Prizzi's-Closed

Prizzi's
3821 Riverside Dr
Burbank
818-641-5900

There are certain things about a Chicago style deep dish pizza that I love. The chucky tomato sauce, the layers of cheese and toppings, and a nice flakey, usually with cornmeal, crust. There are places in LA like Masa of Echo Park and Hollywood Pies that serves up a very good example of Chicago deep dish pizza.

Then there are places like Numero Uno Pizza, that think a deep dish pizza means doughly crust baked in a pan. That describes Prizzi's. I heard some good things about Prizzi's but never tried their location on Franklin in LA. Then they closed that location. Then, I heard they moved to Burbank, so I decided to give them a try.

Deep dish sausage pizza-$19. This reminded me of pizza places like Numero Uno Pizza, where they bake a pizza in a deep dish pan and call it Chicago deep dish pizza, but in reality it's nothing close to deep dish Chicago pizza. This was just a large amount of doughy crust, a little sauce then the ground up sausage, and then cheese. It was better than Numero Uno Pizza, but it wasn't a true deep dish Chicago pizza. I wasn't impressed with the sausage, because it was like ground sausage, not in the chunky pieces or the flat layer of sausage you see. The texture and taste was just wrong.

Deep dish meat lovers pizza-sausage, pepperoni, and ground beef, $25. The first thing I noticed about this pizza was the sausage. It was so thin. If you had true Chicago deep dish pizza before, you know the sausage has chunky pieces of tomato. It isn't a thin smooth layer.

This was a little better than the sausage, but the crust wasn't that good, a bit doughly. The cheese and toppings were OK, but nothing really stood out. Nor did this come close to Chicago deep dish pizza.

Since I have had deep dish pizza before, I know they take awhile to bake. The servers should tell people about the wait. Our server did not and that could be a problem for people who don't know about Chicago deep dish pizza.

I paid the server and told her it's all your's. A few minutes later the server came and asked, "Do I need change?" Now, WTF is that, I already told you "it's all your's" and even if you didn't understand, you come back with change and not empty handed.

Otherwise, service was pretty good.

To call Prizzi's a true Chicago deep dish pizza place, would be a mistake. I saw some of their other items, salads, sandwiches, pasta etc and they did look pretty good. I may go to try the other items, but I won't go back for the pizza.

Hollywood Pies-Moved

www.hollywoodpies.com
323-337-3212

Nov. 2014 review of Hollywood Pies' new location on Pico.

In the LA area there are only two places to get a good Chicago style deep dish pizza; Tony's Little Italy and Masa of Echo Park. Now, Hollywood Pies, has emerged as a third place to get a good Chicago style deep dish pizza.

Hollywood Pies is an interesting business concept. They do not have a store front, they only use the kitchen of a restaurant that has closed. Also, it's a delivery and pick up only location. Well, it's not really "pick up," they have curb side service, so you call them when you arrive and they will come out with your pizza. They do accept credit cards.

So, I drive out to the given GPS address of 417 Westmont Dr, in West Hollywood, which is just north, on La Cienega, of the Beverly Center. And, I see a closed down restaurant. I park and when I get outside, I can smell the wonderful smell of pizza!! So, I know I'm close. I walk closer to the restaurant and I see a young woman walking away from a car, and inside the car I can see pizza boxes. So, I ask the young lady is this Hollywood Pies. She says Yes. We talk for a couple minutes about the location and business model etc. She goes back inside and a couple minutes later, comes out with my order!!!



I ordered a galf Classic Chicago-Whole milk mozzarella, mild Italian sausage and fresh house-made ricotta and Half Fairbanks-Whole milk mozzarella, mild Italian sausage, onions and baby bella mushrooms $22.

Chicago pizza take 45 minutes to cook. Any place that says they are a deep dish Chicago pizza place, and their pizza takes 20 minutes to cook, get the hell away from there. That place either, isn't a real Chicago deep dish pizza place or their pizza are prebaked/frozen, and that's not what you want.

I placed my order and they said the wait time was 90 minutes, because they were at their max. I wasn't too happy about the wait; not so much with Hollywood pies, but with myself for not placing my order sooner.

Anyways, they called me when my pizza was ready and I quickly drove over. Hollywood Pies' website gives 415 WESTMOUNT DR. WEST HOLLYWOOD CA 90048, as a GPS direction. Just go to the intersection of La Cienega and Westmount, go west and you will run into the building that is pictured. There is a small parking area that says No Parking but if you stay in your car, you don't have to worry about the meter maids.

Anyways, I was handed my pizza, my arm dropped about six inches, because the pizza was so heavy. Always a good sign when it comes to Chicago pizza. I found a crate to take a picture of the pizza, then drove about 45 minutes to finally dig into the pizza. The pizza holds up amazingly well after 45 minutes.

The crust is dense, but light, flakey, and buttery. It holds up very well to all the sauce and toppings.

The sauce is on the tangy side, but is very good. I get an oregano flavor from the sauce.

The whole milk mozzarella, is very good quality.




Fairbanks-Whole milk mozzarella, mild Italian sausage, onions and baby bella mushrooms. This was awesome. The sausage was crumbed up pieces of mild Italian sausage, with good flavor and seasoning. The onions were very sweet and cut into long silvers, which allowed them to remain crispy even after baking.




Classic Chicago-Whole milk mozzarella, mild Italian sausage and fresh house-made ricotta.

All the flavors really worked well together for this pizza. The ricotta added a rich creamy flavor and texture.

I think my favorite is the Fairbanks, but would gladly order the Classic Chicago, again.

Service was very good. The young girl was professional on the phone and when she gave me the pizza, was nice and helpful. I would order at least an hour in advance, and give yourself time to find Hollywood Pies.

I would go back to Hollywood Pies anytime.

P.H.A.T. Pizza-Closed

P.H.A.T. Pizza
18340 Yorba Linda Blvd
Ste 104
Yorba Linda
714-985-1515

When I found out that a Chicago style stuffed/deep dish pizza place had opened up within five miles of Tony's Little Italy, I had to try it. Tony's is my favorite Chicago style deep dish pizza in Orange County.

P.H.A.T. Pizza is so new, they haven't had the time to put up a new sign. There is still the signage from the old pizza restaurant, they replaced.




I got a medium stuffed, with sausage and half pepperoni, $20.93. When I read that other food review site, I can't believe some reviewers are that stupid. Chicago stuffed/deep dish pizza takes 30 minutes or more to bake. The fact they complain about this, shows how stupid some people can be.

Anyways, the pizza arrives and the first thing I noticed, was the watery, runny pizza. This shows to me, they use frozen items and/or they do not allow the sauce to reduce down. The sauce is a sweet, light tasting sauce. There is a lot of fennel seed in this pizza and not just from the sausage.

The amount of pepperoni and sausage, wasn't good at all. Most bites were cheese, sauce and crust.

The crust wasn't that good either. First, no cornmeal was used. Then, it was almost like a cracker crust, which you can see in the picture below. A Chicago stuffed pizza should be firm, solid, not cracker thin.



Service was good. The guy who took my order, who I think is the owner, was nice and friendly.

P.H.A.T Pizza is a Chicago stuffed/deep dish pizza place, but they do not do a good job of it. With Tony's so close, there is no need to come back.

Masa of Echo Park

Masa of Echo Park
1800 W Sunset Blvd
LA
213-989-1558

Chicago style pizza!! Of course you need to go to Chicago to find the best, I prefer Connie's but there are others like Lou Malnati's. But out here in LA, whenever I hear those words, I think of Tony's Pizza in Placentia. But Masa comes pretty damn close to Tony's Little Italy. Actually, Masa comes very close to Lou Malnati's.

Pictured is the large "Lots of Meat" pizza, Fontanini sweet Italian sausage and pepperoni, $19.95. As most people know Chicago style pizza takes about an hour to bake. Best best, order before getting there and your pizza will be ready.

The sausage was very good. But instead of the crumbled sausage it was sausage patties, just like some places in Chicago. There was a ton of sausage and pepperoni and cheese. The sauce was good but I didn't think there was enough of it. The pizza was on the dry side. But overall a very good Chicago style pizza. As good as Tony's Little Italy? No. But pretty damn close.

Service was below average. The server had a lot of attitude at times. She was slow to refill drinks and instead of asking us to do something, she ordered us to pass the plates down. I mean isn't that the server's job? If she wants some help, be nice and polite about it.

I would go back to Masa but I want a different server. This is a great place to go before a Dodger game. The pizza is very good and worth the trip. Parking can be tough in the area.

Romano's Chicago Pizzeria

Romano's Chicago Pizzeria
5225 Canyon Crest Dr #60
Riverside
951-781-0773

In my quest for Chicago style pizza, I found Romano's in Riverside. I wanted to see how Romano's matched up, to my standard for Chicago style pizza is Tony's Little Italy in Placentia.

Pictured is the medium, My Other Sister's Favorite stuffed pizza, pepperoni and black olives, for $16.95. The pizza was very tasty but a bit on the dry side, they didn't put as much sauce or cheese as Tony's. There was a decent amount of pepperoni and they just overloaded the black olives. But something was missing. Maybe not enough spices or toppings or sauce. But this just wasn't as good as Tony's. The picture shows a lot of sauce on top but I'm used to sauce being inside the pizza.

Service was good. Our server was attentive and friendly. Since Chicago style pizza takes a 30-40 minutes to cook, she came by to refill drinks during our wait.

Romano's is pretty good but it wasn't worth the drive out to Riverside. If I was in the area, I would go back but I would not make a special trip out there. But I do think the prices are a bit high for what you get. Basically I found the prices of medium prices at Romano's would get you a large at Tony's.

Tony’s Little Italy Pizza

Tony’s Little Italy Pizza
1808 Placentia Ave. Unit B
Placentia, CA 92870
714-528-2159

Chicago style pizza!!! Just those three words make my mouth water. Chicago style pizza is just minutes away from me at Tony's, the best Chicago style pizza, west of Chicago.

Pictured is a stuffed medium Tony's Special which is sausage, mushrooms, green peppers and onions for $18.21 Chicago style pizza is a pan pizza and just layered with great toppings. Stuffed pizza just means they put a layer of dough on the top of the cheese, then a layer of toppings, then another layer of dough. Tony's piles the cheese, sausage, green peppers and onions. I didn't taste any mushrooms. But it didn't matter. This pizza is that good. The sausage was everywhere in the slice and with nice spice to it. The flavors all work together to make the best Chicago style pizza west of Chicago.

The only thing I don't like about Tony's is they have this huge mural of Chewing Gum Field. That POS, overrated dump of a ballpark that houses THAT OTHER baseball team in Chicago. All the other items of Chewing Gum Field make me sick; the drunken fans, the smell of urine, the loser snob people who live in the slums of the northside of Chicago!!

But the pizza quickly makes up for it. Service is good but remember a Chicago style pizza takes at least 30 minutes to bake, so don't be in a rush. The owners are good people, except for the fact they are fans of that OTHER baseball team in Chicago. GO WHITE SOX!!!!!!!!