Chicago Style Pizza in LA?

[ns1]

I want to be fair in my Chicago Style pizza hatred, so I need to find the best chicago style I can find.

Suggestions? Willing to drive ANYWHERE in SoCal. It just has to be good and "authentic"

To clarify, I'm looking for the deep dish, with sauce on top. ala lou whatever it's name is

[OCAnne]

I haven't had good luck FedExing Chicago pizzas (tried it three times) and I worry about how safe/bacteria-free they are after that long travelling (one of them wasn't chilled at all).

Visited Tony's in Placentia for the first time last week, based on CH recommendations and was way impressed although disappointed not to find spinach an option. Sausage and mushroom stuffed was awesome.

[epop]

they should be on dry ice and frozen. i stick to vegetarian pizzas, btw, and I guess i've been lucky the dozen times i've had them overnighted.

[RSMBob]

As others have noted, there is some wide variety of what you can find here in SoCal. My 2 go-to places (which I have written a lot about) are Tony's Little Italy in Placentia and Chicago Pasta House in Moreno Valley (also now home to the 2nd CA Portillo's). Both are authentic top-notch versions of what you can find in and around Chicago in my opinion.

Others:
Masa in Echo Park - former employees of Gino's East in Chicago. Very mixed reviews. I haven't been there.
Zelo in Arcadia - Chicago deep dish with a decidely CA twist to it
Sal's Bit of Italy in Anaheim - old school italian place does a decent but not great version
Banducci's in Lakewood - tiny neighborhood place not far from LGB Airport is pretty darn good. If I lived near there I could be a regular
Romano's in Riverside (3 locations) - had their thin crust once and it was excellent. Hope to be back to try the stuffed
Rosati's in Corona - newly opened outpost of a popular Chicago pizza place. I think they would do it pretty well
Joe N Tony's in Lake Elsinore - website looks good and seems authentic but I have not been
Mama Colletti's in Temecula - haven't been
BJ's (various locations) and Selma's (RSM) - decent restaurants and pizza but not really what you find in Chicago
Numero Uno - this chain tried to fool people they were part of the original Pizzeria Uno from Chicago...there's a reason there's not too many around anymore
Uno's Chicago Grill - these are related to Pizzeria Uno but concern themselves more about corporate profits in the vein of a TGIFridays's than they do about making great, authentic pizza

Many of the places listed are out of the immediate "LA" area, and I don't know of any on the west side or SFV or points north and west of LA. There are also about a half dozen places in the San Diego area, some of them pretty good.

[epop]

Anyone tried Mama Coletti's flat pizza? Good find, RSMBob, possibly...

[epop]

Best to have it shipped overnight from your choice place in Chicago

[frenchdisco]

Hello all,
Well, as a former Chicagoan who has been missing his Lou Malnati's pizza (yes, that's his name) for some five years now, I have to say that what you seek is nigh impossible to find. That said, a good facsimile can be found at Masa in Echo Park ( http://www.masaofechopark.com/ ). OK, so it's not as good as Lou's in Chicago, or Nancy's or Pizzeria Uno or Due, but it's almost there. My beefs with it are:
1. There just needs to be MORE of everything.
2. The crust, while an admirable attempt, needs to be doughier, and, well, thicker.
But go ahead and see what you think. The place itself is very nice and laid-back. I've always had great service and they have a nice blond beer that is made just for them. Highly recommended, though I am afraid it misses the mark a tad if it's true authenticity you're after.

[ns1]

Are the reviews for Masa (overall) still crap? Anybody been there lately? I know exactly where it is, and wanted to go, but CH reviews turned me off

[mott]

I'm such a devoated fan of Chicago pizza that I've literally made travel pitstops at O'Hare just so I can spend some time in the city having a good pie. So, while Masa doesn't taste exactly like any of the old standby places you might know -- Gino, Giordano's, etc. -- like all the original places, it has its own thing, and it is 100% percent authentic, delicious pizza. I recommend it very highly.

[chowchi1]

It misses the mark big time. I had it once and have never returned. In the LA area, the closest deep dish/corn meal style crust would be Zelo's in Monrovia with a San Fran gourmet flair. After that, RSMBob's list below in the Orange County region is very complete with a more varied selection than anything here in LA. Hope to make to the trek to Rosati's one day as I had it in Chicago and it was decent.

[ozzygee]

ns1:
Let me see if I understand you, you want food recs for something you DONT like?

[ns1]

Well, maybe I haven't found a "fair" representation of it. Hence my disdain.

I am fairly open minded. I can be swayed. It will never be as good as NY, but maybe I might grow to like it (if I can find a good example)

That place in Placentia looks like it'll fit the bill though

[Das Ubergeek]

I grew up on New York-style pizza. Chicago deep-dish is just a different beast altogether. But it is damn tasty.

[FoodieKat]

That's true; they are two totally different styles of pizza. If you prefer thin-crust, and/or Sicilian-cut pizza, NY is the place to go. The crusts and cheeses are excellent. If you like thick- crust, deep pan or stuffed (layered) pizza, true Chicago-style pizza can't be beat, in my view. But then I am biased. ;-)

[ipsedixit]

Might give Zelo in Arcadia a try.

Not true Chicago-style, but hey, it's LA, you've got to give a little to get a little.

-----
Zelo Pizzeria
328 E Foothill Blvd, Arcadia, CA 91006

[Ogawak]

Being ad avid fan of Chicago style pizza, I would like to also point you to Banducci's in Lakewood. It has stuffed, pan-style and thin crust pizzas. More of a take-out place, it provides a decent sampling of this type pizza.

-----
Banducci's
2706 Del Amo Boulevard, Lakewood, CA

[FoodieKat]

I've looked at Banducci's menu, and see that they have spinach as a topping in their stuffed pizzas, so it might just be worth the drive to LB/Lakewood. A lot of the other places in the area that serve Chicago-style pizza don't even have spinach as a topping- an essential ingredient to true Chicago pizza IMHO.
Of course, I'm going back home to Chicago next week, so might just wait till then. ;-)

[B_hungry]

Pizza in LA, I could've sworn that was an oxymoron. As far as chi-town style, Uno's is probably the best you can get. I prefer Brownstones than Casa Bianca (both NY style), only because Brownstone is next to a wine bar. Lesser of 2 evils...

[HastaLaPasta]

Are there still Uno's around? Only one I knew of was in the Northridge mall and its long, long gone.

[Diana]

This isn't the Uno's I remember..but it is a chain using the Chicago Uno name. Is it related?
http://www.unos.com/location.html

Of course, we have Numero Uno pizza here:
http://www.numerounopizzeria.com/

[HastaLaPasta]

Yes, I think the Unos chain from the first link is the same place that used to be in Northridge. Numero Uno's are good too and they are thick crust but totally different pizza experience.

[Diana]

The truth is, there is nothing to compare to real Chicago pizza in LA.

You can ahve a place in Chicago overnight you frozen one.

[SauceSupreme]

Casa Bianca in Eagle Rock

[ns1]

http://www.diglounge.net/wp-content/u...

That doesn't look very chicago style to me?

[chowchi1]

The picture is not the best. Order the cheese and sausage well done -- it is the closest to Chicago thin crust: http://casabiancapizza.com/. For stuffed pizza head out to Orange County: http://www.tonyslittleitaly.com/ Numerous threads on this board: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/448457

[ns1]

Thanks. Might have to head out to the OC

[Das Ubergeek]

It's theoretically "thin-crust" Chicago style.

If you're looking for deep-dish, the usual two places are Chicago Pasta House in Moreno Valley and Tony's Little Italy in Placentia.