La Babera's (sp ?) pizza

My family used to go this resturaunt on Wilshire west of Barrington eons ago, I think there's a two story mini-mall there now, at the time I was too young to appreciate pizza but my older sister still say's it was the best pie ever. Anybody remember it ?, agree/disagree ? Know where the owners or recipe went ? etc.
Thanks

[emenot]

I like to know the same! I have had many dates there while I was going to UCLA, oh what memories!

[BSW6490]

Best pizza of all time. Its a shame no one aquired the recipe.

Of course I remember La Barbara's on Wilshire. I was so sad to see it go. I remember ordering pizzas to take back to the dorm at U.C.L.A. (Dykstra Hall) and then as an adult going there for dinner often with friends and family.

A great restaurant, but sadly it closed many many years ago. I think of it often (especially now that I work in Westwood!!)

That was my favorite pizza place back in the 1960's and 70's. They really heaped the cheese on those pizzas. We used to gorge on La Barbera's pizza and then go right across the street where my favorite ice cream parlor was located and finish off with some Clancy Muldoon's ice cream.

That was great ice cream ... and lousy service. If they just could have gotten the ice cream on the cones a little faster, I would have kept them in business single-handed. Regarding La Barbera's, I never understood the fuss, it sure wasn't about the quality of the food.

I know the family, and they have been offered millions to reopen.... but they have no plans.

[Old Grumpus]

Maybe you could see if the family would be willing to share the recipe with those of us who would like to make it for old-times sake??

La Barbera's was the setting of one of my excessive eating episodes that I can never seem to live down. Whenever I visit with the friends I ate with, I'll invariably hear the "remember when you ate three entire meals at La Barbera's in one sitting?" Of course, if we're with anyone who hasn't heard the story, my friend goes into it with such enthusiasm that I can't refute a thing. That might have been the peak of my appetite during those college days.

Aren't the La Babera's in Beveryly Hills and Pacific Palisades still open?

Are you thinking of Jacopo's?

Yikes, I sure am! Good call.

I do remember La Barbera's, too, of course.

And sometimes I conflate Bo-Jay's with La Barbera's, too.

Conflate is a cool word, but it's not a smarter way of saying "confuse."

But that's the whole point. I wasn't confusing them -- I was melding them in that thing that sometimes functions as my mind.

Ah, good point. Conflation seems to be a key source of restaurant ideas. Asian + French, Pizza + tandoori, etc.

Personally, I reserve my conflation fantasies for old beaus. :-)

Seeing the mention of Domenico's above reminded me that Domenicos' (various San Gabriel Valley locations) pizza is as close to La Barbera's as I can imagine. Get the Bid D Special.

I must have eaten 100 pizzas from La Barbera's over the years. You got a lot of stuff for your buck but believe me they were not the best pizzas of all time. It was cheap, the place was bustling, it was fun, and it did taste good. It was old school. If you want something similar, go to Palermo's, 1858 N. Vermont Ave., LA.

I went there all the time, at all ages. They had two or three little rooms to sit in, with different atmospheres. I remember the pizza as being extremely good, plenty of cheese and tomatoes, and there was a special with "everything" on it that was divine. I think all this crispy crust conversation is nonsense. I have just recently tried Mulberry Street (in Beverly Hills), Gecco's in Sherman Oaks--they don't compare with La Barbara. (Surely there must be an old-style place like this closer to Barrington than Vermont!)

How about Da Vita's, practically right across the street? It dates from the same era as La Barberas. The crust is not greasy and sweet -- I can distinctly recall La Barberas crust 25 years later -- but you can get added garlic, and I think it's still pretty darn good.