coasters, such as yours, truly haven’t experienced before visiting LaSorted’s.
Another standout is the sausage and pepper pie. It's topped with their housemade sausage mixed with roasted green peppers and onions and then drizzled with spicy tomato Arrabbiata sauce and Calabrian chili oil. This is the pizza version of a sausage and pepper sandwich from an Italian deli.
Think about how a producer takes a snippet of a song and creates a new song based on it. Brocket accomplishes something similar with his pizza—it's both specifically Los Angeles and distinctly his own.
Location: 2847 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles
Hours: Daily, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Quarantine Pizza Co: Eastside pop-up
If you've ever visited Smorgasburg LA, there’s a good chance you’ve encountered Quarantine Pizza Co., a pizza pop-up run by Brandon and Carolina Conaway. Like many kids who grew up in Southern California, they draw from various influences, both from their respective cultural backgrounds and a slew of others that they’ve picked up along the way.
Brandon is Asian (Chinese and Vietnamese) and white. Carolina is Latina (Mexican and Colombian). Both grew up in Orange County, where they met before moving to Los Angeles for college.
Brandon worked in Italian restaurants, and Carolina has a background in set design for television and film. The couple has been experimenting with sourdough starters since 2015, which they would trade with friends. When the pandemic hit, they started selling pizzas out of their backyard in Highland Park (you may sense a theme here), which is how they came up with the name Quarantine.
It's led to some outstanding combinations, such an Banh Mi pies, Char siu pies, and birria sausage, salsa roja and red corn sourdough.
When you bite into a slice of their sourdough “Neapolitan-ish inspired pizza", its fluffy, airy texture is like a breath of fresh air. It's a revelation. The outer rim of the crust features the perfect amount of “leoparding,” which occurs when the naturally fermented dough is cooked under high heat and creates little dark spots.
I suggest you try the al pastor. The soft crust feels like a thicker-style tortilla because they use Masienda, a single-origin heirloom masa harina infused into the dough. It features sausage from A’s BBQ, topped with sliced pineapple purchased from a local street vendor and salsa verde, onion, and cilantro.
The sausage cups up like pepperoni, pairing exceptionally well with the pineapple's sweetness and the masa in the pizza dough. Each bite contains a rush of freshness.
Yes, that’s right. It's the best of both worlds: pizza and tacos. What a time to be alive in Los Angeles.
Location: Smorgasburg LA, 777 S. Alameda St., Los Angeles
Hours: Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Follow them on Instagram to find out where they’re popping up next.
Apollonia's Pizza in Mid-City
Justin De Leon, owner and head pizza maker at Apollonia's Pizza, grew up on pizza. His first job was working at a pizza restaurant when he was 13. The modest menu might make you wonder if this is really some of the best pizza in Los Angeles. But you'll quickly understand why after your first bite — or encountering the long lines outside his standing-room only, cash-only pizzeria off Wilshire Boulevard.
De Leon has been a lifelong student who has broken down pizza into its fundamental elements. If you ask what defines his pizza craft, he’ll say his job is to “simplify it.”
“I've challenged myself to create something that I want. Not necessarily what there's a market for.”
I suggest you start with a traditional slice of De Leon's cheese pie. “I was looking for something thin, light, and crispy,” De Leon said. Well, he found it. This is the cheese slice all others should be judged against.
Next, try the square slice, but take a look before taking a bite — notice that crispy, frico cheese crust that rises up on the sides, giving it a 3-D effect. Contrast that with the square slice's light and spacious interior and you'll know why I think this is one of the best in Los Angeles.
De Leon is quick to point out that he doesn’t use specific names, such as Detroit style, Siciliana, or Grandma’s style to describe his pizza. Instead, he likes to think of it as a combination of all of them wrapped into one, as well as his own background and that of his employees: DeLeon is Latino, and many of the staff members he works with at the small pizzeria are Latino.
Listening to De Leon describe his square slice is like listening to an artist talk about their most recent work, which makes sense given his background in photography. He describes it as “graphic” with “a strong visual representation,” stating that the flavor of the slice itself should match the visual.
DeLeon describes L.A.-style pizza as a mixture of various styles, and believes that combination gives it a unique taste.
In his own words, "To me, L.A. pizza is a mix of everything."
Location: 5176 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles
Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
